Spending Wisely, Buying Savvily, and Being a Conscious Consumer

The latest cover of Newsweek has a picture of a very grave-looking Uncle Sam (because Uncle Sam is always serious) pointing at you with the caption “I want YOU to start spending! Invest in America!”

The cover story is, of course, about the economy and how it is tanking and how the markets have been “scythed in half” - a clever allusion to the death of the “American Way” - and how, supposedly, spending will solve our problems.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t rogue spending what got us into trouble in the first place? Wasn’t it the buying houses that we could never afford (and by “we” I mean “they”), coveting HD-TVs that we didn’t need, and investing in risky start-ups that were, well, risky? Wasn’t it our placing of trust in the abstracts - the credit cards, the online businesses, the digital façades - that dug us deeper into debt?

Isn’t the simple command of “spend more!” just going to have a rubber band effect, continuing to loop-de-loop our economy like a yo-yo through booms and busts? Author Daniel Gross does hide a line in the article decrying the wanton purchase of luxury goods, but what if luxury goods weren't the only cause of overspending?


But maybe the subtle clues aren’t in the “spending” part of the command, but rather the “invest in America” part. Newsweek obviously chose Uncle Sam - our long-time symbol for militant patriotism - for a reason. Maybe investing is bad only if it is in foreign markets. Maybe the American Spirit should triumph over all, and we should buy American because it is the patriotic thing to do. I already talked about this faulty reasoning - labeling it shameless nationalism - in a previous article. The point still stands - buying American does not mean buying better. Buying American means buying blindly. I don’t think that it’s a mistake that one of the cheapest, crappiest brands of cigarettes, Mavericks, are the only ones whose packaging proudly bears the words “American Quality.”


So if buying American is not the solution, what is?

Buying smart is.

I’m talking about controlling spending. Spending wisely. Keeping track of your money. Not making impulse purchases. Quitting that bad, money-sinking habit or two. I’m talking about being content with what you have.

I’ve mentioned before that I agree with Neil Postman who claims that all technology should be used to solve problems. Buying a new technology should always be coupled with asking yourself, “What problem does this solve?”

Asking this question of every purchase has helped me immensely.

Buying a CD or DVD? --> “Am I not entertained enough?”

Buying new clothes? --> “Do I really not have enough shirts?”

Thinking of adding options to a car? --> “Is my driving experience really not entertaining enough or comfortable enough?”

Buying a copy of Newsweek? “Am I not informed enough?”

When you start to approach every purchase with this in mind, you start to rethink what you really “need.” In fact, you start seeing those who buy and buy and buy as those with the most problems that need solving.

Now, everyone has problems that need solving, so I’m not saying that people who spend constantly are irresponsible - they may really have a lot of serious problems that need solving. And if those are legitimate problems, then more power to them to keep themselves afloat. But if spending is just about buying fancy new sails while the hole in the bow goes unplugged, then we have a serious problem.

Newsweek was on to something, but I think it should have offered better ways of dealing with the economy that just the nationalist approach to kick-starting the economy. What we need now are wise spenders, not blind ones. We need people who buy what they really need.



_DZ