Democrat or Republican (or other), few people I have encountered want a government that tells us what to eat, what to drink, where to live, what to drive, how much to drive, how much to exercise, how to raise our children, etc. But when it comes to dealing with problems, we expect the government to solve things immediately. We want lower taxes, but we want the roads we use to be pot-hole free and we want our local schools to be superior. We want the government to let us drive whatever car we want, but we also want low gas prices. We want to eat however much we want, but we complain when our health insurance is expensive. We want the right to live right on the water, but we want clean lakes, rivers and oceans to play in.
The problem is, life is full of compromises. We have to exercise personal responsibility if we expect the government to have the time and resources to solve the real problems.
Many of the problems that we face today, and upon which we demand action by the government, could be lessened if Americans exercised more responsibility for their own actions.
Let’s take a group of problems many of us complain about, which are really connected. Traffic congestion, air pollution, gas prices, and our dependence on foreign oil. For that matter, lets throw in our expanding waistlines and our desire for having some pristine wilderness areas left. We want to be able to drive the car of our choice, we want to be able to drive whenever we want, and we want to be slim and muscular. We don’t want high gas prices, we don’t want to be exporting our energy dollars to the Middle East or to Venezuela, we don’t want all our pristine lands and waters scarred by drilling operations and the infrastructure necessary to support them, and we don’t want to sit in traffic jams. These desires cannot all be met. Sorry, but it just doesn’t work that way. At some point, there must be some compromise. Would you rather compromise on your own terms, or on government-imposed terms?
A simple solution to many of these problems would be for Americans to change their relationships with their cars. Rather than viewing our autos as some outward symbol of our strength and buying power, something to be used for the least little need of moving our bodies from one place to another, we need to view our cars as ONE option among many for getting from place to place, and JUST as transportation, not as the equivalent of couture fashion with which to make our superiority over our neighbors visible to all.
The U.S. produces 10% of the world’s oil, and consumes 24% of the world’s oil (2006 data, EIA). Of the oil we use, 47% of that goes to powering our cars as gasoline. Another 23% goes to diesel and to home heating oil. The rest goes to other uses like jet fuels, asphalt, propane, but also things like bubble gum, crayons, deodorant, plastics, etc. How much effort would it really take for us to use 10, even 20, percent less of these products? Most of us could live just fine with not getting plastic bags from the grocery store. One less plastic use. Most of us could get to work and run our errands just as well in a more fuel efficient vehicle, without any loss of function, safety, and probably for less cost. Most of us could even ride our bikes, or walk some of the places to which we normally drive. But for some reason, at least up until the recent rise in gas prices, few people have made these changes. Where I used to live, there was a Wal-mart and a Home Depot separated by less than 1/4 mile of parking lot. Most people would DRIVE from the Wal-mart to the Home Depot. Is that a sign of anything but laziness and excess consumption? Probably, a number of these people complain about not being able to fit into their old skinny clothes, too…and yet they can’t walk across a parking lot? Reducing our dependence on our cars, especially on our big gas-guzzling cars, could go a long way towards reducing all the above problems. More car-pooling or use of public transportation means less demand for oil in general, and thus less dependence on imports, reduces pollution and clears up some traffic congestion. Walking or riding bikes when possible, whether for commuting or running errands, reduces demand for oil, traffic congestion, air pollution, and is a good form of exercise. And probably, these changes are easier to deal with than being forced to do something.
It is always tempting to see our own wants and needs as more important than those of others. Why should _I_ drive a little, fuel-efficient car when no one else does? Why should _I_ have to break a sweat riding my bike to work when others drive? And sure, we all have busy days when maybe it really is necessary to save 30 minutes by driving back and forth to the pharmacy to pick up shampoo when it might be a walkable distance otherwise. But we need to change our outlook, and demand responsibility by ourselves and others if we want to solve all of these problems.
In many cases, being more responsible in our consumption of resources actually leads to improvements in quality of life as well. Getting more exercise is good for our health. Commuting on a bus or train instead of by car means you have a passive commute, and can read, sleep, pay attention to the morning news, or catch up on work during your commute time. Buying a smaller car that uses less fuel means you have more money left over for other things–and more than enough money is saved that you can rent a larger car on the rare occasions that you need more space. Even making choices at the store that save fuel in the big picture–like buying local produce, or buying less processed foods–often translate into healthier and tastier choices. Trust me, there is a big difference in taste between produce that is grown locally and not picked way before it is ripe in order to be trucked thousands of miles. If you are someone who hates to clean house, or who can never seem to keep things in their correct place, you’ll find that simply acquiring less stuff saves you a lot of time cleaning and neatening the house. Think about the things that truly bring quality to your life, and you’ll probably find that it is not the size of your car or your option of getting new plastic bags every time you go the store. If more Americans make changes that can positively impact both themselves and others, we will go a long ways towards solving some of the problems that we currently demand our politicians solve–and positive change will happen a lot faster.
UPDATE: Check out this view of our carbon-emitting for another way of thinking about our excesses and their impacts on demands for natural resources…and needs vs. wants.
