Culpability and Emotions

It has now been two full years since the credit crisis began. In my opinion, the credit crisis, even more so than the ongoing war in Iraq or Afghanistan, provokes strong emotions. Fear, disdain, contempt, hatred, scorn, and jealousy are just some of the many emotions that have been provoked by recent economic events. Is it our constant infatuation with money that provokes these emotions, or perhaps it’s the proximity? Is it easier to get emotional about something happening here in America, rather than something halfway around the world? Naturally emotions tend to get directed towards certain ideas (capitalism?), people (Dick Fuld?), and institutions (the Fed?). We chastise and criticize many for what happened. And everyone has personal thoughts about who is to blame. We will continue the story of how we got to where we are, but I open the floor to all to share personal thoughts on who/what is to blame. Please feel free to post in the comments section and I will anonymously aggregate the comments into a blog post.