Granted, those arguments are all legitimate.
However, I am also certain that Americans are guilty of failing to prepare for hard times when times are good. From observation, I can tell you that almost no one preserves their wealth to the point where it hurts anymore. Almost no one. If there's a big rock concert coming... Christmas... a vacation... an expensive restaurant... people who are in any position to do so spend their money.
I know a huge number of people who've worked for decades and have saved virtually nothing except the minimums drawn from their paychecks automatically.
Even now, MOST people are doing nothing to prepare for a Depression. Except for a handful who I've had an influence upon, I don't actually know anyone else who is still employed yet already taking extraordinary steps based on their economic outlook.
When I can see that almost everyone is still buying their speedboats, European vacations and $300 iPods, it's a little difficult to feel much pity for those who are suddenly without work and struggling to make a mortgage payment.
Your article's author is good enough to say "No one is asking you to fix this or feel sorry for those paying the loans" - but his statement continues with ... "but by no means should you be comparing your financial situation to theirs in a judgmental way."
And THAT is something with which I disagree.
I believe strongly in personal responsibility. And while I make exceptions for people who've been wiped out by medical calamities, I do think most people in financial straits are there due to their own lack of planning.
More accurately, they're there due to their own lack of PREPARING.
In the tale of the ants and the grasshoppers, I feel empathy for the ants. For the grasshoppers, I only have contempt.
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