Fareed Zakaria Is Mr. Bright Side

In his Newsweek article entitled, "There is a Silver Lining," Fareed Zakaria describes the good that may come from the banking and mortgage collapse. He writes, "This crisis has—dramatically, vengefully—forced the United States to confront the bad habits it has developed over the past few decades."

A few sentences later, he succinctly summarizes the plight that ails us, writing, "Since the 1980s, Americans have consumed more than they produced—and they have made up the difference by borrowing."

That's the nail on the head right there. Sure, we can blame our politicians for not shutting down the party years ago. But the bottom line is that the American consumer is to blame too. We live a lifestyle on borrowed money--right alongside our state and federal governments. Plenty of Wall Street greed and stupidity played a role. But a critical opportunity will be lost if Americans don't self-reflect and acknowledge how individual citizen spending and borrowing contributed to the current crisis.

So maybe Zakaria is right. Maybe there is a bright side to all this. This bright side comes at a back-breaking cost, but we all just witnessed firsthand what happens to macro economics based on rampant consumerism fueled by indiscriminate lending. It lead us nearly to the brink. Hell, we may have unknowingly tipped over already, hurtling towards a dark abyss. Regardless, we CAN learn from this.

The question is, will we?