Uncle Sam Needs You! No, you won't need to wear a uniform for this — just bring your credit cards!

It seems that after hearing for years that: 1) Americans save less of their income than citizens of other developed countries; and 2) Americans have far too much consumer debt, especially credit card debt, now we are being encouraged to spend even more and save even less. The economy depends upon it, we are told, so much so that we — you and I — may be the next struggling sector of the economy to receive a "bail-out."

I admit to being confused about what exactly is the right thing to do. I grew up in a family where the motto was, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" Not that we were told that in those same words, but that ethic was modeled for us in the way our parents lived.

The Great Depression was still fresh in our parents' minds, and it informed their (and their children's) lifestyles. Dad built the houses we lived in, with materials bought out of each paycheck he earned at Texaco. Most of my acquaintances lived pretty much the way we did.

"Fast food" was something Mamma could cook in a hurry. The food we bought came to our house in the form of ingredients. Very little was wasted; no one spoke of "recycling," but that is exactly what we did, as a matter of course. It was not a world of disposable containers. Empty feed sacks became boy's shirts. Beverage bottles were returned for deposit. Old inner tubes became ammunition for rubber guns, and an empty toilet tissue tube could be fashioned into some kind of toy.

I could go on and on, but if you lived then, you already know it, and if you didn't live then, there is no way you can relate to it. The point is that there is nothing in my "raising" to help me understand the logic behind how our whacky government intends to fix our ailing economy..

My outlook broadened as I grew up, went through public schools, into the service, had a family, and went to college — pretty much in that order. After I saw how the real world worked, as an enlisted man, and then as part of the labor force, I decided to "get an education."

I was fascinated by literature, history, economics and government, as taught by my professors at Lamar. In fact, the whole experience of my education, from kindergarten through graduate school, taught me an important lesson in the psychology of economics: as long as the taxpayers were footing the bill, as in "public school," I just did enough to get by and devoted most of my attention to having a good time.

When I chose to go to college, however, the burden of cost shifted to me. I got serious about my investment of money and time, and spent each of those resources as wisely as I knew how. Lesson learned: one doesn't value an "entitlement" the same way one values something paid for with personal, hard-earned cash. It's not a character defect; it's human nature. Money spent out of the public treasury seems less real — not as dear — as money spent out of one's pocket, even though one's taxes must fund that public treasury.

I also learned some interesting concepts about the government I lived under and the economic system with which it was theoretically, inexorably, linked. Representative democracy, capitalism, and a market-driven economy all made sense to me, and knowing the theories behind the institutions only further strengthened my belief in their validity.

It made perfect sense to me, for example, that in a market-driven economy the consumer is boss. Consumers "vote" with their money, and each dollar spent is a ballot cast in favor of one product over another, so that the product and brand with the best value will win, and the owners will prosper, and everyone benefits. The less efficient, or more costly, or poorer quality products will simply disappear from the marketplace. Any pain involved in this cleansing process is justified, because everyone knows the rules going in, and any other outcome would be a disservice to the consumer — the boss.

Now the books must be rewritten, those lessons must be unlearned.

Some products can fail miserably, due to mismanagement, greed, and gross negligence, yet get rescued with massive bail-outs of public funds. All it takes is a strong lobby (bribery), the right publicity, and a failure by the legislative branch of government to honor their public trust.

Many economists agree that it was the unwise, unlimited extension of credit that brought our economy to its present troubles. And how does our government suggest we help fix the problem? Use more credit, take on more debt.

Perhaps as individuals we have already lived too high, bought too much, gone too deep in debt. As a result, we are — as the bumper sticker reads, on the back of the motor home — "Spending Our Kids Inheritance." I doubt they will thank us for it, when all the bills come due, and there is not enough American economic value left to finance more debt.