Collective Addiction

America's addiction to oil is lot like my addiction to gambling. It comes at a big price. When we do any thing compulsively, we are on automatic pilot regardless of the consequences - until we are knocked off our feet and realize the damage our behavior caused. The earth warming and environmental disasters are consequences to burning fossil fuels, and yet we carry on as if we have had no impact. If we become extinct, history will show how our unchecked actions led to our demise. How is that any different from the demise of a gambler or alcoholic, who in denial, refused to see where he was heading?

Such denial is accompanied by hubris. We have plenty of that. It is also accompanied by a sense of entitlement. The revenue from oil has provided enormous wealth for nations, companies and individuals, as well as provide the grease for a corrupt and bloated political system in the US. We are so fat from its spoils that we are numb to its dangers.

For our nation to switch from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources will require sacrifice and an honest assessment of ourselves. Tell me one addict who is willing to do that?

We use the phrase "addicted to oil" metaphorically, but I don't think this is a literary exercise any longer.