Posted this today to an article on urban sprawl at Alternet.
Redefining the 'Good Life'
[Report this comment] Posted by: wisewebwoman on Dec 14, 2006 9:22 AM
And this is what it's all about, right? When did we get it all so twisted and why? I know couples, empty-nesters, living in McMansions of 5 bathrooms. When did we ever think we would need all these space for two people? The word that comes to mind is obscene. A disease of 'more' has taken over the nation, fed by mass media corporate marketing and our incompetent governments who encourage the auto industry, sixteen lane highways running everywhere, lack of funding for urban enhancement, transit and off-the-grid self sustenance. Every time I see a Hummer I look at the driver in shock and awe at the overwhelming moronic instinct that tells him (and they are all 'hims') that this is OK, to drive this gas belching behemoth through a city street on his way to his McDrive in Suburbia to join others of his ilk.
Yes, I live in a small one bathroom in the city, affordable, I rent out half of it to a tenant and have bought some acreage, cheaply in the country and am investigating off the grid living out there for the coming crisis and it will be a crisis, the free sprawling ride is over, wake-up everyone and put plans in motion today. Turn off the TVs, get out in your communities and look around you, stand on a bridge overlooking a highway at oxymoronic 'rush-hour' and think of oil. Ending. Soon.