To blame the current state of affairs on credit card usage is not only naive but outright deceptive. Personal credit has been around since ancient times -- the Greeks and Romans used them.
We are in despair times because of globalization. Developing nations like China and India are having a deflationary effect on the global economy. These guys are flooding the market with cheap labor, products and services, which in turn puts negative pressures on the rest of industrialized nations.
When Alan Greenspan was lowering interest rates to stimulate the US economy, he was in avertedly doing the reveres by helping China's economy, because Americans were losing their jobs to China, and were using credit cards to compensate the loss of purchasing power. When people were shopping at Walmart, they were actually helping and strengthening China's economy, which in turn made the problem even worst, because as China further expanded production, it took even more jobs from Americans. The massive trade deficit with China is a testament to this vicious cycle that has been in effect for more than a decade.
Globalization is the single driving force behind every negative thing that is happening right now. And the reason you don't hear about this on CNN and the rest of main stream media is because the elite segment of our society is deeply committed to the globalization philosophy while the rest of us go broke!