DP
Quoth JoB:
No.. i don’t believe that all the people who borrowed more money than they could afford were tricked into [getting the] loans . . .
OK, good. Thank you, JoB. I don’t believe trickery was involved in every case either, although there was certainly a LOT of trickery going on.
I think it’s important to acknowledge that individuals (like governments) do ultimately bear responsibility for the decisions they make, and that includes the decision to borrow money. Now if someone entices into you spending more money than you have, shame on them. But if you don’t take the responsibility for reading and understanding the contract you’re signing, them shame on you, too.
And now to my point: I think you’ll get much more credibility and sympathy from people on the Right and in the middle if you start from the premise that individuals bear responsibility for their own actions, just like corporations do.