On "ABC World News" tonight, Steve Osunsami did a fine report on an Atlanta man who has been using 440,000 gallons of water a month–about 50 times the average usage. The Atlanta Constitution unearthed the story, now the whole city hates the guy.
What excited me about the report was first, the delight in shaming someone behaving like a complete pig–"there is no one looking the other way," Osunsami concluded. Also the socialistic comments by public officials. A Cobb County staffer said that people like the water-pig don’t care what it costs; they can afford it no matter what. And a city planner said that the challenge to municipalities is to learn to "manage growth."
I want to believe the ABC report signals a real change in culture. I’ve never believed that we’re in a war against terror because so little has been asked of the American people, for instance, rationing of oil, the liquid in question in Middle East politics. Meantime, the idea of public service has been completely trashed by the meritocracy–where winners make so much money that their kids face no risk of going to Iraq and they can afford oil, no matter the cost. The idea of a shared burden has gone out the window with the vast gulf between rich and poor, and crushing of the middle class. Even Alan Greenspan worries what this is doing to the idea of democratic consensus.
By shaming the water-pig in Atlanta, ABC re-introduced a social cost to extravagant "private" behavior. Let’s keep it up. Let’s guilt people who fly private airplanes and drive SUVs and ATVs (beginning with celebs)…. Let’s talk about how many Ivy League kids even think of serving in the military…
