by Patricia Tatum

Created on: June 07, 2009

I have to make a confession. I own 37 pairs of shoes. I know, because I counted them. I am not particularly extravagant, and I can be downright thrifty at times. So how, then, did I end up with 37 pairs of shoes? The answer, I think, lies in the perception of a large part of our society that "accumulating as much stuff as I can" comes right after the line "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence.

Whether you label it an economic slump, down-turn, recession, depression or even a natural economic cycle (I like the positive spin on that one), what is happening today is not just an item on the evening news that we tsk-tsk about; it is directly and adversely affecting millions of people who never thought it could happen to them. Yes, a large part of the accountability lies with the wheeler-dealers who dreamed up things like hedge funds and kazillion dollar CEO salaries, and yes, it is difficult for the average guy to comprehend global economic impact. That still doesn't explain why I have 37 pairs of shoes, or why people who have lived in the same house long enough to have paid it off are in danger of foreclosure. It doesn't explain billions of dollars in credit card interest and fees being paid every year. Unpopular as it might be to say out loud, it is time for the rest of us to accept our own part in this financial house of cards.

It is in the psychology of consumerism that we can find the source of our troubles and the solution to them. When I am checking out at the grocery store, I swipe my debit card, punch in my pin number and hit enter. Funds are then automatically transferred from my checking account to the store's account. Did I have enough in my account to pay for the groceries? I don't even stop to think about it because even if I'm a little short, a convenient line of credit will kick in the additional funds (for a fee, of course) so that I'm not overdrawn. In my mind, that's acceptable because groceries are a necessity. I don't stop to think that I have just purchased necessities on credit because I bought pair-of-shoes number 27 on Sale! This Week Only! And when the cashier hands me my receipt, she cheerfully lets me know that I have just saved eleven dollars! If I have just "saved" money, why then do I have less now than I did this morning? Yet I pat myself on the back for having been so frugal.

The mess so many of us are in can also be attributed to the misperception of need versus want.

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