Junkie Thinking.

An odd byproduct of the recent sub prime crisis/credit crisis/oil crisis/fill in the blank crisis is that people are finally beginning to look at their spending habits. Driving less, Daycations, Staycations, one tank getaways, are all the rage this summer holiday season. Less credit is being issued; people are focusing on paying off their debt instead of amassing more. People are coming to grips with what a bad idea it is to use a house as savings account, and challenging the logic of buying a new full sized SUV once every 3 years.

We got a lot of bad habits to break, and a lot of learned behavior to unlearn.

Previous generations seemed to embrace all too well the ideas of buying things you couldn’t afford on time, spending more than you had, and keeping up with the “Joneses“. A lifestyle that also seemed to place a whole lot of faith in the idea that “technology will fix it” or the “I’ll be dead long before it’s a problem so why worry?” mentality.

Just the other day I saw some doughy, clueless talking head proudly and very casually declare “I believe in the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of America. Technology will solve this oil crisis.” The problem is, that has been the battle cry since the 70’s, the first time this country had an “Oil Crisis”. All technology has done since then is find faster ways to pull oil out of the ground, and more ways to consume it once it’s out.

These same talking heads think all of our problems would be solved if only we could drill more. “The liberals in the government are pandering to the crazy Environmentalists. If only we could drill in the Gulf, and Anwar, and Colorado, then we would have more than enough oil.” Sure, just drill more, that will solve the problems. East coast, west coast, arctic, Rockies, drill in mama’s back yard. Get more oil and the day is saved. The solution is always to get more, never to use less.

It’s junkie thinking. Trust me, I know. When a junkie is hurting, whether it’s smoking, drinking, weed, smack, crack, burgers, whatever the drug of choice is, the thought process is very rarely “Wow, if I kicked this habit, I wouldn’t have to go through this feeling ever again.” More often than not it’s “How do I get MORE. How do I get more, and cheaper, and faster.”

Describing this country as “Addicted to cheap oil” isn’t to far from the truth.

Our parents and their parents ignored the warning signs. Ignored the fact that OPEC had our number, ignored the fact that more and more of the things that we depend on every day were coming from farther and farther away, ignored the fact that we were slowly losing our ability to sustain ourselves.

Our parents and grand parents consumed and wasted finite resources and now history expects us to clean up the mess. I’m made to feel guilty if I don’t rinse, flatten, and recycle every soup can. The plastics and processing that were worshiped as marvels in the 50’s are being linked to the autism, cancer, and lower sperm counts of today. We are expected to foot the bill for all the toxic sludge, nuclear waste and plastic bags buried generations before we were born.

A whole lot of though went in to figuring out what we could do instead of thinking about what we should do. And that is the kind of thinking that has to change.

We have been over consuming and under saving, counting on some future generation to solve the problems that the previous generations spent so much time and energy creating.

The upside of the mess that we are in currently is this “Borrowing from the future” kind of mentality that has existed in this country for way too long is being highlighted, and even though it’s almost by force, people are beginning to cut back and once again live within their means.

The down side is our unfortunate short attention span. Microwave dinners, 300 channels and the 24 hour news cycle have taken it’s toll. If we woke up tomorrow and gas was $2.00 a gallon again, all of the progress that has been made, and I do think that there has been progress, will be lost.

The first step in getting clean is admitting that you have a problem. The second step is changing your habits to do something about it.

Save More, Consume Less.
Take it Back.

~ by takinitback on May 27, 2008.