I'm sure most of you have caught this story by now. This is the story I wanted to talk about yesterday but the rage level was already rather high so I left it for today. Basically this story is about this message from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The article tells us that we use more resources (air, wood, water, etc.) from the Earth than the Earth has the capacity to renew. Initially I wanted to ignore this article remembering the environmental claims from the late 70s and 80s of how the ice at the poles will completely melt by 2000 and how world oil reserves would be dry by 1995 and such. My tendency is to ignore fatalistic warnings like this about our environment. However the clearly stated statistics provided in this article really knocked me out.
The article whispers "America sucks!" into my ear, and I fully agree. Obviously its not reasonable to compare the resource consumption of the average American citizen to that of the average third world citizen. However when an organization like the WWF has proof that Americans are using twice as many resources as other industrialized nations it really scares me. Citizens of Asia use resources consuming about 3.46 acres of land, whereas Europeans require 12.35 and Americans require 23.71.
Hmm, could it be that the average American lifestyle is based on an utterly carefree attitude regarding the environment (don't even think of using 'recycling' in America's defense). Hmm, could it be that America is one of the very very few industrialized nations to not have any sort of legitimate mass transit architecture. Hmm, could it be that Americans are complacent to a stupefying degree when it comes to changing their SUV and big house enriched lifestyle. Hmm, could it be that the "super size it" culture is taking a toll in a way where it can't easily be seen. Hmm, could it be that most Americans are too stupid to see the fact that America is not its own magical planet but a country on the planet Earth. I am not afraid to claim that the American citizenry is a veritable repository of ignorance. The common attitude is, "I'm okay and happy now, who cares?" Or the even more ignorant and common opinion, "Land of the free man! Get off my back!" America is truly a delinquent world citizen and needs to have the smack laid down upon it. The claim that economic stability is directly dependent on a lax attitude towards the environment is not valid. I don't even want to get into the whole business of Bush and Cheney bending over for the oil industry which in turn is sleeping with the auto industry.
I think articles like this are true even in today's economic climate. Another article that comes to mind is one I remember reading at the height of the .com boom. It was a piece I read in the SF Weekly about Veblen. Veblen was the man who invented the term "conspicuous consumption." He was a wickedly thorough critic on the fat leisure class and he made the, still valid argument that many in today's world form a direct link between their self-esteem and the possession of material goods. I offer this quote I recall coming across sometime ago, "Americans would start killing themselves when they realize there is nothing left to buy." I feel that quote eerily embodies the culture we in America live in.
One of the key problems is that Americans have gotten used to having information fed into their head from profit oriented media organizations. (Notice I did not use the word news in that previous sentence.) I would really like to see stats on how many American's read news daily that comes from a non-profit and/or non-American and/or "non-conglomeratized" media organization.
I think this article (so happy I saved it locally) in the New York Times Magazine should have been hyped a lot more than it was. Here is quote from the article to whet your appetite, "What grocery-store item is more silent about its origins than a shrink-wrapped steak?" Also if you have interest at all in just figuring out what's going on with the American food industry then you have to check out Peter Singer's Animal Liberation and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation.
I'm not at all trying to make a case for vegetarianism or veganism, but these books and the article lay bare the mechanisms that make the American food industry tick. If more people knew how their food gets to them and what impact their meal has on the world I think there might even be some change in attitude, a slight awakening if you will. Once again though I cannot ignore the complacency so prevalent in America.
America is not the only one in the world that's fucking up. I know this and I'm not blind to it. However, being quite possibly the most influential (except in France) nation in the world automatically places responsibilities upon America that it cannot ignore. Ignore it has though and to a wretchedly grandiose scale.
If changes are not made, drastically or gradually, humanity will face massive famines and mortality rates that would make the European plagues look like birthing season. If you don't believe me or think I'm crazy here is simple logic: vital resources needed for survival will become scarce. Now apply the concept of supply and demand. Anything that's in low supply will have high prices. As it is most of the citizens in third world countries, a staggeringly large group, can't afford many things (medicine, iodine, clean water, etc.) considered necessary for a reasonable survival. Mortality rates will be catastrophic and will continue to rise until the population thins out leaving behind a human population that the Earth can once again support.
I don't want to imagine a future of where the fat, rich, self-centered, corporate bastards of the world survive and carry on the torch for humanity.
Posted by Mr. Keyur at July 11, 2002 01:06 AM