The Suicide of an Entitled Society

I’m currently very interested in the research and critique of the oil-dependent society that is America, and the inevitability of its collapse as we exhaust the resources upon which it’s built. Americans have a notorious consumerism, fueled by a very drastic society-wide sentiment of entitlement. Our actions are driven by notions of privilege, and our purchasing power is reflected in materialism- spending increasing amounts of money to sustain a throw-away economy.

It’s incredible the amount of prerogative Americans feel when it comes to what they do with their income; much of our economy is powered by superfluous and thoughtless spending. We buy something simply because we can- not because we necessarily need it and certainly not because it’s the best ethical purchase, but because we feel entitled to it. Ambitions of wealth are actually ambitions of materialism, because our monetary value is represented not simply by a bank account but is somehow translated into the cars we drive (one each for work, snow, and play), the brand of our shoes- the nonchalance of our empty spending on superficial things like coffee in paper cups, fresh grapes in January, or bottled water in the check-out lane. We are programmed to buy things simply because they’re there and we have the means by which to acquire them, and give no consideration to the actual cost of a particular item- the petroleum-derived plastic of our candy wrapper or the drastic amounts of water and grain necessary to create one 12-ounce steak. We see no difference between peaches in June and those in November, and are ignorant to the amount of energy involved in providing them out of season. If it’s available to us, not only do we lack the urge to question it, but we feel entitled to it simply because it exists- and therefore exists for us.

The problem is, however, that we will eventually exhaust those resources upon which we’ve depended for a couple generations, and our established suburbia-craze will soon prove to be a sealed fate. As oil production peaks and then declines, so too will a society dependent on it. No longer will people be able to afford a false sense of security in their huge sport utility vehicles and sprawling, artificially green suburb lawns. And no longer will we be able to afford to have pineapple shipped from halfway across the world simply so we can enjoy upside-down cake on Christmas. It has long passed time for our society to fully comprehend the cost of its wasteful ideals and begin to once-again value necessity and rationale over materialism. Stop acquiescing to the demands of a mislead country and begin to question the emptiness of our superfluous economy. We aren’t the greatest country in the world and, despite that frighteningly widespread sentiment, we are not entitled to exploit the world’s resources at our leisure. Ignorance may be bliss, but its past time we stop hiding behind our ignorance as an excuse to continue our destructive habits. Stop urban sprawl and fight the “bigger-is-better” mentality. Be proactive about the fate of the world’s environments and economies; make changes in your own life before they’re forced upon you by the collapse of what fuels our cars and country.

And stop driving your damn Ford F450’s a mile to the grocery store just to fill its cab with plastic bags.