actions are bigger than words

Today in the world it seems like everyone says one thing but does another.  From politicians to car companies, people all over are trying to act like they care but their actions say something different.  We in the U.S. take for granted so many things and its come to a point where we don't even realize were doing it.  As Smil discusses in chapter 8 of Enriching the Earth, synthesized nitrogen fertilizer is really not a major necessity for the U.S.  Although it does help to provide food for the continuously growing population, it really is more for the economic benefit.  With a decrease in the amount of synthesized nitrogen fertilizer the U.S. would not suffer any nutritional deficit, but simply not be the world's largest exporter of food.  If we reduced our use of this fertilizer we may have to change our diets to a degree but we certainly would not face a hardship of any kind.  Yet, why do we feel the need to be the largest food exporter?  Why do we need to produce so much excess when really we could be saving our resources for when we really need them?  It is simply because the U.S. is always going to believe in excess, more is always better.  More nitrogen based fertilizer, more food, more energy, more oil, more more more.  Will it ever come to an end?

There are thousands of documentaries and articles about the obesity epidemic in the U.S. but we continue to produce an excessive amount of food simply for our economic gain.  If weight is such an issue in the U.S. then why doesn't anyone take the initiative to help manage this?  Everyone has the "cure" and the "solution" written in words but when it comes to actually taking a step forward and doing it, no one seems to be able to follow through.  McDonalds for example says how they make better options for kids meals, like apples instead of fries or milk instead of soda...but what kid in their right mind is really going want this?  They try to make a "healthier" image for themselves but still continue to serve calorie and fat packed super size value meals. 

China, unlike the U.S. has a great dependency on nitrogen based fertilizer.  Since they faced such hardships under the rule of Mao Zeodong and also faced one of the greatest famines in all of history, there continuously growing population actually depends on this fertilizer as a means of survival, not economic growth.  

We as Americas, myself included, seem to hardly think twice before ordering a large value meal at any of the millions of fast food places, only to end up throwing more than half of it away.  Its easy to say I'm going on a diet but very hard to follow through with it.  You always hear people talk about their "new years resolutions" only to do it for a week or two and then continue back to their old ways.  If people would just realize that not everything is always better in excess, we might be able to stop overusing the only planet we have to survive.  If someone says they are going to do something, they need to step up and actually do it.  If we are in such an oil crisis and if there is such an obesity epidemic then people need to stop talking about using alternate means or energy, and stop talking about losing weight or changing their ways and actually do it! We are living in a time when everything we consume and produce is in excess and we think nothing of it.  It's simply our way of life.  Yet it is our greed and need for always being bigger and better that is ultimately going to led to the downfall of this civilization.  What will students hundreds of years from now (if there are any), read about the U.S. in textbooks?  How we overused our resources to such an extent that we could no longer support our society?  Or how we took control and saved ourselves from probably one of the biggest disasters that could have happened?  Actions ARE bigger than words, and bigger is NOT always better.