I didn't say that personal responsibility is the only way to fix it. But I do keep coming back to it because of those folks that refuse to admit it's important.

It's amazing that everyone else is to blame but some won't admit for anything that giving no excuses is a good way to become self reliant.

I guess self reliance is also passé when you can blame others.

I agree. Personal responsibility is key. NO government program will correct that. And I'm not entirely afraid of seeing the bottom of this, perhaps it will shed off the BS.

I'm not aware of any cheaper neighborhoods around here. Rockland County is the cheapest county in the NYC area. The only way to go cheaper is to move further north, which is a problem since most Rockland County residents work in NYC. The morning commute to NYC from here is around 90 minutes. If you move up to Orange County, then you are looking at 2+ hours commute.

As far as my old neighborhood, it's sort of crappy compared to how it was 20 years ago. Nobody mows their lawn, the houses aren't in as good shape as they used to be. So it's nothing to be proud of. It's not as if $500k in the NYC area will get you a nice neighborhood or a nice house. That is the minimum you can spend if you have a job in NYC and want to live within 2 hours of it.

It isn't the only place in the US. There ya go, assuming you're entitled to stay in the same place..guess what..you're not.

:dunno:

Regulation can correct that.

An example is laws banning drugs. If everyone was a heroine addict, would throw your hands up and say "they are all irresponsible and no government program will correct that"??

Well, there are fewer heroine addicts today than there were 20 years ago. And that is indeed a result of government programs to better educate people about drugs. It is also a result of government programs to reduce the flow of drugs into the country.

Whatever people are irresponsible about, the government can indeed influence that. The government cannot fix every single irresponsbile person. But when irresponsibility in a certain area becomes detrimental to society, it is the government's responsibility to step in and do what is necessary to protect the public from harm.

Last I checked, drugs weren't in check in the last 50 years.....go government. If you want to equate everything to government involvement, I feel sorry for ya.

Who the heck wants government telling you where and how to live? You are in favor, apparently, of colossal government....geez...you know they have that in Europe...tickets are cheap. You put a ton of faith in the government :tsk:

Semi-amazing to me how a fairly interesting thread on "the Mkt" devolved into a "let's legislate morality and prudent spending",
combined with a working class hero touch...:confused:

Meanwhile, back at the going broke ranch, the mkts still dislike the dough being tossed around, the lack of clarity, lack of liquidity,
the propping up of suspect operations, and on and on and...:yikes:

What were you expecting MD ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A

It's all related. You can't fix one problem without addressing the other. It's like trying to address the dripping water in your ceiling without sending someone up to fix the roof.

The Bush fix for that would be to wait until the floor was ruined from water damage, and then when people started to complain, he would put a bucket under the drip. The Obama fix would be to spend a lot of money and purchase a much larger bucket.

Fun continues .....Citi went below 1 briefly. Dow went below 6666 and back. :popcorn: