Cost yet to be seen

So hear I sit at 1:30 AM unable to sleep and pondering life’s issues. Where are we as a country headed? The prospects look grim at best. I feel as though I am a bystander watching an assault perpetuated on an unsuspecting victim and there’s nothing I can do to help. The victims are our nation’s financial system and every person that calls this country home.
Who is the perpetrator? Well there are many suspects. Some would say a lax and greedy, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours government. Yet others accuse the Top Dogs on Wall Street who are looking out for number one and then walking away leaving a shell of a financial system once they have drained it of all life. Last, but not least, is the general public, we the people if you will, so consumed with material gain that they are willing to do or believe anything to acquire the homes, cars, cloths, latest electronics, ect... that they desire regardless of the future cost to their finances. The instant gratification generation who fulfill all their wants right now and worry about the cost later. Most likely it’s a combination of all three. I’m sure there was deception on all sides and pointing fingers won’t fix the problem.
The hardest part of this financial pill to swallow is that there were people out there who looked at the “No interest loans” (meaning we’re not interested in how you’re going to pay this back) and said “I don’t think so – bad idea”, and they didn’t buy into the hype. These same people choose to live either within or below (yes, people actually still do that) their means and manage their debt. They save and buy things when they can afford it and pay off their current debt before acquiring more. These are the real victims, the responsible people who did the right thing and now have to pay the price anyway.
What options do we have? I don’t really know because I’m not an economist or a legal professional. I do know that if this happened to an individual person or small business the person who was in charge of the decision would be the last one to profit, but that doesn’t seem to be how it will play out in this case. Supposedly these people making these decisions are more intelligent than the average person but they to have forgotten the basics of good business. They have grossly neglected their responsibilities and the common sense of business decision making, and the cost is yet to be seen.