A Death Knell for the Middle Class

Financial Crisis: A Death Knell for the Middle Class? - TheFiscalTimes.com: "'They got into this mess of their own free will; they're just getting what they deserve.'"

"There are those in our country who look at the struggles of the middle class — mortgages underwater, foreclosure notices on the door, mounting credit card bills in the mailbox, bankruptcy on the horizon — and think, "They got into this mess of their own free will; they're just getting what they deserve." Who told them to buy that house they couldn't afford, sign that mortgage without reading the balloon payment fine print, and run up those balances on a credit card that came with a teaser interest rate that is now 30 percent? Why should the rest of us, who were more prudent, be expected to carry the burden of the irresponsible?

This response ignores the ugly truth of what brought about this crisis. It wasn't a sudden spike in irresponsibility on the part of middle-class Americans. It was the inevitable byproduct of tricks and traps deliberately put in place to maximize profits for a few while creating conditions that would soon maximize misery for millions. The devastation was predictable — and, in fact, had been predicted by any number of Jeremiahs who saw the writing on the wall. Indeed, looking at the foreclosure crisis and the credit crisis — and the resulting bankruptcy crisis — it's hard to avoid the conclusion that, in many ways, things are working out exactly as planned.

In hindsight, it's as if a giant bear trap had been set for the middle class."