Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames in 07
A big part of the problem in the US is that the hundreds of millions that make up the country are more and more destructive to their own economy via crippling debts then walking away from their obligations, they are less educated than ever before, and have less respect for other people ... moreso than any other developed country I've ever seen.
The real solution to their problems isn't a new President (although it can't hurt) it's that materially all of their citizens need to take a little responsibility for themselves, and do some changing of their own.
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Sure shoots a great big GIGANTIC hole into the argument that people, left to their own devices, would be more responsible than the government spending their money.
France is not suffering as much as other countries in this financial turmoil because they have so many laws restricting personal debt. I think something has to be put in place on both ends. Restrict people from being able to borrow more than they can afford and restrict banks from loaning to bad credit risks.
But as for personal responsibility - my mother is the most PERSONALLY fiscally conservative person I know. She virtually never spends money on herself. Any extra money that comes in goes straight into her mutual funds. She is 62 and can't retire yet... she still needs to work another couple of years before it is anywhere near safe. And then she gets loses $30,000 in October alone. She is being punished for no fault of her own. I guess you could say she was at fault for putting the money into mutual funds - all my RRSP money is in GICs because I don't trust the market for obvious reasons. But she did direct her investment advisor to put it in the safest mutual fund possible, but even the safest mutual fund wasn't protected from this disaster.