[Lancaster Online]

[UncommonSense]

If you have not read Friedman's book, The World is Flat, I recommend you pick up a copy. Especially for parents of youngsters who will have to make a living in the global economy.

[clanker]

Is this the Achilles heel of capitalism? Have we reached critical mass with so many reaching for the brass ring irregardless of how much is laid to waste in the process? It just seems like too many want to join the 'I got mine' club.

[newsjunkie]

Is this the Achilles heel of capitalism? Have we reached critical mass with so many reaching for the brass ring irregardless of how much is laid to waste in the process? It just seems like too many want to join the 'I got mine' club.

Greed IS the achilles heel of unfettered capitalism. Somehow your statement makes it seem like it's only a problem when too many people partake... Greed has always been a sin..the love of money has always been recognized as the root of all evil..this doesn't change no matter how many people do it...
We have been sold a bill of goods with reaganomics deregulation...PEOPLE ARE GREEDY..it brought down communism and it will bring (has brought) down our system if we fail to guard against it...

[lanzate]

Dude, all of this is capitalism’s fault.

Because unless you have a kind of capitalism where people specifically choose social responsibility over personal reward - no no, while I might make Big Bucks off this risky mortgage, it would be irresponsible of me to push you into it - then the thinking Friedman describes is an inherent flaw in the system.

Would you toe the line of civic responsibility - or would you, also, be grabbing for the biggest pile of dollars you could get?

So what have we lost that is causing cracks in the system now? I think it would be helpful to look at areas of the country where people are hurting the most. What is happening in the culture of people there? Then look at areas where there has not been so much upheaval. Our nation is very diverse and this housing crash and economic burnout is not happening the same way all over the country. Housing prices here have been flat but mortgage foreclosures have barely shown any increase. Unemployment rates have gone up but they are still very low here.

So I guess my question would be, are some areas of the country more greedy than others. Something prevented sub prime mortgages from being pushed here. Why??? Do we have some local law against them? Why did housing here not rise so fast as in other places, and now is not falling as fast?

So how does a local community choose social responsibility? Do we have a "community organizer" in Lancaster or is it something else?

[clanker]

So what have we lost that is causing cracks in the system now? I think it would be helpful to look at areas of the country where people are hurting the most. What is happening in the culture of people there? Then look at areas where there has not been so much upheaval. Our nation is very diverse and this housing crash and economic burnout is not happening the same way all over the country. Housing prices here have been flat but mortgage foreclosures have barely shown any increase. Unemployment rates have gone up but they are still very low here.

So I guess my question would be, are some areas of the country more greedy than others. Something prevented sub prime mortgages from being pushed here. Why??? Do we have some local law against them? Why did housing here not rise so fast as in other places, and now is not falling as fast?

So how does a local community choose social responsibility? Do we have a "community organizer" in Lancaster or is it something else?

Good question. Maybe it's because this isn't one of the high growth areas like out in Vegas or parts of California. Or maybe it's because the local network of realtors and mortgage companies are holding themselves to highter ethics and policing their own.

[newsjunkie]

So I guess my question would be, are some areas of the country more greedy than others. Something prevented sub prime mortgages from being pushed here. Why??? Do we have some local law against them? Why did housing here not rise so fast as in other places, and now is not falling as fast?

So how does a local community choose social responsibility? Do we have a "community organizer" in Lancaster or is it something else?

Before you all pat yourselves on the back too much..The crashing of the system you hear all around you is not brought solely about by "greedy" homebuyers and mortgage brokers...It has been much more brought about by "greedy" banks and investment houses who GAMBLED tens of TRILLIONS of dollars on the success or failure of mortgages they had no real stake in (CDS's). Look where all the billions of "bailout" money is going...to those "gambling" houses... And Lancaster County did have a role in that, in that Lancaster did and still does support the politicians and the philosophy who sold us down the river with deregulation...

[lanzate]

And Lancaster County did have a role in that, in that Lancaster did and still does support the politicians and the philosophy who sold us down the river with deregulation...

You mean these politicians??

[clanker]

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