Are realtors the biggest cause of the economic collapse?

A YouTube user with the name StopTheRealtors has posted a fascinating video clip featuring Suze Orman as a guest on Oprah.

A caller says that she is interested in buying a home, but has a pretty measly income -- making a home a very questionable call for a single person who is also looking to adopt a child or two. 81% of the audience says she can't afford to buy a home for approximately $150,000, with 19% saying that she can afford it.

Suze asks who in the audience said she could afford it and one woman says "Well I'm a real estate agent" and Oprah, Suze and the audience begin to cackle hysterically. The guy who posted the video narrates the segment with some pretty scathing -- and largely accurate -- commentary.

His point is a good one: Greedy and overzealous real estate agents were the ones who took people to houses and urged prospective buyers on -- That wasn't Wall Street bankers. It was realtors, the people who were in the trenches trying to sell homes to generate commissions for themselves.

But here's the point he misses: Over the long run, homeownership has been one of the best investments most people will ever make. Very few salespeople can claim to have contributed to the wealth of their customers. Many real estate agents can.