Financial Crisis has me mad!

It has been a while and like everyone else, this financial crisis has hit me hard. It has hit me in a way, though, that is unlike most I think. You see, I don't carry credit card debt. My hubby and I only owe on our house and one car. We don't borrow what we cannot afford and cannot pay back. We are actually saving for us and for our children. So why does this financial crisis have me terrified? I worry that Americans are too tied to their credit cards to see how they are ruining them. People want a quick fix so that there is no financial crisis and they can keep their precious credit cards. First, please don't feed me the bs that families often need their credit cards so they can live month to month and that they use them for necessities like groceries. I have heard that before and from a co-worker who had the gall to tell me one day that when she was at Wal-mart one day, she was trying to figure out if she had enough money for her groceries or if she would have to put the groceries on her credit card. Sorry, I don't buy it. Why? This is the same chick who gets at least one package a week from Victoria's Secret or Amazon or some other on-line store. If she has to rely on credit cards it is because she overspends on luxuries. She often talks about how she has clothes in her closet with the tags still on. The moral of the story is that we live in a "I have to have it now and it has to be bigger and better than my neighbor's" society, and it terrifies me. How do I teach my kids not to live like that? I welcome this financial crisis even though it may mean that I lose my job. (I work for a small company who may have payroll issues.) Why do I welcom it? Maybe hard times are what we need in order to get back to good core American values that include working hard and being thankful for the privileges that come with being an American.