>They may be capable of such intellectual endeavor, but the mere existence of such massive debt shows the sellers of debt know well enough where the switch lies to turn that thinking off.
>
>I see that you also have a very low opinion of people. This ranks right up there with "See what you made me do?" Personally, I think that I am in control of my actions and I am not that different from most people.

Getting in debt, allowing to be fooled by sleazy debt sellers, spending on rubbish (and I've seen it all over the years) doesn't really boost my confidence in common sense.

You and I may be smart with our money - I paid off my mortgage in 33 months and saved about $20K in interest I would have paid over the 15 years - but most people aren't. If they were, there wouldn't be any real estate bubble, nor would the popular wisdom (of that same people) coin the proverbs about fool and his money, or one being born every minute.