Slashdot Mirror
The Problem With Abundance
GRW writes "Peter de Jager, "a speaker/writer/consultant on the issues relating to the Rational Assimilation of the Future", asks, 'What do traffic jams, obesity and spam have in common?' He answers that 'they are all problems caused by abundance in a world more attuned to scarcity. By achieving the goal of abundance, technology renders the natural checks and balances of scarcity obsolete.' His article is a thought provoking discussion of the unintended consequences of technological change."
You have SUV envy. Admit it.
You know what. What business is it of yours what free citizens purchase for their transportation. You are smug and inconsiderate. You could care less about the environmental impact of SUV. You are just simply jealous that you are not cool enough or make enough bank to roll around town in one.
In America a car is a status symbol. It is a direct extension of yourself. It is an American thing. We love cars. Muscle cars, fast cars, big trucks. We love them like we love our mothers. They are our constant companion. They stick with us when things are going good and when we are thrown out into the street. You car, truck, SUV will be a part of you.
The demonization of the SUV needs to stop. It is anti-american, those who torch and hate people who own or drive SUV/Trucks need to seek therapy.
Let me present a analogy not a strawman as people falsely call it.
Lets say I am crusing the internet on a big bad 14.4modem. I am taking up little bandwidth and it serves its purpose. What if I reach a website to download a file and I don't get the full throughput of the site because it is bogged down with people using big bad cable-modems sucking up all the capacity of the server. Should I hate on cable modem and dsl line users or should I take a look at my pitiful connection.