This whole credit crisis has everyone pointing fingers at who to blame for the mess. Some people blame Clinton, some blame Barney Frank, others blame Hank Paulson and Wall Street. I am going to go out on a limb here and tell you who I blame - Oprah Winfrey. What does Oprah have to do with the current credit crisis you ask? Everything.
Oprah has a daily viewership of 11.1 million people on average each day. These folks are then provided with episodes in which Oprah has a guest on, usually the author, of a book she has included in her Oprah Book Club. One such book is entitled "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne and was largely influenced by Wallace Wattles book "The Science of Getting Rich". "The Secret" basically breaks down into a thought process that states if you want to drive a BMW, you have to think and believe you are already driving a BMW. If you want to live in a big house, you have to think, believe, and act like you live in a big house.
By having Rhonda on the show, Oprah legitimized the book and the thought process behind it. In my opinion, what happened next due to the "Oprah Phenomenon" is that folks believed they could afford a BMW, then they really went out and bought a BMW. If they believed they could afford a big house and big mortgage, they went out and shopped around and bought a big mortgage McMansion.
Look, I truly believe one day that I will win the lottery - but I am not spending my earnings yet. I first want the money in hand, and then I will spend it. It's like the old saying, "smoke'm if you got'em". People were smoking alright when they "believed" they could afford things that were way out of their league - and it is all due to Oprah's Book Club. Thanks Oprah, thanks for creating the Credit Crisis.
PTFP: I quit.
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