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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

I've been mulling this subject of greed. While the definition varies  
depending on the observer, it is pretty much common to qualify greed  
as excessive possession or use of some valuable commodity, from gold  
to water and all between, that shorts other people. Sort of a fair use  
policy.

By almost any definition of greed, we Americans are greedy people. We  
are about five percent of the world population. We consume about  
twenty-five percent of world energy resources. The average American  
consumes more than six times the world average amount of energy.

American is synonymous with greedy person.

That's the sad news, if one accepts the verdict and is sensitive to  
how well off the rest of the world's people are. The good news, as  
almost always here, is that we homesteaders are a more caring lot--or  
are we--we live more frugally and therefore consume less energy than  
our more wasteful fellows, like, well, essentially all of our family  
and friends.

Do we really care? Are we going to change our habits, our consumption?  
I think not, unless economic conditions force us to do so. So maybe we  
should think about it for a minute or so and then just go back to  
living our lives. Some subjects just aren't as much fun as others.