RichMichaelAnnotation12

“The End of Suburbia,” 2004
 * 1. Title, Director, Year?**

- problems in suburbia - the purchasing stage of family development - the consumer is seen as someone always in need of expansion - is suburbia sustainable? - “oil depletion and the collapse of the American Dream” –normal way of life has come to an end.
 * 2. Central Argument?**

- “living on the automobile” begins to sound more and more negative - the promises of suburbia and its embedding into the American consciousness - cheap oil is over = the American way of life is over (at least the current lifestyle) - the industrial revolution had absolutely nothing to do with the health and wellness of the population - demolition of the old to make way for new development - the introduction of the highway to cater to the car - the American Dream is unsustainable - highways develop land into a continuous city, making the only efficient way to travel is with an automobile, accommodating commuters, allowed people to live further and further away from the things they need (dependant on cheap energy) - looking for an excuse to use cheap oil - the expectance of an endless source of energy - suburbia and connecting highways eat into farmland and greenery - the disabling affect of a blackout that would have had very little consequence several years ago (peak capacity ignored until something went wrong) we didn’t learn anything from that mistake, as soon as it was fixed, we went back to normal - society’s opposition to alternative energy (at the time) like nuclear - future growth is not possible without confronting our need for electricity and finding an alternative source - the ambiguity of where the peak actually is - peaking means that you no longer grow - after the peak, oil will become more expensive to drill and poorer quality - younger generation mesmerized by technology - “we don’t actually know how much oil there is” out there - the trance that the world is probably stable and things will keep “chugging along, no matter what.” - “Made in China” what happens if those ties are severed? - soil degradation flattening the abilities of our agriculture - “the Walmarts of north American have very efficiently and effectively destroyed almost every local and regional network of economic commercial interdependency and those networks are going to have to be rebuilt.” - the notion that there is a “birth right” to certain privileges - society’s reticence to changing their lifestyle - the lackluster role of the media (could be helpful, but probably won’t profit) - the use of the military to protect our oil prospects (denying control of resources) - resource wars (drag on the economy) cost of human life, civil liberties - “all it takes is five pounds of plastic explosives and a camel to put down an oil refinery” thought that was funny…still true, but it was humorous how he said it (James Howard Kuntsler) - “there is nothing, there is no combination of anything that will allow planet Earth to continue consuming the way it does, and go on our merry way.” - “the housing developments are always named after the things they destroy”
 * 3. Sustainability Problems?**

- “greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world” (on suburban living) all the wealth invested in a living arrangement with no future - suburbia began with the best of intentions – the antidote to city life for the masses - Americans growing up in the industrial city are looking for an escape (really only the rich could escape) - streetcar suburb designated how the suburb would develop, just outside the central city’ - the advertisement of the soldier dreaming of the good life is pretty compelling visual. - suburbs were coined as the home for post-WWII vets, giving them a dream to look forward to - development closed the gap between the upper and middle classes - suburbs are the disadvantages or both the city and the country - the couple, planning for their home is so fake, symbolic - eventually, shopping and other amenities followed the suburban population establishing a car-dependant society - GM, Firestone, Standard Oil all accused of destroying the light-rail system - G-d tests mankind, our big test is coming very soon - how are people going to get to work? - “crude awakening” clever line - recession after recession will be worse and worse until economic depression and it will “never end” - the idea of some conspiracy that somebody is to blame = violence and overreaction - suburbia has poor prospects for the future, so many are used to it, people will struggle to “maintain the entitlements of suburbia” even though it’s been proven that you just can’t live that way efficiently. - the pressure on politicians, with few solutions - “reality is bad for business” - “hydrogen is a joke”
 * 4. Persuasive? Compelling?**

- I think there is still a way to fix suburbia; it does not be altered somehow, but it’s still fixable if we make the effort. - suburbia will become the slums the future. I can’t agree with that just yet.
 * 5. Not Compelling?**

- how were these “parks” designed/sponsored? - who was Robert Moses? - if these mistakes could be made, what other mistakes could be made?
 * 6. Info to Seek Out?**

- some terms may be more appropriate to people involved in studying these problems, but I think anyone can learn something from this
 * 7. Audience?**

- “we have to grow electricity or we will not grow our economy.” - when will we run out is the wrong question to ask - understanding the theory behind rates of extraction - peak oil projections (Dr. Hubbard) were ignored - growing awareness, lots of speculation on when its will or has happened (lacking in initiative, what do we do now that we know what we know?) - ignoring the crisis is only effective until something happens, and then the effects are much worse compared to anticipating - need to adjust in the natural gas realm more than in the oil realm - “going to have to down-size and down-scale everything we do - localize resources, live near the source (food, energy…) - “people are going to be engaged in the production of food, in ways that they can’t imagine right now.” - “reorganize local and regional networks of economic interdependency” emphasis on the local scale - railroad transport system for goods and people - short attention spans, need to distract people from general entertainment - didn’t think ahead early enough to transfer into an alternative energy society without feeling the change - the need for an infrastructure to support a new type of car (hydrogen, electric, ethanol…) - “new urbanism” town planning strategy (good start) - “more walkable, more diverse places” - mixed use places à urban villages - “massive, collective wake-up” - become less car dependant - pay attention to how we use energy - sense of community, local place (outcome of dealing with peak oil) people will become neighbors again. - localizing the problem, no widespread blanket solutions (reverse globalization) - from great problems, come great ingenuity
 * 8. Actions? Interventions?**

- I found the film to be very well done. I liked to variety of sources and opinions. Obviously, there’s always more that one could look up, but I think I got a good taste.
 * 9. Enhance film environmentally? educationally?**