[Paleopsych] priorities

[Michael Christopher]

>>That's pretty alarming stuff, and some people may be
tempted to dismiss Roberts's and Klare's analyses as
anti-Bush, anti-oil rhetoric. But the questions they
raise transcend approval or disapproval of any one
administration, and go to the core of whether any
country can -- purposefully and without vast
disruptions -- make the transition from an economy
dependent on one finite resource to an economy based
on renewable, nonpolluting resources.<<

--I'm beginning to wonder what it takes for people to
prefer a small sacrifice by a lot of people to a large
sacrifice by a designated minority. We won't pay
higher taxes or reduce consumption of finite energy,
because the sacrifice falls on those who enlist in the
military, with a national debt running up from
military spending that falls to later generations.
What would it take for us to prefer a smaller
sacrifice that everyone participates in (i.e. walking
more, driving less, driving more fuel efficient cars,
etc), as opposed to a designated "sacrificial
minority"?

Are problems and solutions just not real to us until
they become a fad in the media? Is it a lack of
compelling visuals rendering powerful verbal warnings
and suggestions "media impotent"? Or are people
consciously unwilling to change their lifestyle, aware
of the sacrififes that fall on others? What do
sociology, psychology and history say about the
shifting of consequences and the tipping point where
greater numbers take responsibility, prodded by
escalating consequences for mass behavior?

Michael 








		
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