My Civic Duty

I trudged through two feet of snow yesterday to do my civic duty: buy a large-screen television. I saw an ad for Best Buy that caught my attention and off I went. Unfortunately for me (actually, the rest of the family since I really don't want another TV), the TV was out of stock and needed to be ordered. But since I was looking for immediate gratification I promptly lost interest.

However, I'm not one to let a little decision like buying a TV pass by without some fretting. So fret I did. Not getting the television gave me time to think about the conflicting messages we're getting right now in the midst of a struggling economy.

The state of CT, for example, is begging for money, and needs sales tax revenues to allow over-paid state workers to continue accruing time towards retirement. So should I buy a TV to generate sales tax to keep paying Governor Rowland - among others - his ill-gotten retirement (how do you retire from a job you didn't do in the first place - and get paid for it?)?

Or should I buy a TV from a Japanese company in order to help the US fulfill its core mission as the economic engine of the world?

Or maybe, by driving to the store instead of ordering online, I can help keep gas prices just a little more stable.

What about the savings rate, on the other hand. Shouldn't I be saving money and thereby providing banks with capital that they can lend out to homebuyers and businesses in the area (shades of 'It's A Wonderful Life')?

I'll bet you never knew that a simple purchase could carry so much potential for angst.