The Big Three automakers need a bailout because we don't buy enough gas-guzzlers. The Wall Street Journal reports the government has less gas tax revenue to pay for bridges and roads because we've been driving less. Now we hear that retailers will go out of business if we don't shop till we drop this holiday season.
Enough. Consumers have done more than their fair share to keep the economy afloat for years. We have the debt to prove it. It's time to let others lift up the economy.
Or, as ethicist Bruce Weinstein says: It's OK to be a tightwad.
"It's not only OK in some circumstances, it would be wrong if we weren't," says Weinstein, who writes the Ask the Ethics Guy column for Businessweek.com. "Because you shouldn't spend what you don't have."
This is especially true during the holidays, a time when so many of us go overboard and figure we'll deal with the consequences later.
You have an ethical obligation to express gratitude to loved ones or those who have helped you, and many of us think of giving thanks this time of year, Weinstein says. But you don't have to buy gifts for all of those people to the point that you're putting your family's finances in jeopardy, he says.
And many do just that.
A recent Consumer Reports survey, for example, found that about 12 million Americans are still digging out from under last year's holiday debt.
"There is a lot of pressure to create the perfect holiday," says Latoya Peterson, communications specialist with the Center for a New American Dream in Takoma Park.
She says the economic crisis might cause some consumers to spend as much as last year, not less.
"They feel they need this kind of feeling of normalcy," she says. And that often means emulating TV commercials with people opening thousand-dollar presents, she says.
But with shrinking retirement accounts, record credit card debt, stagnant wages and rising unemployment, this is no time to splurge with money you don't have.
Conspicuous consumption is now out of fashion anyway. There's even a new term - "recessionista"- for the stylish dresser on a size 2 budget.
Besides, friends and family would feel guilty if they knew you were going into debt just to buy them lavish gifts, Weinstein says.
And gifts, while nice, aren't as important as you might think. Can you name every present you received last year?
