When Survival Became Uncool

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

There were so many positive things going on in the seventies and early eighties. Most things I recall were a spring boarded off the hippie aesthetic which was a reaction to the war in Viet Nam. Peace, Love, self -sustainability and a distrust of the government because they just always seemed to do the wrong things and make the bad decisions. The huge recession of the time as well as gas lines made people frugal.There was a rejection of materialism. We took the warning of Silent Spring seriously. Remember the Whole Earth catalogue? Diet for a Small Planet? People driving small cars and bragging about gas mileage?

In many areas of the country 2x6 construction became popular primarily because of the insulating qualities and overall strength of construction. Remember when you could get actual tax breaks for doing solar stuff to your house to conserve energy? Energy conservation was an aesthetic that was popular.

Reagan comes in and boom! it's like that stuff was zapped by an actual ray gun. We morphed overnight into the big- hair, polyester shoulder-pad stock market Gorden Gekko Greed is Good crowd. The natural evolution of which is our current over-extended Hummer driving McMansion dwelling populace. No concern whatsoever with conservation or any modesty of life choices. Not only will we conserve energy, we will expend EXTRA energy, because damn it, we've earned it and we deserve it. The building in our suburbs reflects our hubris- crappy materials, soaring, heat-wasting entrance halls, fake Roman columns, baths big enough to house 2 Third World families, 4 car garages, and on and on.

There was a road not taken when Reagen replaced Carter. What if we had continued with the Conservation is Cool aesthetic? What if we had built effective mass transportation for our traffic clogged cities? If we had continued building smaller, beautiful, energy efficient homes and worked on creating even more fuel efficient cars? What if we had spent our war dollars on new energies so we weren't enslaved be ME oil? Too bad Consumption replaced Conservation as being stylish. And now we drip with perspiration and pray that our deregulated, undermaintained utility will keep our power on so we don't literally die from the heat.

There was a complete failure of imagination and leadership from our avaricious, self-serving, war-machine leaders who did not care or take seriously global warming or environmental consequences of our actions and inactions and who ridiculed and demeaned those who did as "tree huggers". Strange, because unless they really are building underground bunker cities for themselves, they and their families will dehydrate and expire along with the rest of us.

Because, damn it, we've earned it and we deserve it.

[liberal N proud]

1. Raygun had to kill conservation because there was not enough $$

for the big business and oil companies.

Great commentary!
:yourock:

[Berserker]

2. Consumption replaced Conservation as being stylish

Great post. Consume consume consume.

[hamerfan]

3. K & R!

An absolutely great piece and I couldn't agree more. Just to imagine where we would be if the Gordon Gekko syndrome hadn't happened. Such idealism, it reminds me of me, except you are much more eloquent. Thanks for the post.
dumpbush

[we can do it]

4. Wow - You Said It

We still practice conservation, small cars, recycling, reel mower, largely whole-non processed foods, walking, smaller TV (NO CA-BULL) NOT because we have to, but because we want to.

[we can do it]

5. Can Someone Please Explain Fascination of Cheaply Constructed Minibarns

Cleverly disguised as new homes? I totally don't get it. Barely any windows, except in the "soaring foyer" with a cheesy brassy chandelier (GAK). And vaulted ceilings over what? Plastic trim that screams WALMART and paper thin doors. CHEAPCHEAPCHEAP -any strong wind and parts of cheap vinyl siding go blowing away....give me a break people. For this and other identical pieces of crap all the trees in the allotment were torn down as to not slow the development. What a freaking waste. Or farmland is similarly decimated so that people afraid of (fill in any minority) can be safely 30 minutes or more probably out of town......it sucks

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Reagan taped into the idiosyncratic American sentiment of unlimited

consumption is equated to being a proud American. Madison Avenue has been using this psychology both openly and subliminally for nearly a century. Americans wanted to feel good about themselves after the humiliation in the world through Vietnam and the Iranian take-over of the embassy in Tehran. They didn't feel like they were Number One. They weren't "the best". Reagan set out to "heal" a "troubled" nation with his optimism, his G.E. razzle-dazzle smile, and tough talk at the world. And yes, for the most part, America fell for it, and America fell for George W. Bush when he tried it. If Americans use consumption as the ultimate narcotic, they won't care what their government does otherwise. More, more, more. Never enough. And to be denied more, more, more to them is a blow to their very existence, to their sanity.

Pathetic.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

17. that is a really well stated rationale for why the turn to materialism

I've always been kind of confused as to exactly why that happened. You helped clear away some of the fog.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

7. Al Gore and Dennis Kucinich are the only leaders who have a grip

on this. They should be our ticket.

[dweller]

8. Dream Ticket

my thanks to Kleeb for the photo.
dp

[TAPat]

9. Dream Ticket !

YES! :patriot:

[LisaLynne]

10. Well said.

We didn't used to all be like this -- greedy, materialistic, selfish. It doesn't have to be this way.

[Sonicmedusa]

11. Great post!

[lectrobyte]

12. Excellent post. I've long felt that Carter's loss to Reagan was a

turning point where we started down the wrong path.

[Joanne98]

13. I seem to remember that Hollywood had a lot do to with making

greed cool. They also made a police state cool too, with their fucking cop shows. Thanx Hollywood.

[hamerfan]

14. But Joanne,

This is the "librul Hollywood elite" you're talking about. THEY couldn't do anything to advance the conservative cause could they? :sarcasm:
dumpbush

[thefuzz811]

15. Media has a lot to do with it.

They glorify celebrities. People, US, all those trash magazines. Then you have MTV with Cribs. The ugly houses full of fine italian leather sofas, in door heated pool, even though they live in LA. Oh, lets not forget the cars. They have every model Hummer, and SUV imaginable. How many ways can I destroy the earth? Instead of spending money on an inefficient house, they could spend it on education development. Better yet, why don't they pay the people that make their uniforms, balls, and other expensive gear more. They don't realize that they are living a luxury lifestyle on the backs of other people, while destroying the planet.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

16. Remember - the "I'd Like to Buy the World A Coke" ad was NOT ironic

Think about that for a moment. Here you have a giant company trying to tap into the spirit of "one worldness" and "unity" and "peace" as the dominant zeitgeist. Can we recapture the moment? I really don't know. Cynicism is a tough nut to crack.

By the way, thanks for these nice comments. I'd like to buy you all a . . a . . . chai! made from organic tea from plantations farmed by well-paid workers. :grouphug: