Picture this:
Driving through town, a family spies an interesting display in front of a local car dealership. A large construction dump bin contains two automobiles, nose down, seemingly disposed of (quite tidily) for any number of reasons. One of the cars is a bit rusted, paint perhaps a little faded, the other has no apparent defects whatsoever…except that it appears to be at least 10 years old.
This is an advertisement for the “cash for clunkers” program…yet another impractical and completely inane attempt by the Obama administration to “bandage up” our sinking economy.
Here’s the premise: global warming is destroying the planet (snicker) and fuel prices are at an all time high. Add to that mixture a stagnant new car sales market on the heels of one of the largest government sponsored financial bail-outs in history.
The answer? Trade in your ol’ gas guzzler for a spiffy new model and Uncle Sam will give you up to $4500 towards the purchase. This, of course, only applies to vehicles with a combined “New EPA MPG” of 18 or less…which, BTW, large Catholic families, totally knocks out your 12 to 15 passenger vans!
You gas guzzlers, you! Look at all those messy carbon footprints and fingerprints you’re leaving all over the place…shame! Perhaps Uncle Sam could interest you in three or four new Toyotas in exchange…yeah…that would work. Not!
All jesting aside…this is actually quite serious.
Serious because our government is suggesting that its citizens undertake more consumer credit debt. Debt up to $45,000 per vehicle…all in the guise of doing us a favor and helping out the planet.
Here’s a news flash…the economy is bottoming out! We are not “digging out.” We’re “digging in.” To suggest that anyone should take on new car debt at a time when unemployment is rampant and home foreclosures continue to rise, is quite simply, egregious. This program will cost billions in the long run, billions that our own government must finance because there’s nothing in the coffers…
And as for “green…”
Just how green is this whole process? Where will these “clunkers” end up? In a landfill? What about increased emissions during the whole revved up new car production process? Is anyone thinking?
It doesn’t seem so…
Our grandparents and great-grandparents had it right, oh, so many years ago. The Depression lasted for more
than a decade and during that time “use and re-use” was the name of the game. While frugality was a way of life, large families were the rule, not the exception. No one saved up their money to have a baby, in the meantime enjoying new cars, new homes, new computers, new clothes, expensive vacations, etc., all the while declaring the world “no place to raise a child” or stating “we simply can’t afford to have children right now…”
No…children came and were welcomed. Home ownership was a dream to be accomplished when the family had saved up enough money to actually afford one. Cars were driven, repaired, driven some more, repaired, and driven…until they were no longer drivable and the family could afford to purchase another one.
With all the interest in being “green”, society forgets that large families and the poor have been exercising this practice out of necessity for many years.
We use and re-use. We buy our furniture used, our cars used, our clothes from thrift stores, and save until we can afford those luxuries which some have come to see as necessities.
We aren’t traversing the skies in airplanes. We plan our errands with fuel economy always in mind, and are more likely to recycle…hand me downs count, right?
We turn off the lights when we leave a room..most of the time. In all, while we may have more people under one roof, we use fewer resources per capita.
Let’s look at a few startling facts…the average American home contains 2.5 people.
2.5 living, breathing human beings…
The average American home has 2.86 televisions.
2.86 plugged-into-an-outlet-energy-hogging-relationship-destroying-televisions…
So…here’s my suggestion.
On July 24th forget “cash for clunkers.” Save yourself the debt, save the landfills yet another junk car, save the economy billions, save the planet, too (if you’re into that kind of thing!), turn off those 2.86 televisions and have a baby.
Yep…invest in the future, be bigger and greener. The only way to truly boost an economy is to expand the population…history bears this out!
And there’s really nothing more hopeful, more encouraging, than new life, is there?
A new car just isn’t going to cut it, folks. No matter how good the fuel economy.
Blessings,
I am a traditional Catholic homeschooling mother of 9 children, married for 27 years to the most patient and sainted man. As converts to Catholicism in 1991, our family has only recently discovered the beauty and full expression of our beliefs in the timeless liturgy of antiquity, the Extraordinary Form also commonly referred to as the Traditional Latin Mass. An avid knitter, I also enjoy gardening, reading and immersing myself in the everyday graces of my vocation.
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What a great post! I love it! “Turn off the TV and have a baby” would make a great poster campaign…
You should know, eh Nadja…you lucky, woman, you!!
