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using your own two feet 

Not so Fast
from the WSJ

the real
No Impact Man

you are as you drive

TV: the unhappiness machine

start with silence

diminishing returns

bicycle

Life at 12 miles an hour, what does it mean?

Nearly half (47 percent) of consumers say they already have all the possessions they need, up from 34 percent in November 2006 — and a full three-quarters (74 percent) no longer agree that the pressure to buy more and better material possessions is greater than ever. - from a MetLife study on the American Dream

The message: most Americans are at, if not past, the point of diminishing returns. Comfort, health, and wealth by any meaningful measure have been achieved. We're now over the top, taking on more stress, longer working hours, more body weight, more debt, larger homes, cars, etc. for...what? Not only are we putting our own health at risk but what does the future hold when those at the top still can't stop? The collapse of 2007-8-9 is taking much of this away from us now but why should we miss it or want to regain it?

The question: Can our economy survive at a steady state or must we drive ourselves over the edge physically and emotionally in order to keep the economy growing for the sake of growth? If we must keep stepping up the pace for the sake of the economy then our lifestyle is mandated. How then can we call ourselves a free people?

my proposal to my fellow citizens, is a modern American heresy: Put your well-being first and convenience/luxury/status second. Choose the small over the large. Choose a bicycle over a car. Take a walk, rather than ride. Get rid of things rather than buying more.  Voluntarily make things harder for yourself...not to suffer, but to benefit from the effort you will be making on your own behalf. Behind such heresy lies a happiness that can be sustained.

The rationale: We cannot make the finite infinite - though technology races forward in the attempt - but we can control our desire, something well within our power. Suppose you slowed down voluntarily, not only in traffic but in life as well? Could you find the peace of mind that seems so elusive in American culture? This website is about maintaining sanity in a culture of excess and frenzy. Don't believe we are frenzied? Start with you are as you drive and see if the picture isn't familiar.