Hello there folks, you may call me Brutus, and I'll be your guide today on a trip through the misty, guilt-ridden confines of history. Our focus will be the consummation of a journey that spans generations, a deep-seated yearning that possesses young and old, rich and poor; indeed, this cherished goal has become so engrained within the American collective-subconscious that its pursuit could be construed as patriotic. I speak of the search for someone or something to blame.

But why should we be criticizing and suggesting the abdication of something that's an American tradition? After all, America was built on the blame game. The revolutionaries blamed the British government for the woes and miseries of their lives – which were of course founded in truth – but I know plenty of people who are in full possession of their “inalienable rights” and are still miserable. The Confederate States of America blamed the Union's anti-slavery stance as their original reason for secession, even though basic economics and Jeffersonian ideals of states' rights were the true impetus behind the split (maybe they just didn't sound as catchy). In our own century, the military blamed the government and the government blamed the military for the embarrassing debacle that was the Vietnam War, and recently everyone's favorite scapegoat for everything from the failing economy to swine flu has been the deceptively moderate figurehead of conservatism, George W. Bush.

When it comes to our current economic plight however, we have no one to blame but ourselves. As a nation we are at fault because we have fostered and funded a culture that can be described as nothing short of sybaritic decadence (and not in the incorrect way 'decadent' is used in food and clothing advertisements). We as individuals are equally guilty because we have allowed ourselves to become acculturated by the plague of excessive living, the result of our contagion being recession and debt. In typical American fashion, people are quick to point the finger at China for taking away so many of our jobs, but those jobs wouldn't have reason to exist had we not provided sufficient demand for the trivial crap they manufacture on our behalf. No matter who you try to blame, it ultimately comes down to the utterly-reprehensible truth: it's all our fault. When you try to support a needlessly expensive lifestyle by buying things with money that technically doesn't exist, you're going to run into problems – but that's another topic for another day. Just let it be said that even and especially our government refuses to give up the spend-happy culture which has been our custom, as they seem to believe spending more money to be the only viable solution for alleviating our troubles. As such, I think we can expect the economy to be part of the “Axis of Evil” for many years to come.

Perhaps the saddest part of all is that I if we don’t take action now our current course is set for disaster– people are too attached to their pride and possessions. People are becoming apathetic and lazy and are forsaking the very traits which for centuries have been unequivically American. Diligence and drive are dying attributes, and as a result people are relying on the government to bail them out. Since our liberal friends are in charge they're more than happy to oblige the vox populi - and so we march contentedly towards socialism, where everyone is poor together and industry is crippled to the point of figurative senility. Much like the famed Roman historian Livy, I feel that we have moved to a far different path from that of our forefathers “as the old teaching was allowed to lapse,” and that we are seeing the “final collapse of the whole edifice, and the dark dawning of our modern day when we can neither endure our vices nor face the remedies needed to cure them.” What's scary is that all of that was written in the first century A.D., and yet it ably applies itself to our current situation. The more the Roman citizenry relied on the government to take care of their problems for them the more corrupt its leaders became, until the entire structure collapsed under the weight of its own greed and cowardice. Bottom line: Rome died a miserable and inglorious death that had millennia-long repercussions, America can too.

So my fellow Americans, I implore you to use this as an opportunity to examine yourselves both fiscally and spiritually. Let's not make the same mistake the Romans did – realize that this is one set of traditions that are far from honorable and need to be mercilessly removed from our lives. Let us once more give esteem to thrift and plain living and re-learn the contentment that comes with prudence and moderation. The nation itself is in need of some deep cleaning, but the nation is merely a reflection of the individual, so it starts with you. Accept responsibility for the disaster we've caused and accept the new responsibility of righting this sickening wrong. Then, with our newfound zeal for self correction let us remember the words of our Founding Fathers, namely that “Governments…instituted among Men [derive] their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter [it].” If we're lucky we may just have what it takes to turn this around and get our leaders to follow suit. Otherwise we'll all go down in a rain of worthless high-fructose-corn-syrup-soaked dollar bills with North Korean nukes for a sunset. All while Roseanne Barr sings the National Anthem to the accompaniment of wailing stock-brokers...

Brutus