Who’s responsible for the financial meltdown? Those blamed include President Bush, Wall Street and Congress. But in truth, the American people have no one to blame but themselves.

The United States was founded by people who wanted nothing more than freedom and the opportunity to work toward a better life for their children. But within a few generations, the progeny of the pioneers have turned into dolts who can’t take responsibility for anything.

When I say that Americans are fat, I’m not speaking metaphorically, but literally. About one-third of adults in the U.S. are obese. To qualify as “obese,” the average person has to be not just overweight, but carry an extra 35 pounds or more.

In the past 30 years, the obesity rate in America has more than doubled. It is the sheerest irony that today the average person has the choice of a multiplicity of fresh, wholesome and nutritious foods, all available at the lowest prices in history. But choosing and preparing the best foods takes time and effort. We would rather stuff ourselves with fast food, because it’s tasty and convenient. The consequences of this slothful lifestyle include hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

After ruining our health through gluttony, we then go to our physicians and demand a quick fix in the form of a pill. Pharmaceutical companies are glad to oblige. And the government must pay, because free health care is now a “right.”

Stupid? The average American spends three hours a day watching television. What started out 50 years ago as simple entertainment has turned into an open running sewer. The television networks are locked in a downward spiral to see who can provide the most outrageous and offensive programming. It’s not their fault. They’re just giving the American people what they want.

I’m always amazed to hear parents express the morbid fear that their children will become involved with drugs, when in fact their children are already addicted to television. The average child today spends 13 hours watching television for every hour they spend reading. We blame teachers and schools for failing to educate our children, but there is little that can be done with minds that expect to be entertained and rebel at the labor of thought.

We are adept at prideful self-congratulation, but oblivious to the fact that our society is intellectually and artistically bankrupt. Modern art is not good enough to be bad, and popular music is a painful cacophony of obnoxious dissonance. The Internet is mostly used for downloading pornography or playing video games. We are obsessed with watching people we have never met play games with footballs, basketballs and baseballs. I am baffled by what people find so fascinating about these meaningless games.

In America today, everyone is entitled to everything. The financial crisis was caused by politicians pressuring financial institutions to give mortgages to people who were poor credit risks. But the politicians simply did what the voters wanted. Americans have been blessed with the greatest freedoms and opportunities in the world. But we have incessantly demanded more and more entitlements and handouts. Every government intervention in the free market system creates a fresh problem that demands another ruinous intervention with unintended consequences.

In this brave new world, everyone has the right to not be offended, and no one can be held accountable for anything. The divorce rate is 50 percent. The number of Americans with AIDS is a million and growing. In the six years between 2000 and 2006, the syphilis infection rate doubled. The nation that began with freedom of religion has progressed to freedom from religion, freedom from moral constraint and freedom from responsibility. Just as Plato described in the Republic, the “horses and asses” are “marching along with all the rights and dignities of freemen,” and the ultimate result only can be that “tyranny will spring from democracy.”

No matter who wins the presidential election in November, the outcome will be the same. There will be a brief period of euphoria, followed by an inevitable course of disenchantment. The president of the United States is a weak constitutional officer, not a god or a parent. He can’t solve problems that are rooted in our behaviors. So long as Americans look to other people for the solution of their problems, they will invariably be disappointed. The American people need to stop whining like spoiled children and take charge of their lives.

DAVID DEMING is an associate professor of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, but his opinions do not necessarily represent those of the university.