Fiscal Irresponsibility
Fiscal Irresponsibility
“Do I need it?”
“Will I use it?”
“Can I afford it?”
That is how I have managed my life’s finances.
There are obviously times during one’s life when we buy things that we don’t really need but those are what makes life fun. These are the frivolous items that we buy or the trips that we take simply for pleasure.
However, before I spend the money I always ask myself, “Can I afford it?”
I answer that question honestly every time and often forego the pleasure out of a sense of fiscal responsibility.
In my previous post, “Black Plastic”, I questioned the necessity of the plastic sheet at construction sites.
To date, one person has agreed with me and one has misunderstood my article.
I did not blame Saudi Arabia for our misguided use of polyethylene.
If readers go back to the beginning of my articles they will find that my entire purpose in writing these articles is to question actions based on emotion rather than reason.
I assume the intended purpose of the plastic is to protect the environment. However, it does not and its use amounts to “Fiscal Irresponsibility”.
In short, we don’t need it and we can’t afford it.
The US has been in a continuously increasing trade deficit and purchasing polyethylene from a foreign country worsens the situation.
Polyethylene is a petroleum-based product. It is my opinion that crude oil, which we are told is a limited resource, is being diverted to the production of a product that we don’t need and can’t afford.
Hello John,
so you are online again. I am happy to learn that.
will be back again
John, the way you handle fiscal irresponsibility is to be admired but that’s not the American way. Which is: if you cannot afford it, use your credit card. Get whatever it is now, pay later or what that means is, don’t worry about paying for it. Impulse and emotion rule here, not the logical mind. And down the road? It has been said that what will follow the sub-prime mess will be the credit card mess. But hey, maybe the government will step in to save them too and issue National Federal Credit cards to replace our visas and mastercards. And just what fosters fiscal irresponsibility? Where does it begin? Maybe with the child who bullies their parents with screams and I-wants, with the parents who give in with lessons in material irresponsibility? That’s my guess.
Stan, you are right on with your views.
I had not thought about the potential credit card disaster. It could be even worse than the housing problem because of the extremely high interest rates involved and the number of people who are ‘maxed out’.
And yes, the fault lies with parents who have ‘caved’ rather than trying to teach their children that it is work that provides the money for one’s needs or desires.
It’s a disease that permeates the entire system because of ‘peer pressure’ both with kids and adults.
A person’s perceived status is in the quantity and price of their toys. Everyone feels that they must have more than their friends possess.
Thank you for reading and commenting. I truly appreciate it.
It seems that I always need to apologize for not writing on a regular basis.
John — What you said about teaching young kids (I’m now talking about teens here) that it is work that provides the money for one’s needs and desires brings to mind a sad situation that’s come about in our country. Work? Just where are the jobs these days? Who knows how worse the economy will become, the root cause of less jobs around? How easy is it to find a job even at minimum wages? Lean fiscal responsibility? How? — without jobs available, without money available to spend, without opportunity to learn any fiscal responsibility?
How long can someone hold on, hold out, when even a graduate from college who does land a job has to slave to pay off their massive school loans? Tired, hungry, homeless? Then one would think it seems sometimes best to commit a crime that’s a felony and get fed and housed by the government’s prison system. Wait a minute! Would there be any room left for you and me in the over-crowded cells? A dire situation. What’s happening? Is this the end of the private sector in America?
We are now a consumer society, consumer economy. One needs money to buy. One needs a job to make money. No jobs, no money, sorry, no buy.
And down the road, what will it be like when the bill comes due to pay back the money the government borrowed for the two wars? Ha! Money will be tighter than ever. Will foreign countries remember to send the U.S.A. food and relief supplies then when we’re down and out? I hope so. We may need such help.
And down the road as for young kids, there won’t be any peer pressure for things — no one will have anything. You won’t know how poor you are when everyone’s poor.
I sound so negative, John, because the picture for me for now, next year, years ahead is black. Open your eyes! Oh, maybe it’s better to close your eyes.
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