http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...opinion/columns

While some of that is true, I do believe that people still hold the mental aptitude to not be sheep...regardless of the messages/advertisements bestowed upon them at an alarming rate each and every day.

a few years ago I would have agreed with you..... now, I'm not so sure

How's that? That most people out there are completely dim? To that I will agree, but they still make their own choices. Yet, everyone needs a scapegoat for their own poor decisions these days.

Yes most people are him.

Most people don't WANT to take the time to make informed decisions. I would bet more people spend time planning their annual vacation than looking at their financial outlook/planning.

And yes, most people need a scapgoat because god forbid someone these days actually takes responsibility for their own choices. / sarcasm off

Glad to see that we agree on that one. That mentality along with the current house market in this country makes me wonder why the FICO08 changes aren't being more drastic than what they are announcing. It seems that the risk assessment needs a complete rehaul.

And before this time last year I was naive, to say the least, when it came to planning and sticking to a budget (just out of college). Now I think I spend more time micromanaging my budget than my DGF would like. Yet, I never saw myself at the other end of the spectrum which we are discussing.

The writer and the pundits she quotes are painting with an incredibly broad brush -- it's not accurate to describe us as a "nation that is maxxed out on debt" when the median household (hence the majority if US households) carry zero credit card balances, and about another 25% only owe a couple thousand. Notwithstanding us current and former basket cases attracted to creditboards, the reality is that 80% of the people in this country are not maxed out and have little difficulty with debt, and it's the remaining 20% of us knuckleheads who have the problems.

20% is a large number. The truth is that America is a debtor nation and consumer debt in this country is very high compared to other first world nations, with many families living paycheck to paycheck. But sadly no one seems to care. I own an apartment building catering to working class folks here in the LBC - and most of my 12 tenants have a bigger TV than me. I am in the market for a big screen TV and the prices are driving me insane - but apparently my tenants dont seem to care. If that isnt Bizarro world, what is?

What makes you think that those TV's were bought on credit?

I own a big screen TV and I rent. Yet I rent because it's cheaper to rent than to own where I live and I need the cash flow to help me run a business that I own and to get another one I am trying to get licensed off the ground...

Not everyone who rents or owns a big screen TV is a sheep. But there is a general willingness to paint that as such.