Paying for patriotism: I can't believe I bought the whole thing.

• Author: Rundles, Jeff
• Position: Brief Article

I WAS BEGINNING TO FEEL GUILTY ABOUT MY excessive spending over the Christmas season before I realized I wasn't being profligate, but patriotic.

I am also conflicted, but what the hell.

I have already spent the money. I can't take it back. So I really have no choice but to put my behavior in the best context possible.

I am a patriot, not a debtor. Not exactly a firefighter or anything, but a hero of sorts. An American patriot.

I went out this Christmas and spent like there was no tomorrow so that I might be responsible for the recession ending earlier than predicted, or the Taliban being defeated, or something else really important to the country.

Every time I pulled out my credit card and the computer accepted it, I felt as though I performed a valuable service to my country -- even if the store clerks didn't seem to appreciate that I was being patriotic, not just a rich guy with time on his hands.

And I feel great. Still conflicted, but great.

I find it fascinating that so many people suggest that we go out shopping to end the recession, while at the same time there is so much news coverage about how we really can't afford to go out and shop. Or at least shouldn't.

The Denver Post, for example, this fall launched a column called "Affluenza: Curing the Bug." In that column, I learned that I suffer from the disease of wanting to be affluent because I have a credit card that is "maxed out." Or I eat meat.

Then I turn the page, and read that all the affluence I suffer from might also mean that I am unpatriotic. That, I cannot bear. I fly the flag. I talk tough. I even sometimes believe in racial...