"The Spector on Jevons' Paradox" by Jeff Dardozzi

The rebound effect, also known as Jevon's paradox, is the notion that "increased efficiency paradoxically leads to increased consumption. This notion was developed by the economist W. Stanley Jevon in The Coal Question (1865), but it does not just apply to coal consumption. The rebound effect can occur with just about anything we consume. The article mentions the example of paper consumption increase with the availability of computers. This can also be applied to petroleum consumption. If we, as a nation, were to switch to an alternative energy source, like clean coal, the demand for petroleum would decrease drastically in this country. As a result of decreased demand, the price of oil would decrease as well. But, according to Jeff Dardozzi "one person doing without enables someone else to do with." Underdeveloped or developing nations, desperate to join the lifestyle of the advanced consumer world, would take advantage of the affordable fuel, and consumption of petroleum in the world would inevitably increase. The same can occur with electronics. A device that becomes obsolete in this country will find it's market in another country at a more affordable price.

It's because of this supply and demand paradox that consumer spending becomes so important. It is the consumers, in a way, that truly control this paradox. Unfortunately consumers are not aware of this power they have. According to the article our society has become one where consumption if the fuel that drives our economical and political machines. So much so that in 2001, when more that two thousand people were killed in a series of terrorist attacks, our president told us to continue to consume. If consumers stopped spending so much, demand for goods would decrease, prices would go down, and our economic and political system would find itself in some serious trouble. The chance of that occurring in this country is slim. It cannot occur organically because it's not the nature of our system anymore to think of how our decisions affect others. We don't even put any thought into where our food comes from, let alone how our consumptions affect the environment. Dardozzi wrote "the West has developed the technical prowess to repeatedly extend civilizations' capacity to overstep the biophysical constraints of the environment, which has been the driving cause of the ecological crisis."

All of the fault does not lie in the hands of consumers. Much of the reason why we spend and consume a much as we do is because it is what we have been conditioned to do. Filmmaker Adam Curtis "chronicles the systematic transformation of a society by corporate America into a sea of "selves" and how our steadfast refusal to surrender illusions of freedom for the sake of collective survival and well-being are conditioning us to fail." In other words, we have been conditioned to put our personal comforts ahead of things like the environment and human rights.

The article mentions the research done by the anthropologist F.G. Bailey, who wrote Tactical Uses of Passion. Bailey, who's concentration lay on the study of societies and "human collectives" wrote that there are "five aspects of human culture that transcend culture (tactical, moral, silly, civic and divine.)" The notion of "civic and divine" speaks of the value society places on civic duty and, for some, God. Dardozzi argue that these values are particularly important in the effort to respond to climate change and the strain we are placing on the environment. In lesser words, empathy is important, and it has to exist, not just at the constituent level, but at the political level as well. Dardozzi thinks that this is the way to address our ecological problems and get started on making a change in the way we consume; "The path out of the paradox".

I am inclined to agree with Dardozzi. I think his article addresses the real reasons behind the difficulty society is facing in trying to change to a more sustainable machine. Sustainability, before it can take on a larger part in society's priorities, will have to overcome the power that corporate lobbyists and product-produced comfort has on us. I think it is appropriate to write this blog on Veterans Day. Veterans are the poster-models for what civic duty is all about. They risked their lives to protect out "freedom" and our comfortable lives. It's our job as civilians to take risks to protect out environment and our families as well.