I watched a show on CNN about the subprime meltdown. There were a bunch of experts on it finger pointing, assigning blame everywhere except to the "victims."
We all know finger pointing doesn't help anyone. Often suing people doesn't help anyone (other than the lawyers). And I feel it actually hurts the "victim."
Why?
Because to call someone a victim immediately puts them in a place of powerlessness. All the power and control goes to the attacker, not to the victim. I don't know about you but taking all my power away from me is not going to help me.
It also gives people an excuse not to learn. Many of the subprime "victims" are also dot com "victims." Because the dot com mess wasn't their fault (I guess they were forced to buy the stocks), they didn't look at the situation and ask themselves "what could I have done differently?" and because they didn't do that, the next time they invested, they DIDN'T do anything differently. I suspect that a few years from now, they'll be another bubble "victim."
A few years ago, swayed by one of the talking heads on the tv, I bought into energy services stocks. Luckily I only bought a few shares. Luckily because I didn't do any research. I bought blindly. Heck, I was so ignorant, I didn't even know they were cyclical beasts.
I lost money. Sure, I could point my finger at the expert and blame him but why? I bought the stocks. I didn't do my research. I didn't listen to the other experts saying to stay away (for every expert pushing an investment, there is always one saying "stay away"). I was impatient. I was emotional. I got greedy. I lost money.
Now I try to be patient. I try not to be as emotional. I ask myself "Kimber, are you being a greedy Gus here?" It has made me a better investor.