What's wrong with renting?

I probably shouldn't comment on the sub-prime loan crisis, since the economics of it are over my head, but this whiny Prospect article about the crisis's "conservative origins" reminded me again of the following question: Are the majority of the homeowners who defaulted on their mortgages really that deserving of our sympathy? (As opposed to, say, the homeless or the working poor?) I'd like to know how many were actual victims of predatory lending versus how many were just short-sighted and greedy. Should the government really be in the business of of bailing out people who idiotically believed that the values of their homes would go up forever?

Seems to me like the real problem is the ideology of "ownership" that keeps being smacked over our heads as an essential aspect of the American Dream. People have weird emotional issues when it comes to home ownership that they don't have with other kinds of financial investments. What should be a very simple calculus of deciding whether to rent or own is complicated by our being brainwashed to believe that you haven't made it until you own your own home. I remember reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" when I was little (in a failed attempt by my parents to foster some financial acuity in me) and the only thing I remember is the advice not to fall into the home ownership trap; rather, one should rent and put one's money into investments that will generate better returns. Granted, renting is inherently unstable, but moving seems like a minor cost compared to foreclosure. Maybe instead of regulating banks and poorly-informed consumers the federal government should issue a copy of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" to everyone at birth.