Monday, January 10, 2011

A Letter to James Howard Kunstler

On January 10, 2011, at 10:22 AM JHK wrote:

"Obviously car-dependency has us by the short hairs."

Yes, very obviously. But what if we made it a national, world around campaign to reduce automobile usage in the US by 80% in the next 20 to 40 years? It would be better than leading the depressing "cheers" of the certain doomers, wouldn't it? Sure it's Eutopian (in keeping the delusion of hope alive, I use Mumford's term for "good place") and it seeks to revive the teachings of MacKaye (The New Exploration -1928), who was ignored.

Sure, you've got your niche as Chief Doomer, and I respect your work and wish in my heart of hearts that we could live out the rest of our lives trying to avert catastrophe rather than trumpeting it.

Even wearing your best Cynic hat, look inside yourself and see that if there could be a niche for thee proposing a solution. We understand the problem. We have prescriptive answers. Now, what we need is to make those answers part of the language of every day discussion. To alert those who have influence over discourse that this is the most fundamental issue facing survival. To get the people to understand their entrapment from their flukish History and to understand that working together, in cooperation and solidarity, we may be able to offer a future for the progeny.

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