That Gemma is a sweet little thing and certainly gives me hope for the future!
Great Post! The global warming, carbon footprint, etc mantras are doing their best to destroy what little common sense exist in the world. No one analyses things anymore, they let the media do it for them and swallow the “lies”.
You are so right about “society forgets that large families and the poor have been exercising this practice out of necessity for many years.”
The stores here look at me like I’m crazy when I ask for a rain check, even if the product will be in on the next day. I tell them I make one trip to town a week. Most people think nothing of driving in town 3-4 time a day for their coffee at the donut shop. This is more crazy than my one trip a week, economics.
You are right on! Thanks for the great article.
Great post, Kimberly! Very inspiring!
~Kathy
LUVed what you said here, as usual! And I agree with Nadja, as usual, that the “Turn OFF The TV and Have a Baby” is golden!
You are delightful. Keep sayin’it!
Evidently, people dislike children for the same reasons they wanto to ditch their old cars: they’re noisy and they leak.
Kimberly, Praise God for your heroic glow. Your love is truly inspiring!
May I repost this post on my FB page?
Why certainly, my dear!!
It made the front page of 4Marks…seems to have struck a cord!
Woo hoo! That’s awesome! I anticpated your “yes” on reposting — and put it up earlier today!
It was too good not to share.
Great post, and it completely fits with my experiences.
I know lots of DINK (double income, no kids) couples (some by circumstance others by choice) who have a lot more disposable income than we do. To what does that go? Stuff. Trips. More stuff. TV broken? Buy a new one! Bored? Go on a big, expensive trip! The thing that also surprises us is that a lot of these couples live in large homes (3+ bedrooms) on large lots while we live in a 4-family apartment building with no yard of our own and two (well, one and a soon-to-be-born) child. We’ll probably be in the same situation for subsequent children.
Now, that’s not to say these are bad people, or that there’s something inherently wrong with buying new or using your money as you see fit (we do these things). I am not advocating for laws that prohibit such activities, or prevent DINK couples from owning a large home. That’s their choice. But in addition to being contrary to Catholic teaching and our beliefs, it makes no common, logical sense to us to live so largely unless we had lots of children (biological and adopted) to share it with.
This is ultimately what the “green” movement boils down to: it’s not about saving the planet. It’s not about creating jobs or minimizing human impact on the Earth (because people do that already to save money).
It’s about control.
It’s about a culture that despises the nuclear family and children, that eschews the very real benefits of living as a community within the family unit (for the sake of living as an androgynous, indistinct glob of “community” where the ME factor is always first and foremost), that frowns upon self-sacrifice and personal responsibility and self-discipline as oppressive by-products of patriarchal/religious social conditioning seeking a subtle way to wield those anti-life, anti-family policies because being open and outright about it would be met with resistance. It’s about fighting the goodness and light of God by making man the god.
So they create a “crisis” of global warming, blame it on mankind, and hope that enough fall for the faulty science and alarmism to allow them to pass legislation that gives them the control they so desperately crave.
And a plank of that is demonizing large families as being “eco disasters”…
Here, here!!
Well said…it certainly takes a great deal of faith to swim against the current, these days. Thank heavens for faithful, faith-filled Catholics who are taking up the the cross with such generosity! May God open the eyes and hearts of all His children…
Kimberly -
As Our Lord Himself said, “. . . You are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven” !!!!
My only question: How much longer until this imposter-president is impeached ?? (As seems to happen to all democratic presidents of recent memory) !!!
With prayers,
– Fr. Joseph Klee
Bless you, Father Klee!!
Pray and wait…there is real comfort in knowing that God triumphs, isn’t there? May He have mercy on this president and all those who support his anti-life, anti-family, anti-Christ policies…
Wow, you sound so angry. Many things you have said here are such broad generalizations about other people. The sense of black & white, good and bad is so palpable in your writing. Yet, most people do not live in those kinds of dichotomies.
I think your large family is lovely. I think your lifestyle is lovely.
I wish you didn’t have to bash other people in order to feel good about yourself.
Dearest Mary,
First…imagine a smiling woman, at peace, not angry in the least, having a glass of iced tea, listening to her little girls watching Caillou in the background. Now she’s typing:
Please peruse my blog. You’ll find that anger doesn’t take up much space in my life…it’s far too full of many other things: housework, home education, faith, family and fun. If you’ve perceived “bashing” of any sort, I do hope it is only in the realm of politics and what this current administration sees as one solution to our current economic crisis. Large families have been targeted for some time, with many in our government wishing to restrict reproductive freedom in every area except abortion…kill a baby, it’s okay. Have a baby, and you’re contributing to over population and wreaking havoc on the environment.
