Marshmallows and the Fall of the U.S.
This entry was posted on 12/13/2007 12:27 AM and is filed under Tax Shifting,Global Peak Oil,Global Warming,Leadership,Action.
Most are probably familiar with the "Marshmallow test" involving 4-year olds, delayed gratification, and predicting success in life. Here's a summary at Time Reports. Excerpt:
The EQ Factor
New brain research suggests that emotions, not IQ, may be the true measure of human intelligence BY NANCY GIBBS
It turns out that a scientist can see the future by watching four-year-olds interact with a marshmallow. The researcher invites the children, one by one, into a plain room and begins the gentle torment. You can have this marshmallow right now, he says. But if you wait while I run an errand, you can have two marshmallows when I get back. And then he leaves.
Some children grab for the treat the minute he's out the door. Some last a few minutes before they give in. But others are determined to wait. They cover their eyes; they put their heads down; they sing to themselves; they try to play games or even fall asleep. When the researcher returns, he gives these children their hard-earned marshmallows. And then, science waits for them to grow up.
By the time the children reach high school, something remarkable has happened. A survey of the children's parents and teachers found that those who as four-year-olds had the fortitude to hold out for the second marshmallow generally grew up to be better adjusted, more popular, adventurous, confident and dependable teenagers. The children who gave in to temptation early on were more likely to be lonely, easily frustrated and stubborn. They buckled under stress and shied away from challenges. And when some of the students in the two groups took the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the kids who had held out longer scored an average of 210 points higher.
(If you have time, read the entire article on Emotional Quotient/Intelligence.....fascinating stuff)
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So where am I going with this.........
If we don't recognize the severity of the global and domestic problems we're causing with our lack of a sustainable energy policy, the U.S. is going to fall. At a minimum, we are going to fall economically and (even further) in stature in the eyes of the world.
Our refusal thus far to delay our "energy" gratification will bring us down - similar to the four-year old that couldn't wait to reap a reward. We are wasting the fossil fuels that are abundantly and cheaply available to us now by NOT creating a renewable energy future for ourselves. This is a unique period in history that will never occur again - peak oil has either come and gone, or will be here shortly.
Instead, we are on a collision course that will force significant lifestyle changes for all in the U.S. Not to mention the drought, flooding and starvation that global warming will cause in other countries.
Instead of being OUT-OF-CONTROL, we need to do our best to maintain control by beginning to significantly conserve energy and stimulate the renewable energy industry in the U.S.
The best way to do this is with a phased-in, federal tax shift from income to non-renewable energy in the form of a BTU tax. This tax shift will be revenue neutral.
Please write to your federal representatives telling them the time is now for a tax shift. The sooner we address an escalating problem, the better chance we have to be able to manage it.
