Imagine a bright white table cloth covering a huge table. Eyes travel lazily over the neatly pressed table cloth then, one by one, focus on a round and slightly moist coffee cup stain near the edge.

The existence of this unsightly stain is discussed as every media and news outlet on the planet speculates how the ring got there and what can be done to fix it.

The declaration from these outlets charging all manner of responsibility for the outrageous effects grows with every report. All eyes become fixed on this small stain.

The population grows weary of hearing about it , or they try to look away, but at every turn, someone again brings their attention back to the coffee cup stain.

While all eyes focus on this little ring, no one notices nor mentions that the coffee urn is now dumped on the center of the table, all over the white table cloth. Now, a gallon of hot coffee and the accompanying grinds that mound in the center are seeping through the nice white table cloth.

As the seepage extends on, the mess begins spilling over onto the floor. Still, all eyes remain glued to the coffee cup stain; unaware of the mound in the middle or the massive puddle forming on the floor.

The mortgage meltdown has grabbed the attention of the world. Horrified by this tragedy, no one has mentioned the more obvious situation. What kind of economy would drive this large population into borrowing their future? The facts are right there but because no one is speaking about the underlying cause, all eyes remain on one outcome and not the true situation.

The truth is that a family of four used to own their own home, often times supported by just one of the parents and, though times were tight, they were still able to afford to live comfortably.

This time was not so long ago, maybe 30 to 40 years past. The sole supporter may have made a living as a milkman! A milkman that cared for a family with children and did so in a home they made a mortgage on until it was paid off!

Today, on a milkman's kind of wage, a person could scarcely afford renting their own apartment.

There is a much bigger problem here. This is not a meltdown of the mortgage market, it is a meltdown of the entire economic system that has left the average family in a situation where their everyday survival depends on their FICO score and their ability to borrow money and use credit cards.

How much one can afford has become insignificant. Now, the consideration is how much monthly payment one can make to enable themselves to borrow more money! In many cases, the borrowing of money is to pay for living needs.

Sending children to college, surgery, health care, auto repairs or emergency trips for family are just some of the "rainy days" one used to save for. These are all now unexpected expenses that are paid for by credit or worse.

We need to stop focusing on the coffee cup stain and figure out how to clean up the pot of coffee and all of those grinds. The economic stain is much larger than the mortgage industry collapse. We are focusing on the wrong problem!