We all know the story of the Three Little Pigs.
An ill-constructed house of straw, another of twigs and the big bad wolf at the door.
A tragic narrative.
[img]360|left|||no_popup[/img]
All of us were taught that the wolf was the villain. But, as investigative reporter and children’s author John Scieszka reveals in his groundbreaking book, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, the wolf was framed.
Poor guy.
At his trial, Al Wolf, aka Big Bad, was able to demonstrate that all the huffing and puffing of which he was accused, was nothing more than the result of an acute allergic condition. According to his testimony, because he didn’t have access to affordable healthcare, he had run out on his allergy meds. By the time he reached the house of Pig One, he was in the midst of an uncontrolled sneezing fit.
You get the picture, and you can guess the eventual outcome.
A Villain Was Mandatory
According to Scieszka’s account, the wolf eventually beat the rap. In the end, his real problem was just bad PR.
Every successful fable needs a scoundrel, a desperado or a rogue.
The heavy in the saga of woe surrounding the collapse of the housing market has been the greedy Wall Street bankers. They’re nasty pieces of work, easy targets.
As much as we’d like to believe that these guys were a bunch of gangsters in designer suits, there still is no solid evidence of any laws being broken. Wring our hands in despair as we might, the real hoodlum in this yarn has been the American homebuyer. The bankers might be gluttonous goons, but they only supplied the Kool-Aid. We did the drinking.
Our insatiable thirst for a piece of the American Dream was fed by real estate prices that kept defying the laws of physics and teaser rates that were just too hard to resist. The bankers only fed our fix. Truth be told, if our places were switched, we’d all do the same.
Homebuyers Earned the Blame
President Obama is a bright fellow. He understands the importance of villainy in selling his story. But he’s also smart enough to know that there comes a point where we stop pointing fingers and get on with our lives.
Just because your house is no longer worth what you paid, that’s no reason to throw a fit. We’re capitalists. Whatever happened to caveat emptor – you know, buyer beware.
I agree that it’s only fair that if the banks and car companies are getting bailouts, why shouldn’t we.
At this juncture, however, as the President gets set to unveil his $75 billion housing program to cut mortgage payments for millions of struggling homeowners and expand the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in curbing record foreclosures, it is imperative that we reflect on our crucial complicity in this cautionary tale.
Unless and until we do, we’ll continue to have an economy that is haphazardly constructed only of straw and twigs.
John Cohn is a senior partner in the Globe West Financial Group, based in West Los Angeles. He may be contacted at www.globewestfinancial.com
