Earning Online from Panama

We have been so quick to blame the titans of Wall Street for the current crisis of credit. For it is easy to censure the masters of the universe; who, with their eight-figure salaries and helicopter commutes from the Hamptons, loaned too much to too many. It is simple to hold responsible Alan Greenspan, E. Stanley O’Neil and other Brioni-bedecked executives; for they are powerful and the people are weak. But our judgement has been too swift, and we forget that for ever loan maker there is a loan taker, for every Collaterized Debt Obligation there were thousands begging for longer lines of credit. So easily we have forgotten a most fundamental rule: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. More simply, it takes two to tango.

Culpability for the current predicament lies, of course with Wall Street, but we must not forget that an equal amount of blame sits on Main Street. Across the world, we have developed a culture of debt and throughout the great expanse of America, the expansion of the last twenty years has been through an explosion of debt. For every Lehman or Merrill banker who will lose his job, there were thousands of everyday people who accepted too much debt and failed to repay it. It is impossible to deny that the American people – particularly those who chose to consume more debt then they could service – hold an equal responsibility for the state that the world now experiences. The growth of personal debt is a short-sighted response to long-term problems: to burn the furniture to heat the house will only lead to an empty home.

This week, Americans, in droves, wrote to their Congressmen and Senators and elucidated their objections to the US$700 billion bailout package. Main Street did not want to subsidize Wall Street and two-hundred and twenty eight Congressmen voted against a package that would have saved the American economy. They voted nay, not because they did not want to resuscitate the financial system, but because they did not want to appear to help Wall Street. The vote did not fall upon the lines of parties or ideologies, but the naysayers were those Congressmen who stand for re-election in five weeks time. It is unpopular, in the short-term, to help banks and bankers but we know, in the long-term, the bailout would have saved everyday job and helped everyday people. Voter on Main Street did not seem to understand that long-term implication of their voice, and Congress pandered to the electorate rather than take the moral high road. The lesson of primary school, ‘What is popular is not always right, what is right is not always popular,’ was certain lost on Capital Hill this week.

But the culture of externalisation is not merely a facet of Americana, it festers on our shores. For every Australian, young and old, we have $32,500 in debt. For every hundred dollars we earn, we owe one hundred and thirty. Millions upon millions are leveraging tomorrow’s wage to pay for today’s excesses. The calamity stateside is a harbinger of where our country may be; for we must realise that Australians have more debt per person than our American or British brothers. Government will not reduce your debt, for they want you to spend and cause unnatural growth in the economy. Corporations certainly will not either, for their successes is on the back of unmitigated spending. Only when we accept that our lives are ours alone, will we understand that individual responsibility is the cure for the greatest of problems.

But it easy to blame others for our obesity, our poverty or, even our indebtedness. If we are to avert the next great crisis, wether it be in credit, health or climate, individuals must accept that we are primary cause of our situation. Do not blame your family, employer or government; because the actions of others are only acceptable through our own self-determination. There must be a culture of responsibility. Blaming others is easy, but finding fault in yourself is immeasurably challenging. But the easy path is not the road to opportunity, it is the short-term answer to the long-term problem. The past fortnight will be committed to the annals of history as the great moniker of the culture of externalisation and blame. Current events will motivate many to consider the source of the current crisis and, hopefully, will encourage many more to take responsibility for their small part in a greater whole.