One’s got to wonder whether Americans (hell, what about the rest of the developed world as well?) will ever get to the point of realizing that consumption is not the zenith of life’s activities. Stereotypes always convey significant truths and the stereotypical American is one who buys without thought for the future and regardless of whether the item can be afforded. Why not buy, we’ll pay it off somehow!!

The start of government economic follies, though they’ve been with us ever since we had politicians, is highlighted by the removal of any vestige of real value from our money when gold was removed as the basis of the US Dollar. Since then, we’ve gone through crisis after crisis, each one being created by government action and each one requiring more government intervention to prevent it leading to a full blown catastrophe.

The latest unraveling that started in 2008, may not be heading towards the catastrophe that will happen someday. I hope not! Even though the depths of that catastrophe will be deeper the longer it takes for it to happen, I hope that this is not it! Why? Because so many people are unprepared for it. I’m hoping that a life lesson will be learnt during the current hard times and that many, many people will make an effort to make themselves more financially sound before the devastation of a real financial crash hits us.

It’s going to require a mindset change against consumption for the sake of consumption, against satisfying our every whim. And it’s going to take recognition that debt is risky, in itself. Debt is a great tool to use – it allows us to use leverage to buy assets that we could not have purchased otherwise. But it also is a terrible master when it is used for consumption. When times are good and inflation is roaring, debt doesn’t feel so bad, but a debt load that stretches across years in a period when economic collapse can happen in months, is a chain that can’t be loosened.

Will the culture change? On an individual level, it really doesn’t matter whether it does. You are the master of your own financial destiny. You can decide to live within your means. You can set a goal of building equity instead of sinking into debt. You can take actions to get yourself out of debt as quickly and efficiently as possible. You can bridge the gap between debt and equity by using tools such as the Money Merge Account system from UFirst to retire debt early, to dramatically reduce the interest you pay during the life of a loan, and to help you prepare for the economic and financial crash that will happen in our lifetimes.