Global financial meltdown. Economy in peril. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's about time to make my way down to the confession booth and ask for the Lord's forgiveness. But wait just a darn cotton pickin' minute here. Ain't none of ya'll taken no ancient history class? Didn't anyone pay attention to the FALL of the Roman empire? The economy is cyclical, was I the only one not engaged in a game of Sudoku when my economics professor scrawled this on the board?

Point fingers where you will, but this "meltdown" was inevitable. People have been living high on the hog for way too long with much too little effort. For example, when certain kids at my high school turned 17, they got brand new cars for their birthdays, and by brand new car I mean a new Mercedes. And when a certain company with a logo resembling a fruit comes out with a new cellular device or mp3 player, citizens of this ailing country are lined up hours before said store opens, ready to ambush the "specialists" employed there.

I used to resent my parents for never have taken us to Disney World, never buying a car with automatic windows and never subscribing to cable. Now I can't thank them enough. Their frugality is what could have saved a lot of people from less than desirable fates, and that was back in the 90's when cars were large, gas was plentiful and Britney Spears was mentally stable. We've gotten ourselves into this disaster through our own means and no bailout or economic stimulus check is going to serve as a quick fix; the only way to climb from above the ruins is to change the way we think about and spend our money. I can't be the only one who feels this way. How is it that I'm 21 and I've figured it all out and people twice my age can't even get the gist of it? I know that not everyone is in a tough situation because they went out and bought a yacht. Some people are facing problems that are beyond their control and this is an unfortunate reality. Yet I don't believe that an entire country is crumbling because a few people fell on some hard luck. It's just like when obese people claim they are that way because of genetics. I'm sure some people are larger by no fault of their own, but more than likely, you're fat because you eat too much. And more than likely, you're broke because you spent too much.