Where are Mommy and Daddy?

This posting is about the financial meltdown. I just came to understand that the biggest problem with the deregulation that was pursued by neo-liberal policies during the last 20-30 years was a silly adolescent identity crisis.
The fear of having a large tentacled government regulating "my unlimited ability to create wealth" (and therefore sabotaging the American dream of having a Mac Mansion, a heated garage and designer fashion) crashed in everyone's faces as it turned out that without a Mommy/Daddy-like governmental regulation we don't really regulate ourselves. There are theories of moral development that explain this (see Kohlberg's). We need to learn social rules from our parents. Our parents need to teach us not only what the social rules are, but also how to self-regulate. The economic crisis that has devastated the US and therefore the rest of the world is an example of how Machiavelli has always been right.
We need a parent-like government that takes care of us. But that does not mean that we are not co-responsible of our own actions. We need to be responsible citizens and unlike a bad parent that we cannot vote out, we can vote our government in every four years.
So, what is the bottom-line problem according to me? We don't want to grow up. We want to continue thinking that "someone else" will take care of that. Particularly, if by "that" we mean balancing local and statewide budgets, creating jobs, taking care of poverty and all its problems, etc, etc, etc.

A trainful of douches...

First, I would like to state, that the word "douche" seems to be "ok" to general audiences as its usage has increased in the last year on t.v.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/business/media/14vulgar.html?_r=2&hp

So, lately, I have been using NJ transit trains more often that I had before. I have to go to NYC and the quickest way is to use a train. Now, our town is the first one in a string of towns in Bergen County, NJ, where apparently the gross income per capita is one of the highest in the country (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34/34003.html old facts now, but a reference).
In any case, I have noticed that when I board the train everyone is sitting by themselves, even though the seats could seat two or three people. And oddly enough, everyone has placed a bag, computer case, or similar item right next to them blocking the seat immediately next to them.
WTF?
So I have to walk an unnecessary amount of train car to find a place to seat.
Do these people pay for the two seats? Do these people realize that they are on a collective space? Do these people realize that the "mass" in mass transportation means that more people will be riding with you?
I have no choice but to think that they are douche bags. Women, men and young douche bags.
They think they are cool because they don't drive into the city (thank you for not screwing the planet further!) but they are so cool that they cannot sit next to you commoners.
As far as I am concerned, anyone can sit next to me, you know why? because I rode the subway almost exclusively for for 5 years and before that I rode in buses in Costa Rica for 25. I have smelled, felt and seen all kinds of people as I transported myself to where I needed to go. And that is ok, because we are born in a planet full of people.
Wake up upper Bergen County douche bags!