Gluttony

Lately our pilfered federal government is spending like they can have it all. They have cut taxes and spent billions of dollars over seas. No money is coming in but don’t let that stop you from spending like you won’t see tomorrow. The era of savings, conservation, and frugality is over. We don’t do that. We have credit cards.

What is wrong with debt anyway? Living in the seemingly unbounded era of the 21st century is sometimes exciting. Prior to the recent melt down most economists attributed the avoidance of recessions solely to the undaunteable consumer spending of the American public. Frugality is unattractive and a thing of the past. (Just don’t think the markets haven’t noticed.) Savings is ever a hard sell in a consumer based society.

ING might be able to change that perception. Apparently it is way cooler to save your money on-line than it is to buy a miniature designer bag. But it will prove to be an even harder sell if interest rates stick around three percent. The Federal Reserve seems hell bent on keeping money cheap. It has held inflation somewhere around 2.1 percent for the past decade. So the $100 dollars you save will be worth $97.90 next year and the year after that it will be worth $95.84. In truth, no one wants Americans to be smart with their money.

Consumption is the name of the game in the 21st century. Brought to you by, debt. Buy it now. Pay it back later. Broken now, fix it later. Eat anything you want and burn it off later. In the fine print it says that it will cost you. So honestly put on your reading glasses.

Look at our waistlines. Overweight Americans are not only a reality but a symptom of the gluttony. Overeating has effects similar to over spending. That is probably why they are both forms of consumption. And in excess, they both seem to have serious health effects. Debt burdens can increase levels of stress if they get out of control. Overwhelming debt strains relationships, limits daily freedom, and can lead to feelings of depression. Similarly, overeating is paid for it in a number of ways, a larger waist line, maybe diabetes, or a higher risk of heart disease. It is not altogether surprising that Americans suffer from gluttonous illnesses. Consumption was supposed to make us happy. But something just seems to have gone wrong.

And the largest debt we currently hold might be the debt we hold with the environment. Use it now, fix it later. Now that CO² has been released into the atmosphere the debt is sky high. The effects of gluttonous use of resources have been largely invisible save an academy award for the former vice president and disaster in Louisiana. The polar icecaps are tinsy now but that seems to be the polar bear’s problem. The enormity is almost too much to think about along with being fairly invisible. Even if we stopped emitting CO² gases into the atmosphere today, it would take 15,000 years to remove 90 percent of what’s already there. In some ways, the CO² loan amiturized over 15,000 years is an event larger than the national debt.

When did everything get so large that no one understands it? At 9 trillion dollars or so the national debt could be paid off if every American citizen alive today put in about 30 thousand dollars. Unfortunately most of us have our own debt to worry about. Meanwhile, it’s increasing, at an increasing rate. It’s about 75 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. So if it really had to be paid back we could just take 75 percent of everything produced in the U.S. in one year and pay it to the National Treasury. That would shut down the American machine, if the home mortgage crises does not get to do it first.

The truth is there just has to be some better form of consumerism. It is not likely that Americans will start to starve themselves today by saving every penny. But perhaps we can create ourselves anew. A motto that includes innovation and progression, the declaration of a new model is truly American. Something that American’s have misplaced in the 21st century is revolutionary change. Fast food, credit card debt, and the missing environment have sneakily stolen away what makes us great. If I ride my bike I declare my independence from transnational billion dollar gasoline tycoons. If I listen to the radio and save myself a cable bill and the distraction of commercials, I save my liberty. If I compost some coffee grounds and grow earth from waste, some tasty food or happy flowers, that is a bit of property. We could purchase solar panels; invest in technology, renewable sources of electricity, and a future that we’re not afraid to see.

Americans are the best situated people in the world to invoke a change. Lord knows we need it. It’s just up to what we buy into.