coboardgirl wrote:
I hate it when people say this. A wise thinker once said "People make their own histories, but not in the conditions of their own choosing." People absolutely have free will, and there were plenty of people who did not make smart choices during this recession. But I just can't get behind the idea that so many individuals all did the same thing wrong all over the world. Have you ever read anything about the housing crisis and the toxic assets that were being sold? Banks were literally choosing the people who were the most likely to default on a loan to loan to. And then betting that they would default. Individuals were targeted to fail, and lo and behold...they did.


I can get behind the idea that so many people did the same thing all over the world. Especially when general culture makes it okay and even encourages such excess. There is a vast culture of "compete with your neighbor" and get that bigger better thing to show that you can one up them. Take a look at JJB - it's pretty rampant here. People are constantly trying to prove themselves through possessions. I am not saying that the banks weren't to blame. For sure any bank CEO that okay'ed or even promoted the allocation of money to those that were most likely to default should have been drummed straight out of their position. But how many people is that, total? Not many. On the other hand, how many people defaulted on loans and signed their names on the dotted line onto loans they NEVER should have gotten in the first place? Millions. And they need to take their part of it, too. It takes two to tango and there's a LOT of blame to go around. Own your share.


You need to read about the housing crisis, because you're just factually incorrect here. Yes, people received loans they should never have signed for. But these people were targeted by banks to default; these are people who were uneducated and pressured into signing contracts they did not have time to read or understand. Don't you think there's a reason why poor African-American and Hispanic residential areas were foreclosed upon at a much MUCH higher rate than everyone else. It's called predatory lending, and banks go to neighborhoods where people can't generally get loans and offer these amazing deals. People everywhere need loans, especially poor people. The choice is either don't get a loan because you know you can't afford it and lose your house/don't eat/etc, or get a loan from a bank offering amazing interest rates and you think you can afford it except oops! Three months in, your interest rate triples! 

Why is it easier to believe the MILLIONS OF PEOPLE had the exact same thing happen to them all over the country, but it must be something they did wrong? If millions of people all have the same symptoms of an illness, do people say "oh, it's their fault. They should own their sickness." Or do they say "there is a disease running rampant across the country, getting people sick. We have to find the disease." Predatory lending is a disease, and massive foreclosures are the symptom of a very very very broken financial system that caters to the rich who can afford to victimize the por.