Energy-intensive Lifestyle

One of the driving forces for human society's progress and the realization of modern civilization is indolence, which is so deeply ingrained in the human nature that we have been very successful in outsourcing heavy labor jobs to non-human beings. Ancient Chinese peasants used cows to plow their fields, and donkeys to pull mills. European dockers suffered too much from carrying heavy cargoes at ports, and that was how cranes were invented in the 14th century. American housewives' arms got tired of beating eggs with a whisk, which was soon replaced by electronic ones and every child could have home-made bakeries easily. Things become much easier when machines are driven by all sorts of energy, whether it's fossil fuel or biomass, and do the unwanted jobs for us.

Indolence is such a strong driving force that we become more and more dependent on machines. If the machine can wash dishes, why stain your hands? If a car can take you to the nearest grocery in five minutes, why spend one hour walking there? If an AC can prevent you from sweating in the house, why not enjoy a cool summer at the cost of only a few bucks instead of using a fan? Even though we know some physical work is a good exercise for us, we'd rather drive several miles to a gym rather than cleaning floors by hand. With machine taking most of the boring jobs, the only thing left to us is to "think", because we are the most smart and creative species in this world, and that's our comparative advantage. And this is a new international division of labor - between human and non-humans.


However, these non-human labors never work for free. Probably no one had foreseen the problems brought by over consumption of energy when they were cheering for all sorts of inventions a century ago. But now we understand the terms of energy scarcity better than ever. We know we will run out of conventional energy like coal and oil in a few generations, and our fancy lifestyles may be deteriorated unless alternatives are found. Scientists are working hard to find a replacement to feed our machinery friends, and progresses have been made. Solar and wind energy, unstable as it is, has been applied in industry and households. More efficient autos and refrigerators are produced. New lifestyles have been advocated in many OECD countries with the tag of "green". But for people who have been spoiled for so many years, it's hard to switch back. And for people who have been longing for this energy-intensive but tempting modern lifestyle for decades, most of whom are rich people in emerging economies, how can you persuade them from pursuing it as their OECD counterparts did before? 


People's desire for energy-intensive lifestyles is the not only obstacle. My Econ professor never explains how supply and demand determines each other in the real world (if he did explain, I probably skipped that lecture.) I don't know whether it's people's desire and indolence that stimulates the supply of energy, or the marketing strategy of the energy companies and their accomplice that justify people's demand, or both. When you watch auto ads, you know you will have a higher chance to attract girls' attention if you are driving a coupe rather than a economic car, though it burns more gas per mile. When your travel agent calls you and introduces a new summer plan in some resort thousands of miles away, you know you want it because it sounds so much better than the one within one-hour drive, though they may not be that different. So, economies need to run, our indolence need to be justified, and energy has to be consumed. 


Our ancestors, when they happily claimed patents for their inventions, and believed people are freed from heavy-labor jobs forever, might not have expected that people can be easily spoiled. Energy giants who can benefit from the wide application of machines and scarcity of conventional energy, will be final winners. And ordinary people like us, will need to pay the price in the end.