The quintessential 21st Century American

I don't want to sound cynical but I have doubts about today's America and its citizens. I really hope that they are not as stupid as I think they are. I sometimes wonder if people know what we are doing to the planet, I mean the way we live and the developing countries are aspiring to become like us. Planet Earth does not have the resources to provide for everyone, especially the way we live and we represent a small portion of the world's population. It really seems like the planet Earth is infinite, but it is a farce. We like stuff. We build huge homes and fill them with stuff. We have this obsession of purchasing stuff. Most of the stuff we never touch again when we put it there, and when we do pick it up, we put it away to never see it again. We are so materialistic and we don't seem to care where the products that we use everyday come from and the environmental cost to where the products were produced. Recycling in this country is a joke because few people of our total population recycle and does little to benefit us and the rest of the world. We are taking baby steps in alternative fuels and energies when we should be taking giant leaps forward. We somehow have stalled. These energies are still in their infancy. It will take time to adjust, like we have done in the past. In the 30's and 40's, we used glass and metals and oil was only used for diesel and gasoline. It wasn't until the late 40s and 50s when scientists invented plastics and other uses. Now we use plastics in our everyday use. Now we need to take the next step further. That step being away from plastics and oil.