Not too long ago, folks would go to the local theater to watch a new movie. The studios made a lot of money from tickets sales and all was well. But then with the increase in technology, the studios learned there was much more money to be made by selling folks on the idea of watching movies at home. After all, a trip to the theater costs the price of a ticket and maybe some popcorn. But watching movies at home is a TV, a DVD player and some DVDs at the very least; maybe add in a TIVO, home theater and a fancy new recliner.
By convincing people to stay at home, businesses greatly increase the amount of money they can make. When a community goes to a cafe to socialize and drink coffee, hundreds of people share a few tables over time. When a community stays at home to drink coffee and socializes on the internet, hundreds of people buy hundreds of tables (and computers.) It's the difference between selling a few things to be shared by a community and selling many things to be used individually.
One of the sad things here is that the community uses those tables constantly, whereas the same tables in someone's huge home go largely unused. It's wasteful at best, indulgent at worst.
But perhaps the bigger problem here is that people have learned, or more likely been taught, to dislike and even fear the community. That's the resason for the SUV. Look at the Cadillac Escalade, so mean and tough, designed to protect the occupant from the violent outside world.
And so we Americans drive our tank-like cars to our huge gated-homes in the burbs and live in solitude only communicating with each other and the outside world through the safety of digital devices. And should that saftey zone be upset, by terrorists nonetheless, well hell, let's chuck our civil liberties and morality and slaughter people half way across the world.
Because, well, it's all in the name of good business and America was built on good business.
This is why I so desire the urban experience, especially that which exists in Europe. In urban places, people are still forced to interact and thus their understanding of each other is higher. Spaces are small so you can't have your own pool table, you must go to the local pub to play pool. This is the way we should live, for peace and for the Earth as well.
