Diamond-Cut Life

A 78 year old woman emailed Tom Brokaw yesterday to ask this question of  the two presidential candidates in last night’s debate (I’m paraphrasing):

“What sacrifices would you ask of the American people, given that we’re in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression?”

John McCain replied that as president he would probably have to cut a number of programs, given the economy. He dissembled awhile longer, then Barack Obama answered the question, stating that while he believes we need to expand our energy supply by doing a number of things including off-shore drilling (I disagree with him on drilling) he also believes that  every American has a responsibility to practice energy conservation in their household and their daily lives. I completely agree with him about that. Conservation is the cheapest source of supply, whether we’re dealing with electricity, gasoline, water or almost any valuable resource.

The economy is only one of our nation’s problems. Global warming and the unchecked fossil fuel consumption we’re all doing that drives it is, in my view, our largest problem. And the biggest part of the solution is for all of us accept the fact that our lives are going to change (see Rethinking the Entitlement of Travel). This change can be positive, rather than a disaster, to the exact degree that we embrace it as an opportunity rather than denying the necessity of it.

My warmest regards to the 78 year old woman, an honored elder, who lived through the Great Depression, is unafraid of the idea of personal sacrifice, and posed the above question to the presidential candidates.

Photo courtesy of mfajardo

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