The Rebound Effect

The Rebound Effect, also known as Jevons' Paradox, says that as we attempt to solve our future problems by increasing efficiencies in technology and using better sources of energy that the problems will only be magnified. An example of this would be world hunger-- as we try to feed starving peoples throughout the world, they become nourished and their chances of procreation increase. As these people have more children (who in turn have more children and so on), food resources are further and further depleted, leaving more people starving than there were initially. Therefore, feeding the starving will only increase world hunger. Another example of Jevon's Paradox is antibiotics. Initially we use antibiotics to fight off a bacterial illness. As we continue to use antibiotics more frequently thereby healing more people, the bacteria evolve so that they are antibiotic-resisitant. If this becomes a serious problem (which is very possible if antibiotic use is not regulated), the resistant strains will make more of us sicker than ever.
As more of these paradoxes present themselves, society has a very interesting response--spend. We spend, spend, spend in order to preserve what we think is in our control. After all, that's what agriculture is all about, right? And since our society's roots stem from those people who first became agriculturalists, we have told each other for thousands of years that we can control everything in nature from bacterial infections to the carbon cycle. For thousands of years we have been patting each other on the backs, congratulating ourselves for yet another triumph over nature. Now that we are starting to realize the serious consequenses of our actions, we are depending on the only thing that we still know how to do after we've wiped out all of our insticts. Now is the time to shop.
What exactly do we shop for? You name it, we buy it-- hand sanitizers, cleaning products, organic produce, bottled water, Ramen noodles, EZ Cheez, magic lotions, carpet cleaners, real estate, solar panels, fall-out shelters, solar lightbulbs, air conditioning, Ford F150's, chewing gum, MP3 players, recycled paper, sailboats, tupperware, protein shakes, trendy boots, Pepto Bismol, and sunscreen, and we all believe that if we are the best shoppers we can be, the world will be saved. Maybe if I buy one less cup of coffee in that darned paper cup--but oh, that's right. They give us recycled cups now, so if we waste a little more it won't really make a difference. The truth is, I have no idea what will happen if we stop spending so much money. I was brought up in the same society as all of the spenders, and so, I am also a spender. I do believe to a certain extent that spending can save me and my family, even though a part of me knows how wrong that may very well be.
Jeff Dardozzi, the author of "The Spector of Jevons' Paradox", referred to something he called the "sea of selves". The "sea of selves" is the group of consumers who believe that spending will save them. In other words, their spending is a self-interested act, not an act of compassion in an attempt to change how we operate or fix the problems that we have created. In class, we also discussed Bailey's notion of the civic and the divine. The civic is a set of rights, obligations, and responsibilities that bind the collective and the individual while the divine is something greater than one's self and that activities of the collective are significant in relation to the world. These two ideas may be the solution that we have all been so frantically searching for from behind our big screen televisions while relaxing in our recliners.
We need to become activists. We need to reinvent our local communities. We need to stop saying that we can't and believe that we can, because the truth is that WE CAN make a difference. The Rebound Effect is a real thing. This can accurately be applied to many situations. Consumer spending can change the products that are created if the majority of the population chooses to make better decisions. However, we truly need to seek methods that involve innovation, reinvention, and traditional practices. After all, is that not what human beings take pride in? We are the race that has defied the odds for centuries--let's do it one more time, but this time, let's do it for a greater purpose than ourselves; let's do it for our neighbors.
It is very appropriate to post this on Veteran's Day. These honorable men and women sacraficed their lives for our well-beings. In my opinion, the least we could do is give something back to them. Let's sacrafice a little for the many, as our troops have done for us over and over again.