  Okay, I'll stray into the political arena a bit here, but this opinion is something I've been carrying around for many, many years. Consumerism is killing this country. It's nearly a foundational problem; that is, it's almost the root of all our ills (hey! Didn't someone once say "... for the love of money is the root of all evil"?). Let me give some examples and some insight. You buy a house.
You get a mortage. Let's say the mortage is $140,000 (my house -- four bedrooms, two baths, two-car garage, fireplace, pool). You pay about $800 a month for 30 years. That's $288,000. Sick, eh? Why do we do it?
Because that's just they way we do it here in America . It's downright stupid! Better idea: Graduate school, get a job. Live with parents for four years, and save $1,000 a month. In four years, you have $50,000. Buy a simple house for cash.
Save four more, move up. No debt. Get it? In eight years, you have nearly the house you'd pay $288,000 for over 30 years. Six years into it all, you get laid off. Guess what ... you can take a minimum wage job and still get by.
Why? Because you're not saddled with a huge mortgage. What happens in the grand scheme of things? More people are paying cash. More people can pursue their passions instead of the Almight Dollar. More people are happy.
Families are stronger. Couples fight a lot less about money. Layoffs are seen as a nusance instead of a horrible, life-altering experience. Okay, so maybe I haven't fleshed this all out yet ... but you see the trap we've fallen into? It's not just "get out of debt"; no, it's more "don't go into debt in the first place". The older I get (dumb saying, really -- I mean ... what am I gonna say, "the younger I get"?
), the more I realize that Modern America is built on a sick idea of money money money instead of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
