Obvious

It is obvious that the so called smart people, of this planet's population, aren't very smart. The world is in financial stress because the so called smart people couldn't figure out that if one spends more than one earns the results will be financial ruin. There has been numerous occasions when the so called smart people could have acted intelligently and enabled a transition of the world's governments and its citizens into a sustainable governance and life style. The free market and self-governance system works when it is not being manipulated by the so called smart people or abused by the ruthless.  In every instance of excess the blame can be surely rested upon a government and it so called smart people.  The challenge is developing a system of behavior that allows the truly smart people to operate, keeps the ruthless people from dominating, and protects the environment and less fortunate.  Self-reliance doesn't work, organized religion doesn't work, dictatorships don't work, democracy doesn't work, communism doesn't work, and anarchy doesn't work. So what does that leave us with? Laissez-faire. The planet and its population will run a course of existence ebbing and flowing from bad to good or good to bad in whatever realm of existence is possible.  Those who existed prior to the current succeeded or failed according to their own personal circumstances.  Those who exist after the current will succeed or fail according to their own personal circumstances.