who should we blame

the news is mostly grim, when its about the U.S Economy. we are now hearing hardship stories, from people scattered all over the country. on the surface level we blame it on rising gas prices and of course, the sub-prime fallout. job market has started shaking and so are our lives. but after reading all these stories, one thing becomes very clear. we could have simply avoided this mess ... the government could have enforced tighter regulations over the lending industry, the lending banks could have been less greedier, and oh yeah, we the consumers could have consumed a bit lesser.

this is a country where even a 1% drop in consumption sends ripples across the globe. people are now cutting back on expenses. I read a story on CNN about a stay-at-home mom, who claims that by simply switching to local super savers mart for groceries is saving her about $200 a month. thats a princely sum. such stories make me think in the lines of "if only ...".

change is something that needs to take place within every individual. no one is going to wash our laundry.