by Madeleine KandoThe most important goal of every child is to grow bigger and the most exciting event for a 3 year old is to turn 4, for a 4 year old to turn 5, and so on. By the time a child runs out of fingers to count their age with, the novelty is wearing off somewhat and growing bigger becomes less of a priority.
But the obsession with getting bigger is not confined to our child population. Growing bigger is a synonym for growing richer, stronger, smarter. Bigger is simply better and everybody looks for ways to grow. My car is bigger than yours, so I am better than you. My house is bigger than yours so I must be more important than you.But if you answered the title of this post with ‘yes, smaller IS better’, you might be thinking of the many things in our current society that would work better if they were smaller. Large airline companies, for instance, are doomed because of their size and are being creamed by smaller ones (Jet Blue). Enron happened because it was too big. Even the World Trade Center happened because it was the symbol for BIG.
Americans have a fascination with big things: cars, skyscrapers, highways with 12 lanes, what-a-burgers… You want BIG? You come to America. But nowadays the formula ‘bigger is better’ has become a liability. I just returned from Europe, and even though things over there are smaller, from cars to streets, from food portions to health care costs, everything seems to work better.
Take a country like Holland for instance. Granted, SUV’s and limousines the size of a small train wouldn’t fit in Dutch roads. Out of necessity Holland had to think ‘smaller is better' (except for their ‘Delta Works’, the largest system of dykes, sluises and dams in the world to protect their small country against flooding). I have a suspicion that Europe is leading the way in this new age of ‘smaller is better’. America is far behind in innovations in the field of transportation, energy and farming. Europeans drive smaller, more efficient cars. The police force in Paris goes about on roller blades! The common mode of transportation in this beautiful, busy city is motorcycles, not even smart cars. America is far behind Europe in that respect and probably already has missed the boat by not being able to compete with other countries that have seen the light a long time ago.
Is America just too big? Do we have too much territory? Too much individual freedom that goes at the cost of collective responsibility? Do we have too much economic inequality? Do we need big things to fill this big country?
Americans have big hearts. In the past, they could afford to be generous. When America had the luxury of accepting any immigrant that wanted to come here, when it had enough resources to satisfy everyone’s appetite for bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger hamburgers, then ‘bigger’ WAS better. The sheer size of this vast country is a double-edged sword. Americans have a big back yard. They might not use it very much (I only travelled out West twice over the past 20 years), but just knowing that it’s there, makes you think big. But things have changed. A big lush back yard, if not properly cared for can quickly turn into a big desert. And where will America be then?leave comment here
2 comments:
Love that photo of friendly French cops on roller blades! I agree with you, Madeleine, about Small is Beautiful, more often than not, and that we lag far behind Europe in this regard, especially in the transportation sector. As you say, we have SO much territory compared to Europe. But it seems there are increasing numbers of Americans who are waking up, as if from a bad dream, to Small is Beautiful in other areas besides transportation. They want to exit the insanity of our consumer-driven, over-worked, long-commuting, 'bigger is better' mentality in favor of a saner, more sustainable way of life. They are interested in telecommuting, growing their own vegetables, using less energy (via purchase of smaller cars, houses, and energy efficient applicances), or supporting small farms by shopping at local farmers' markets or co-ops instead of supermarkets. The proliferation of small farms, farmers markets and the "locavore" trend in the U.S. is experiencing a strong revival since its first attempt as a "Back To The Land" movement of the 70s. Vegetable seed catalogues report that they are selling out earlier and earlier each year. We were all locavores once, and we will all be locavores again. It's just a matter of time. I've read some predictions that oil will reach $300 a barrel within the next 5 years. Then McMansions, long-distance products, and mega-farms will no longer be feasible, whether Americans like it or not. Our culture of wastefulness was shaped by the availability of cheap energy via fossil fuels. As we run out of them, more and more of us are wondering how we'll make the transition to renewable energy. Will it be bumpy and traumatic, or a 'soft landing?' That will depend on how each of us behaves now. How much are we willing to simplify, strive for more self-reliance, get more engaged politically and serve our communities? How about holding "swap parties" in our neighborhood to trade clothes, books, tools and other useful items instead of buying new ones? How about starting a multi-family compost bin on our block, trading unused seeds, and sharing gardening and canning tips? We all need to make a variety of changes in our lifestyles and consumer choices in order to achieve a smaller footprint and reverse global warming. The smaller the footprint the better, and the sooner the better, if we want to see the human race survive. "Bigger" is no longer an option.
Yesterday I was in Manteca and stopped in at the new Bass pro store. This store is so big and over the top it captures exactly what you are talking about.
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