The sad thing is, the answers, knowledge and understanding around simple financial matters like credit interest are all readily available. It's easy to blame the banks for making credit too easy to obtain, I blame them for it for sure, but what happened to people taking responsibility for themselves, purchasing habits and financial situations?

We're not there yet as it's always easier to blame others, rather than take responsibility for your actions. We're moving towards a new financial system, where you will be your own bank, you'll be in charge of managing your finances, but many has to die for this to be done right. This sounds terrible, but it is true. Quite many have no idea about how credits are handled, although, as you say, the details and information is there. Freedom comes with a lot of responsibility.