Thoughts of a suburban mother

FairMaiden · Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 1:32 pm Post subject: Re: Thoughts of a suburban mother

I disagree...It spells out that even the most well-meaning and good hearted regular person is innately consumerist.

Most of the well meaning, good hearted ppl I know are environmentalists. They dont' drive cars, they recycle, they compost, they buy organics, they speak out in advocacy against consumerism (Buy Nothing Day, Car Free Day and events like that).

And the other selfish folks may understand what I am saying but their response is either; the government will never let that happen OR consumerism creates jobs and puts food on our tables.

Sad but true.

spudbuddy · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 28, 2005 Posts: 150

Good threadstarter, Wildsparrow.

(on the psychological front) guilt is a lot of wasted energy.
In 1980 Canadian author Bruce Young published a book called "Hotel California" that reads like it could have been published this year.
I can't find another damn thing by him in the library catalogue.
No-one paid any attention...
After all, we were about to set off on the 2-decade party that was the 80's and 90's.
Those 2 decades were the bridge between the oil upheaval of the 70's, and reality hitting home in the 21st century.
Much of the affluence of the 60's and 70's still had roots in the Great Depression, and memories of the war years.
There was still a strong public will examining the nature of free enterprise, social responsibility, and quality of life.

Somehow, that all got away on us.
Public will has been trashed by corporate power for some time now.
That is not exactly our fault. Public guilt is misplaced energy.
(I remind myself every day that PO stands for "pissed off" too.)

If you have ever felt even just mildly irritated by globalization and its inherent wastefulness....then your heart is in the right place.

I pay more attention to the writers on this site that remind us this will probably be a long slow haul, and hardly an overnight sensation.

I admit...some days I feel like I'm waiting to spot a news bulletin about thousands of suburban SUV drivers suddenly en masse...driving from the pumps directly to used car lots and trading in their guzzlers for something that gets double the mpg.
Not to mention suburban McHouse sales exploding and skyrocketing resale homes in my city core.

That this is not happening...doesn't necessarily mean that furious denial is going on out there.
(It's going to take some time and effort to roll that whale over.)

Put it this way: For years now I've had the feeling that some great ponderous thick and heavy social malaise (that no-one seemed able to quite put their finger on) was slowly creeping around the planet...
and that what was needed was some issue, some cause (or threat) that could really unify people...
well, I can't think of a better one than this.

Things could begin to unravel rather rapidly (especially economically) or we could be in for radical changes worldwide in the way we do things, how we live, how we do business...that could span decades.
I like to remind myself that much of the power in the world (that makes us feel powerless) relies on cheap energy.

The eternal question seems to be: How "painless" can we retract our use of energy?
Pain is a relative thing. There are far more have-nots, than haves...on such a wealthy planet.
(The author James Kunstler refers to this as "hallucinated" wealth.)

The real wealth that still exists...can still do a lot for us, if we use it wisely.
I dunno...I still believe there's a lot of wisdom rolling around out there.
(That isn't a wing and a prayer on my part...) I see it every day.
A bumpy ride, perhaps.
Then again...the ride hasn't been exactly smooth for most, anyhow.