You got me there. But what Stekim points out just seems like it ought to be so intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that it is difficult to me to understand how anyone could possibly be so stupid as to not get it.

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Theodore Lamar Heiks
BA, History/Political Science, Western State College of Colorado, 1984
MBA, Entrepreneurship/Marketing, City University of Seattle, 1993

It's a mix of nature and nurture, but some of it is actually biological.
The biological part is related specifically to long-term risk management and independent of the social factors in a person's life. I'm not sure whether it grows naturally or whether it becomes refined with practice- but either way, there's plenty of time to screw things up before it's developed.
A lot of kids who seem to be making good decisions from a young age are merely mimicking the habits of their parents- which is the same thing the kids doing dumb things are doing!

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That information is classified and to be given only on a need-to-know basis...

And I do not need to know.

Maybe because you assume yourself to be of average intelligence rather than above. Perhaps it's because you don't count the advantages you have over those who don't.
Now strangely, I do agree based on what I've seen, that most would agree... when discussing others. They seem to be far less "common sensical" about their own actions.

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That information is classified and to be given only on a need-to-know basis...

And I do not need to know.

Good question. 'Tis a pity, too! I've found it's no longer common.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

I agree. Morals and lessons taught when young do seem to stick with an individual. It is a pivotal time to teach someone values and lessons that will benefit them now and later in life.

I can't agree with the part in italics. Maybe it's my education and intelligence, but I do not find most decisions in life that difficult. Obviously my education in economics makes finances much easier to understand than your average joe, but it doesn't shed any light on how dumb people can be with something like credit cards. Maybe 20% APR doesn't mean much to them, but after the first bill you would think someone would get the hint immediately after they just pay the minimum. Considering most cards start with a limit of about $300, I don't see how this lesson is not learned much sooner. It seems that people use them with the hope that nothing short of a miracle will come along later in life to get them out.

Once again I disagree with your opinion about unprepared pregnancy and other social ills. By the time someone is even capable of having a child, they should know what the minimum wage is, and how much it costs to buy food and clothing. They may not know how much it costs to rent an apartment at the age of 13, but as someone gets into their later years in high school they should have some clue. I believe a lot of it is distrust and apathy, and I feel that is why it is particularly common in poor, African-American communities. They do not trust the system, nor do they want to hold the same values because they feel they are that of the oppressive society that once enslaved them. In some cases it could be that they feel that it doesn't matter just because of the color of their skin. This type of attitude is basically immediate failure.

So the bigger question is how do you deal with this in society? If you claim that these decisions are too complicated for both the upper echelon and lower echelon of society, how do we deal with them? Do we make the decisions for the poor? Do we place harsher punishment on the rich in cases of malcontent? I honestly don't see how you can hold these beliefs, and then propose anything but mandates that would strip certain segments of the population from their liberties and freedoms. What is also bothersome is that there is no way we can continue the current trend of welfare and other programs if it leads to bad decisions anyway. It's just not sustainable to have a growing population of people who cannot make decisions for themselves and cannot live without massive support from other individuals.

Edit: Now that I think of it, it makes much more sense why people want Obama as president. People cannot think anymore, and they would rather someone else do it for them. On top of this, they need to be subsidized because they cannot provide for themselves anyway. My opinion is that this is not the path to go down. I fear, however, that it is inevitable.