I know I'm no where near as articulate as most in diary entries but this thought suddenly struck me so please bear with me. I was talking to one of my conservative friends about the costs of fuel and the idea that those costs will never go down. I asked him if he was considering a more fuel efficient mode of transportation other than his SUV. He said "Never! While you libbies are riding around in your scooters eating your tofo and bean sprouts I'm going to be driving my 4 X 4 and eating steaks." I know this guy doesn't make that much money, and I know he can't afford to do that much driving and steak eating, so I tried to talk with him about social Darwinism and the fact that he can't survive unless he learned to adapt to our changing world.
Of course we all know we have an administration that has basically laughed and joked at the idea of global warming and it's effect on climate, and their weakening of environmental laws would only make things worse. Their efforts are only going to hasten their demise.
Now, here we have a natural disaster that has done more damage than several nuclear weapons, coupled with a war that is continuing to cost billions. The solution from our administration is stay the course and drill for more oil in our more pristine areas like the artic refuge and off the coasts of Florida even though this would do little in the short or long terms. The cost of fuel will never go down in my opinion, and because of that people will simply refuse to drive.
Now, I'm not a fortune teller but common sense tells me the migration from the cities to the suburbs will probably reverse itself because the cost off driving from the country to the city to work would be prohibitive.
Vacant lots and crumbling city blocks would be cleaned up and homes renovated and created as people start looking for homes closer to their jobs.
Urban sprawl will have been halted and a reversal will begin. Valuable wetlands will be saved as well as farmland.
The air will become cleaner because not only because people are driving less but because they are using more fuel efficient modes of transportation like hybrids, motorcycles, and even bicycles.
People will also become healthier because they will start to rely on their own two legs to get from point A to point B.
New intrapreneurs will spring up making fortunes in technologies that have existed but until now has been ignored.
People are going to be worried about their own survival and not about the mortal soul of those "Godless liberals" so the so called Christian conservative movement will wither and die only to be replaced by true Christian ideals which include taking care of your neighbor during a time of need.
I could go on and on but my point is I believe our country is going to a major cultural change, and all the hard line conservatives will refuse to adapt. Like the dinosaur that couldn't adapt they'll become extinct or at least placed on the endangered species list. My guess is they'll head back to their backwoods cabins from where they came.
Change always comes about as a result of some catastrophic event which I believe we are now witnessing, and the result of that change will be a more liberal attitude of the people. Conservatism as it now exists will not survive.
Any thoughts on this?