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Chicken Wings and Peak OilA short story |
9 Comments |
| By Steve Balogh in Conservation | March 6, 2008 | ||
I take a night class at school where the professor (a really nice guy) brings us in two pizzas to share during class time. The class has a small group discussion format, and the pizza really hits the spot at the end of a long day. Tonight, however, the professor apologized for not bring in the usual pies, but did bring in some left over delicious wings from a meeting that he had attended prior to arriving, and a crate of tangerines. There are about 16 of us in the class, and there were about 20 wings in the container. We each took one wing as we came in, knowing that there more of us on the way to class. As I sat down to my “dinner”, my thoughts drifted…
You see, there have been many (maybe some would say a few too many) times that I’ve sat down to a nice big platter full of hot crispy steaming wings. Most of the time, I’d just eat the meaty parts and leave a good bit of it behind. But tonight there weren’t a seemingly endless supply of wings, there was just enough to go around. And you know what? It made that one I was able to have all the more delicious. None of it was wasted, and I savored every bite. Everyone in the class realized that there were just enough wings to go around, and made sure to leave enough for the classmates that would be coming in after us.
I wonder, won’t our experience with peak oil share some similarities? Once we realize that there might be “only enough to go around”, could we become aware of all of the things that oil does for us, and stop taking it for granted? Won’t we savor every last drop and try not to waste a thing? Will we realize that there are generations to come after us, that will still need their share too? Will it help persuade us to look more seriously at alternatives? (I had 2 tangerines and a wing instead of the usual two slices of pizza tonight…) Might we be wrong about human nature, and how we’ll react to peak oil?
Maybe not. But all I know is when I left class tonight, there were two wings left in the container. And that gave me a glimmer of hope.
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Gideon said,
Well, if it helps, people are driving less already (down .5% in 2008, compared to down .4% in all of 2007). But of course that’s their wallets talking… hey, what ever works, right?
Gideon said,
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87924270
K1 said,
“Most of the time, I’d just eat the meaty parts and leave a good bit of it behind.”
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ll never understand you lot on that side of the world. The idea of wasting food just strikes me as, well, innately wrong. Perhaps abundance is bad for your mental health!
If (say) 4 chicken wings is what I was going to eat, then I wouldn’t eat 8 half chicken wings… That would be, well, silly. S’obvious, really. Isn’t it?
Steve Balogh said,
K1, that is my point – that abundance makes people irrational.
For those non-wing eaters… the serving size is usually a dozen wings.
Les said,
I don’t think your wings analogy can be carried very far. When you replace wings with jobs, medicine and subsistence food, not just lecture food, people are going to become very different. The people around you are used to their energy slaves. I don’t think most people, in the US anyway, are going to respond well. Glad you are thinking about it! You are going to be much more mentally prepared than the crazies around you.
Rachel said,
Nice Steve – As a person who works with people on finding ‘glimmers of hope’ in their lives on a daily basis (as a mental health therapist), I find that it is we who hope for and who embrace these ‘glimmers’, are those who can continue to look toward the greater good. In this case – oil … From a systems perspective – small changes, can evoke larger possibilites. Abundance, yes makes people not see clearly, and also run the risk of missing these ‘flickers of possibility’. Lets hope the ripples flow … and people leave some wings for others. I don’t eat wings (or any meat for that matter) – so hopefully they can leave some other things too! I wonder what your class members would think of your experience … your hopeful stance – did anyone else think of that? do they share your view? Rachel (yup, the one in Oregon!)
Karin said,
Your optimism is refreshing, as is Rachel’s. I, regretfully, remain pessimistic. Even as we may approach being more efficient users of oil/energy (ie hybrids, public transit, alternative fuel sources), I fear that Jevon’s Paradox will prevail ( http://www.eoearth.org/article/Jevons_paradox ).
But, more power to you (pun intended) for thinking so positively.
The Purloined Letter said,
Thank you. I guess when it comes down to it, I might agree with Les–but I need every prompt I can get to make me see that at moments, human beings are capable of much more. I think the fact that you and your classmates are a bit of an established community could have made the difference. That would argue for the necessity of building real communities in our neighborhoods, our every-day lives.
Richard said,
I remain pessimistic too.
In the context of your class, some people might have figured, “OK, I’ll have one wing now and then grab other food after class.” In other words, the wing shortage in the class was actually merely a temporary and local shortage.
Peak oil is not going to be a temporary local shortage, but a global permanent shortage. Dick Cheney isn’t being transformed into some generous humanitarian by the limitations on oil, but instead he has made himself a war-profiteering monster. Now admittedly Dick Cheney’s approval ratings are in the single digits, but he has had disproportionate effect on national policy. History has always had villians and always will have them.