May 13, 2008

Stuff

The Indians are outraged that President Bush and Secretary Rice blamed rising food prices on developing nations such as India and China. In fact, my Indians are suggesting that Americans go on a diet because they say that Americans consume the most of food of any nation in the world. They may be on to something. It wouldn't hurt us to cut back some of our outrageous consumption. I read that the average American consumes 3700 calories per day. That's a lot of calories, especially when viewed from behind. I'm hoping that all this angst over the rising price of everything will help us all to think more, buy less and buy smarter. In the short term it might be painful, but overall it seems that cutting back will be good for everyone. How many of use are driving around alone in a car of truck that will comfortably seat three to five adults? That makes no sense and the rising price of gas is driving that point home. Pun intended. We buy food based on convenience, not quality or economy. We buy almost everything for that little extra feature, and not for utility. If I can't download movies to my cellphone will my life suck? Probably not. There are always alternatives to the choices we make about spending our hard-earned cash. We may not like the alternatives, but they are there. Harder times will help us figure that out. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky

7 comments:

dennis said...

Dennis is shocked by the number 3700 calories. That's a lot of doritos and gravy.

taco said...

I had to start cutting way back a few years ago.

Taco Wayne Fetishist

Flawed And Disorderly said...

Doritos and gravy. YUM!

alicesg said...

Sigh! I am a rice eater but I do have alternatives too I eat others beside rice and we, Chinese dont believe in wasting rice, we eat every single grain on our plate/bowl so that we wont get pimples on our face....lolol.

I think prices go up because of speculation on rice, coffee, sugar, etc.

Just looked at the price of gold. It is scary. It had gone too high.

Nan Patience said...

Good post, Merle, and you're just the guy to write it, as someone who's been thinking and doing this forever.

For most people, there seems to be an emotional hardship involved in cutting back. It's a powerful cocktail of panic, anger, and sadness that is rather irrational. Or is it? When you think about how most people on the planet live, and how forces are sucking Americans dry of our lifeblood, one can begin to see how low we can go.

Steve Reed said...

Nan's totally right. Remember how vilified Jimmy Carter was back in the '70s when he urged Americans to conserve? We HATE it when people tell us to consume less. What a bunch of spoiled brats!

(Of course, Jimmy Carter was vilified for other reasons too, some deserved and some not...)

Kurt said...

Especially when viewed from behind, indeed!