the stimulus check is in the mail

The government wants us to do our patriotic duty and spend money to "save the economy." That is why we will all find money in our bank accounts, or for those of us who don't trust the electronic networks, checks in our mailboxes. I take it the poor and uneducated fall primarily in the latter category. That must be why many retailers are offering to turn rebate checks into a gift cards.

These "caring" retailers will also add 10% to that check for any person who does so. Imagine that, you get $300 from the government and those nice people at Wal Mart will give you an extra $30 to spend. Why not add another gimmick to this already gimmicky scheme? Before you spend your stimulus money, better think again.

Retailers can generously add 10% to all those checks because most people leave a fair amount of cash "un-cashed" on their gift cards. There are tons of used gift cards out there with $4-10 left on them. The tendency is so common and so widespread that gift cards have become a favorite tool for retailers to "tax" consumers. Not only do they lock you in -you will now spend all that money at Wal Mart and nowhere else- they will also get the leftovers free of charge.

California law makers have recently stepped in and a new law in the state forces retailers to cash out small amounts of leftover cash on gift cards. That little leftover does nothing to stimulate the economy but it adds directly to the bottom line. Big corporations love to play these tricks on unsuspecting consumers.

There are other reasons for holding on to the money. One is that the economy is in dire straits and a little bit of money like that is unlikely to make a big difference. When people are falling behind on their mortgage payments, a one time $300 check is unlikely to save their home. Especially when that house is now worth $100K+ less than the outstanding mortgage balance.

Before you know it you may be out of a job, out of a house, and bankrupt to boot. Add to that rising food and energy prices and maybe you would do better trying to save your rebate for a rainy day. Not that we will get many more of these once global warming kicks in.

Let's not forget the bigger picture though. What this economy needs is a major overhaul. An overhaul that won't be possible without a major contraction. We simply have to give up on our unsustainable life-style and go back to the basics. That does not mean give up on modern comforts or technologies as some would have us believe. But it does mean we should stop consuming for the sake of consumption.

We need to stop churning through stuff. And that will take some doing. Not in the least because so many people got so rich making us do so. These guys are not about to give up without a fight. They are not about to roll over and smile. So it is time for us to fight back. Fight back by ending this senseless consumption that is treating our valuable resources as if they are cheap and unlimited. The time of endless supplies is over. We can see the end in most cases. Granted it is often more than 50 to 100 years away, but even that should be scary enough for us to sit down and think again.

One hundred years is not that much time. Furthermore, serious hardship is likely to start much sooner as resources become more scarce and prices will skyrocket. Sure there will be speculation and false alarms, and it would not surprise me to see two or three episodes where prices drop dramatically and everyone laughs at another doomsday scenario gone bust. Sooner or later though reality will kick in and there won't be any more excuses. Better get ready before it is too late.