Can Americans Really Cut Back on Consumption?

The image below (via The Oil Drum) is from Nate Hagens' letter #2 to President Obama regarding the country's energy future. The question of the day, it seems, is whether America's new found energy conservation is just a passing fancy or a long-term trend.
Whether the overweight and grotesque Mr. McDonald decides to change his ways is key to what the world will look like in a few years assuming, of course, that the global economy eventually pulls up out of its recent tailspin.

It doesn't sound as though a permanent transition will be easy:

Our species in general and Americans in particular have the wiring and drive to be consumptive machines. No matter how many goods we acquire over time, our pecuniary desires seem to increase faster than our acquisitions. Combine this with our mirror neurons, between-and-within-nation aspiration gaps (based on biologic underpinnings of relative fitness), an evolutionary penchant for waste, a built in drive to outcompete, a culture that fosters keeping up with the Joneses with a high % of Veblen goods, and you get a frenetic feedback loop that has a vast plurality of Americans now Jonesing, many nearly broke, obese, and a fair number realizing, without knowing the details, that something is amiss.
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Demand Side Summary===> We are hard-wired to compete, and our brains are easily hijacked and confused by modern stimuli. Both these aspects lead to incredible wastes of energy and resources. It is the most politically difficult area, but also the one with lots of low hanging fruit.

Over the last few decades, the world has gotten used to over-consuming Americans. Given where things stand today, it's not clear whether we can live with that, or without it.

Comments

[vpratt:]

Questions of celestial proportions. I wonder if we can possibly get "there" from "here". I don't REALLY want to rewire my neighbor's brain. But what would a beginning of change even look like?

I'm not an Egyptologist, but if I recall correctly, they had a "Book of the Dead" in which living people made declarations about their lives and what kind of human beings they tried to be, hoping for a good afterlife. I will make a start:

I did not drink from plastic bottles
I did not drive a big car.
I did not eat that which was wasteful to produce.
I did not throw away that which could be recycled.
I did not buy appliances or electronics without reading the power requirements.

Every religion has a reward system. We SHOULD be familiar with the concept. I have about ten years left on this planet. NO SINGLE PART of it was ever really mine! It was all just borrowed from the future. The joke that "life is a game and he who dies with the most toys wins" is just that, a joke!

Jan 16 09:08 AM

[falstaff:]

Tim, I actually had the same thought and posted as much on another site...I think the consumerism genie is out of the bottle here and can't be put back in easily. Couple this with an attention span of about 3 days for anything and I have a feeling we will be back in the malls to make ourselves feel better about our situation say by June....

Jan 16 11:56 AM

[a. palmer jr.:]

How about..I will not buy new items until I really need them.

Jan 16 12:18 PM

[henarl:]

To answer the title question - probably not on an individual basis and, collectively, not unless we stop population increase and it's growth based economy.
However, it's not just Americans. Most of the rest of the world now aspires to emulate our "want it all and want it now" lifestyle. Only dire necessity will alter that universal human mindset.

Jan 16 02:26 PM

[SteveB/Colo...:]

I think it may be easier than it sounds. I was raised in the '60s by parents who went through the great depression. Conservation of resources was a given in our household (I understand that may not be true for those born late in the baby boom and later). But it wasn't a "deprived childhood" either.

I have a small SUV as I go (legally) off highway occasionally to access some backcountry trailheads. I keep my highway speed to 65 or less; not an easy task living out here in the wide open spaces of the West. I cut back on miles driven in 2008 by about 4,000 from 2007. I recycle junk mail, newspaper, aluminum, cardboard, plastic bottles. Several churches in my neighborhood have recycle bins. I keep my thermostat at 62-64 by day; 56-58 at night; and open all my south facing window blinds for "free heat" during the day. I don't run an air conditioner in the summer, but have several ceiling fans.

I can go on and on. I think it's a case of those of us who believe in conservation, and in saving money from such practices, to lead by example in our communities.

Jan 16 02:39 PM

[regionswork:]

It seems we are hard-wired to be deceived and then defend the deception as truth. We also don't much care for the following generations. Advertising encouraged us and the generators of easy credit led those that would, into pits of debt. Not being our brother's keeper, the crash has brought us all down as well. What we've done with money we are likely to do with energy. As living crash-test-dummies for our built environment, it is time to look within at the wiring and do some cultural updating given the physical limits of earth. That would include actually caring in the present for the generations to follow, not to mention the completion of our own life journeys. Want is unlimited, but what we need now and in the future, is a greater community approach to humanity. We are all in this together. Local, regional, state, national and international networks could work more harmoniously without the frenetic need for success and wealth now! A longer time horizon for achievement of goals, individual and corporate, public and private, is needed. We are engaged in a relay race where the legs themselves are marathons, not sprints. If we don' self manage, we'll get smacked.

Jan 16 08:53 PM

[Tony Petroski:]

Americans used to be free to do what they wanted. Those with an inclination chose to become Monks and live in a Monkery (thank you Victor Borge). They consumed little, produced little and attempted spiritual oneness with God. Others wanted big, fast cars, saved their money, bought those cars, and burned up gasoline. Those that wanted to help the homeless, went to the homeless shelter and helped the homeless.

Now we are being forced into a channel, like it or not, in which we have to save the planet, go green and curl up in the fetal position to please the secularist Monks whose highest value is to committ suicide in order that we no longer infest the planet with our presence. Well I have news for you guys: some of us are going to go on consuming, and we ain't going to roll up and die!

Jan 16 09:21 PM

[solarwindmilli:]

There could be no better investment in America than to invest in America becoming energy independent! We need to utilize everything in out power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil including using our own natural resources. Create cheap clean energy, new badly needed green jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. OPEC will continue to cut production until they achieve their desired 80-100. per barrel. The high cost of fuel this past year seriously damaged our economy and society. Oil is finite. We are using oil globally at the rate of 2X faster than new oil is being discovered. We need to take some of these billions in bail out bucks and bail ourselves out of our dependence on foreign oil. Jeff Wilson has a really good new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. He explores our uses of oil besides gasoline, our depletion, out reserves and stores as well as viable options to replace oil.Oil is finite, it will run out in the not too distant future. WE need to take some of these billions in bail out bucks and bail America out of it's dependence on foreign oil. The historic high price of gas this past year did serious damage to our economy and society. WE should never allow others to have that much power over our economy again. I wish every member of congress would read this book too.
themanhattanprojectof2...

Jan 17 09:30 AM

[bigmoney:]

consumerism meshes with productivity, and its sometimes hard to distinguish what is mindless, and what is useful. Late model German cars might seem wasteful, but to many, they convey status, which improves their social standing, business reputation, and ability to make more money and attract and keep women.

If your $300/hr lawyer lived in a trailer, and drove a 1987 Chevy Chevette, and only communicated by old fashioned telephone, what would you think? Same thing for real estate agents, and other image sensitive professions. Perhaps computer geeks can get away with being quasi hippie, but those that want to get into management have to improve their image, which means running the consumerism treadmill.

Jan 17 11:47 AM