Semblance of Hope
I think there might be a chance that the US and the world will eventually claw their way out of this recession; it’s probably going to take a long time and I’m sure we’ll hear way too much of what Wall Street bankers and Main Street CEOs have to say in the coming months. But I felt just a little bit of hope the other day when Mimi asked me to check out a picture of something she thought was cool on the computer.
“Sure, just a second,” I replied in usual distracted parent mode and eventually made it over to where she was sitting in half an hour or so, after doing some dishes, hanging up some neglected clothing and otherwise tidying up in my somewhat anal-retentive way.
What she wanted to show me was an image of this three-wheeled electric sports car that’s apparently coming to the US market sometime later this year or next and the reason that gave me hope is that it made me feel like the consumerist impulses that are apparently so necessary to our economic survival aren’t going to go away, they’re just going to change.
In the same way I ogled a gas-guzzling 400 cubic inch V-8 engined 1969 Pontiac GTO “Judge” when I was 12 years old, she’s drawn to a similarly sporty number only this one, presumably, won’t summon the demise of civilization as we know it quite so quickly.
Now, of course, our only real hope of human survival is for all of us to rein in our appetites altogether, but since that’s less likely to happen, it’s probably a step in the right direction for youngsters to covet stuff that might be somewhat sustainable, at least in the shorter term.
Moreover, as hopeful as this made me, it’s not as if the example assuaged all my concerns about humanity’s future; it’s not, after all, like she showed me a picture of a human-powered sports car.
“Sure, just a second,” I replied in usual distracted parent mode and eventually made it over to where she was sitting in half an hour or so, after doing some dishes, hanging up some neglected clothing and otherwise tidying up in my somewhat anal-retentive way.
What she wanted to show me was an image of this three-wheeled electric sports car that’s apparently coming to the US market sometime later this year or next and the reason that gave me hope is that it made me feel like the consumerist impulses that are apparently so necessary to our economic survival aren’t going to go away, they’re just going to change.
In the same way I ogled a gas-guzzling 400 cubic inch V-8 engined 1969 Pontiac GTO “Judge” when I was 12 years old, she’s drawn to a similarly sporty number only this one, presumably, won’t summon the demise of civilization as we know it quite so quickly.
Now, of course, our only real hope of human survival is for all of us to rein in our appetites altogether, but since that’s less likely to happen, it’s probably a step in the right direction for youngsters to covet stuff that might be somewhat sustainable, at least in the shorter term.
Moreover, as hopeful as this made me, it’s not as if the example assuaged all my concerns about humanity’s future; it’s not, after all, like she showed me a picture of a human-powered sports car.
posted by Professor Dave at 5:35 PM
2 Comments:
Paul Harvey died over the weekend, and they did a story on him on NPR yesterday with a quote that reminded me of you, Dave. They were talking about how Harvey used and seemingly believed in all the products he advertised on his show - and was paid millions to do so - and remembered how Harvey had said that if it wasn't for advertising, people in the US would be still be what the Russians mostly still were - "bearded bicyclists with B.O." - something to aspire to!
Local bike stuff
http://shadycyclist.blogspot.com/
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