Promoting the cause of life is one area that brings me great joy. I’m truly sorry if the message you’ve taken from this post is one of vitriol and judgment, but having read and re-read this post, I have no statements to retract.
God bless you, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
I see no anger or bashing in this post.
People are complicated, yes, and there’s more to the world than two types. But there IS a palpable right and wrong, good and bad in this world.
I can easily direct you several stories proffered by environmentalists, and including Obama’s “science czar” where abortion and contraception and forcible limits on family size are the solution to “global warming.”
It’s not a generalization, it’s fact. So if we who believe in life and the right of the unborn to become the born and LIVE are offended by that, it’s not our fault.
The people here who are doing the bashing are the environmentalists who seek children as “eco misdemeanors” that need to be quelched or destroyed.
You know what I’ve always found ironic? All those Hollywood stars who drive their electric cars and claim to be so green. Then they go skiing in Aspen during one season. Then it’s time to hop on a plane to go to eat their favorite pasta in Italy. Then it’s their big b-day bash at some exotic island. What kind of carbon footprint are they leaving with all of their globetrotting? I have nothing against traveling, but I don’t think all of these “green” folks are quite as “green” as they think. It doesn’t matter how much organic granola you gobble up or how much less gas you guzzle if you’re hopping on a plane every chance you get. Sometimes I think the whole “green movement” is more about being cool (or making money – every product has a green line now) than about saving our planet.
I’m pro taking care of the Earth, but I’m also pro-family and a world that condones killing babies in the womb is ugly and full of the worst kind of pollution.
Great post!
Blessings,
Kate
Amen, Kate!
I’m old enough to remember the Ecology stickers all the hippies were sporting on their VW bugs and buses.
I’m old enought to remember “oh no, there’s a hole in the ozone layer…we’re all going to get skin cancer…let’s get rid of all the aerosol cans.”
I’m old enough to remember “egads, acid rain is destroying the paint on my new Porsche…let’s save the planet!”
And “Save the whales!” “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” “Only you can prevent forest fires…”
Slogans for a time…and all noble sentiments. We are charged by God to be good stewards of this wonderful, wonderful world. But fear mongering is just that: Fear mongering.
I prefer hope…life is beautiful!
Hello!
I came here by way of my friend’s blog. I may not agree with 100% of what you’ve said here, but I think you’ve hit on some very important issues. In fact, your points about hand-me-downs are something I wish I could share with the family members who (bless their hearts) keep throwing money at new clothes and new clothes at my kids. I love thrift-shopping, but never get to do it.
While it might make sense for someone who was already planning to upgrade their “clunker” to take advantage of this plan and purchase a more environmentally-friendly vehicle, for most people, this plan is useless. I think the government would be better served by putting that money into programs that teach or hire people to repair damaged clothing and the like in order to offer it for resale. You could bring in old or extra materials such as blankets or towels and receive a voucher toward repaired garments. Your discards would be used for patching. And there could well be an art to the reparations–just check out how people are making new out of the old and broken on etsy. Plus, people would be learning a skill.
For me, this also touched on an issue I have of wanting to be able to visit my family abroad and of having my children know them. I could have more children if I took advantage of used goods more, and I wouldn’t need to be concerned about money to fly around the world. Especially when combined with homeschooling. (For us, there is a much greater issue than money.) I’ll be thinking on what you said here. A very interesting post. Thank you.
Great post. My husband and I frequently, talk about many of the things you wrote about. The over population issue is big with some members of our family, so our house full of boys can be a topic of conversation. If you look at the CIA World Factbook and the UN document on this very issue (from 2001 I beieve) you will see that even the UN sees the decline in population in the industrialized world. They have advised countries to reevaluate their immigration policies because their populations aren’t having enough babies to sustain the aging population.
So I figure my 5 boys will some day be a wonderful resource in the world. They’ll support the aging population, know how to re-use what they have, buy only when they need something and have the money to do so, and they’ll value human life at all stages.
Here, here. So true! I Love it.
If you can’t afford it with your earnings you probably don’t need it!