Charles,
I'm not real sure how you came up with the above in re: my post. Must be metaphorically speaking. Hell...might be semaphorically speaking! And I'm not real sure you've presented an accurate analogy.
My aunt has lung cancer...she was a smoker. Did she deserve it? I think not. I don't know anybody who I think deserves lung cancer. But she will be the first to tell you she has nobody to blame but herself. She didn't blame Winston, big oil, or Jodi Foster...she blames herself.
Actions, consequences...
You lie on a loan app...or get somebody to lie for you...you've got nobody to blame but yourself.
"Everybody does it". Doesn't mean you should. See dad's comments about jumping off cliffs with your friends. We have the freedom to do alot of things in this country. Doesn't mean we should do some of these things, e.g., standing on a street corner insulting every passer-by...or lying on loan apps.
Do I think lenders/loan officers who falsified these loan doc's should be drawn and quartered. Absolutely. But the bottom line is just that...the signature on the bottom line.
But again, it's the Era of Irresponsibility. Do something dumb, shift the blame. The government will make it better. Building a nation of co-dependents...
By the way, the speeder who got ticketed in your hypothetical was probably driving a red car!
Justin