Newsweek:

Perhaps, one day, we will say that the recession saved us from a parenting ethos that churns out ego-addled spoiled brats. And though it is too soon to tell if our economic free fall will cure America of its sense of economic privilege, it has made it much harder to get the money together to give our kids six-figure sweet-16 parties and plastic surgery for graduation presents, all in the name of "self esteem." And that's a good thing, because as Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell point out in their excellent book "The Narcissism Epidemic," released last week, we've built up the confidence of our kids, but in that process, we've created a generation of hot-house flowers puffed with a disproportionate sense of self-worth (the definition of narcissism) and without the resiliency skills they need when Mommy and Daddy can't fix something....

...But no matter how you were raised, the handiest cure for narcissism used to be life. Whether through fate, circumstances or moral imperative, our culture kept hubris in check. Now, we encourage it. Pastors preach of a Jesus that wants us to be rich. The famously egocentric wide receiver Terrell Owens declares at a press conference that being labeled selfish is fine with him. Donald Trump names everything he owns after himself and calls his detractors "losers." We live in a world where everyone can be a star--if only on YouTube. The general sense among students on that New Haven campus is that with the world being such a competitive, cutthroat place, they have to be narcissists. Well, you may need a supersize ego to win "America's Next Top Model" or to justify your multimillion dollar bonus. But last I checked, most of our lives don't require all that attitude. Treating the whole world as if it works for you doesn't suggest you're special, it means you're an ass. As an antidote to a skyrocketing self-worth, Twenge recommends humility, evaluating yourself more accurately, mindfulness and putting others first. Such values may seem quaint, maybe even self-defeating, to those of us who think we're special, but trust me: it gets easier with practice.

 

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http://www.newsweek.com/id/194640

Newsweek...uh, ...., you're whole article is for whose benefit?  Might as well say, "we might one day be very thankful for the economy's crash."  Thankful... really?  At what cost?

How expensive was this "teachable moment?"  It is nice to know that some people have learned the err of their ways. That is their luxury.  Only those who are blinded by privilege, shock-absorbed within their insulated class would feel that somehow the recession, the layoffs, the foreclosures--maybe had taught anyone to be socially responsible-- in some epiphanous awakening.  Are some people so comfortable that they see a cleansing in a failed economy?  Not anyone I know, especially if they lost a job last year.  It is the most narcissistic statement, because it ignores the raw truth that touches all those it cannot see.
Perhaps you are well meant.  You might be looking for light at the end of the tunnel.  But don't be so blinded by lights. 

 
There are many of us who have really been on the short end of this whole experience; who see nothing profitable out of economic collapse.  That's because we already were thrifty, we already were bringing up kids with honor and values.  We were already neglecting the "sweet sixteen party" mentality that only materialistic or elite people--the ones obviously lacking meaning and value--buy into. 

We didn't have the best clothes, go to good schools, or have the best vacations, if any.  We don't live in good homes, in nice neighborhoods.  This economy collapsing only took what little we had and stomped on it. 

Poor people can't see the summum bonum of having no income, of not being able to pay even the trash bill, of losing your cool because something you need to survive is due, and you can't pay.  Of losing weight out of necessity, not glamour. Of having no way to see a doctor.  It is the ones who see some valuable "teaching moment" who are perhaps also the ones who got us in the mess we are in. 

Money was fluid, there were the Joneses to keep up with, and there was no grounding foundation of true life values which keep most of us from losing our souls--only because we play by the rules already.  That doesn't make US better, but it does make us bitter.  This recession was caused by greed and envy and any number of other capital vices.  The ones who are truly suffering see no beauty and truth and value in poverty.  Only those who have never lived thus see nobility in this miserable set of lost futures.  We only see our children who do not deserve this type of existence.  We grow angry at the lives other people get to live, the parties they throw, the extravagance and pride that is allowed to continue if you still have a life of means.  A life they seem to take for granted, while we can't even mop a floor for minimum wage, due to flooded unemployment.  Perhaps their perspective makes them believe we all have a lifeboat. 

There is no justice in this; no redeeming value. 

No, Newsweek--we are not thankful. And some day we will not be better off for having lost everything.  We are not the ones who needed a wakeup call.  Imagine what it is like to have been one of those families on the Titanic, just after she went under. That is us.  Some are in lifeboats.  Some have a lifejacket.  And some of us were down in steerage, and are now freezing to death and being pulled into the deep.