Our addiction, not just to the motor car

Dear Sir/Madam,

In today's editorial, "Trying To Find The Road Ahead" you refer to America's "love affair with cars".

That is a very romantic, but deceptive and thus dangerous, way of putting it. It's an "addiction", or rather, part of a complex addiction: to fossil fuels, a growth-dependent economy and a grossly materialistic way of life, both of which are deeply rooted in our animal nature (unsurprisingly in view of what Darwin is supposed to have taught us about human origins) and fundamentally unsustainable on our finite and vulnerable planet - but like most addicts, we are finding it very difficult to face up to.

The first thing we have to do, of course, is admit to ourselves that "We have a Problem". If not for our own sakes, then for the sakes of our children and coming generations.

To: The New York Times <letters@nytimes.com> Re: Our addiction, not just to the motor car Date: Tuesday 24 January 06

Dear Sir/Madam, In today's editorial, "Trying To Find The Road Ahead" you refer to America's "love affair with cars". That is a very romantic, but deceptive and thus dangerous, way of putting it. It's an "addiction", or rather, part of a complex addiction: to fossil fuels, a growth-dependent economy and a grossly materialistic way of life, both of which are deeply rooted in our animal nature (unsurprisingly in view of what Darwin is supposed to have taught us about human origins) and fundamentally unsustainable on our finite and vulnerable planet - but like most addicts, we are finding it very difficult to face up to. The first thing we have to do, of course, is admit to ourselves that "We have a Problem". If not for our own sakes, then for the sakes of our children and coming generations. www.spaceship-earth.org