Savings and needs

America's mantra has been to “save” for many years. Not saving in the traditional, healthy sense. I mean savings when buying “stuff” we don't even need, and that when “save” and “need” collide. Most American don't need what they own; in fact they barely use it all. So here we go to the store and we're admonished to save so much on this and that and if we buy more on objects, or even services we don't even need, we save more. Call it virtual savings! This mode of tempting consumers appeals to their sense of greed and on their fear of scarcity.

Since we would never miss to save on that product for which we have no need at the moment but might have one, some day, in the unforeseeable future, we buy it anyway. As a result, our large homes are bulging at the seams with duplicate, triplicate or unnecessary wares and we often have to rent storage space to “bury” these embarrassing items of personal property and get them once and for all out of our daily sight.

Ironically, our addiction to “saving” on what we buy, not what we would ever need, is putting us deep into debt and pretty soon bankrupting us. Wouldn't it be much more simple to work around what we need and try to save, if we can, when we get it, than try to save on what we don't need and sink under the debt we've contracted? This may sound schizophrenic, but this is the American reality, or just was...