A Buddhist Response to Climate Change, Part 3
April 9, 2008 The Cause: Us
For the past 150 years, we were slowly drawn in by cheap, accessible energy. It became inevitable that the environmental costs of pollution and resource depletion, not borne by consumers, would fall on others. In time, as health care problems arose, these costs were borne by taxpayers who were not quite sure exactly where their tax dollars went. But as long as the system seemed to be working, few people were inclined to ask questions. Periodically a story would be on the news—the deplorable conditions miners labored under, increasing cancer rates, inequality issues—but people did not connect the dots. Most were engrossed with the commercials after the news and dreaming of what to buy next.
How did they get to this point? As consumers, after World War II, Americans became caught up in the government promoted dream of owning a house in the suburbs. There was seemingly endless land, government programs and loans for the soldiers returning home, and lots of cheap oil to power the dream. So Americans in record numbers began moving to the new suburbs. Dad drove into the city to work while Mom stayed home and looked after the children. It seemed idyllic.
But somewhere along the way, the dream of suburbia became complicated. People got caught up in the tragically mistaken idea that possessions and experiences would make them happy. The message they kept hearing was “more is better.” Gradually, the houses became larger and families found themselves separated as grown children, now with their own dreams of an idyllic life, left home to work in other places.
But without the grandparents around to help care for the children, Mom needed to get a job to help pay for childcare. Dad found he needed to work longer hours to be able to afford all the good things they wanted for their children. Short on time, the parents turned to the new electronic help. Dishwashers, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners were soon deemed household necessities. The number of ‘must have” electronic appliances increased as more products came to market. But with planned obsolescence carefully calculated to increase corporate profits, the cars and all the other modern gadgetry needed to be frequently replaced. Since there was so much land and so many garbage dumps, the no longer wanted goods were simply thrown away. Plastic, polystyrene and other petroleum by-products that would take centuries to break down ended up at dumpsites. Toxins began to leach into the soil and groundwater. But it was okay because there was so much land.
As the list of modern conveniences grew, time-honored household skills were deemed old-fashioned and unnecessary in the modern world. The victory gardens that were a major source of food during the war gave way to lawns and flower beds. There was no need to cook anymore because there were TV dinners and prepared foods that could be quickly heated up by a Mom now very tired from working all day at the office or factory. There was no need to personally preserve foods anymore because there were lots of canned and frozen food in the supermarket. Dad forgot the skills he had learned from his father because it was now easier to hire people to do what needed to be done. Plus, he had all those timesaving power tools and could easily buy ready-made items at the store. People, hooked on the electronic marvels to do their work, became increasingly dependent on all the cheap energy that powered their lifestyles.
Today, none of this has changed. We see people buying larger houses to store all the new electronic gear. The children, seeing Mom and Dad buying more, want their own televisions and computers just like all their friends have. Families might gather to eat dinner at the same time, but Dad and the children often heat up their own food in the microwave even though Mom has prepared dinner for everyone. After throwing away the microwavable containers, tossing the pizza carton in the trash, and putting the cutlery in the dishwasher, parents and children go to their own rooms. They then immerse themselves in their home entertainment centers or play games on their computers until it is time to go to sleep. Then in the morning, it’s time to get up and begin all over again.
And so we have the American dream today, a dream that many people around the world want to have. But this is a dream gone terribly wrong.
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