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August 09, 2009 - Aren't We All Clunkers, Really?

by Father Edward L. Beck, C.P.

By now you've no doubt heard about the Cash for Clunkers program where you can get up to $4,500 from the government- or your own taxes really- to trade in your old car for a new one. Except that the word clunker is a real misnomer since your car may be working just fine. And when you turn it in, it will have to be destroyed. No recycling of the old stuff. The Used Car dealer loses out. And in some sense, so do we I think. While I understand the goal to incentivize buyers in this struggling economy, I hate what this program says about us and our capitalist system. Once again, it's all about more consumption. Destroy perfectly good older cars to buy newer, shinier ones. Hmm. Sounds familiar. Seems like we do that a lot. Isn't that the idea behind second marriage trophy wives? Isn't that the idea behind putting perfectly able elderly parents and grandparents in assisted living facilities once we become tired of doing the assisting? Let's face it. We live in a culture where everything and everyone is expendable. When things start to wear out we hate to be reminded that we will one day too. So we send them to the crusher and turn our attention toward the purr of the shinier and sexier. And some say, but the car program is also about helping the environment. Really? With what it's going to cost to recycle all of the old cars and with a marginal fuel efficiency gain, the environmental impact is, at best, questionable. No, it's not about the environment. It’s about encouraging Americans to consume more instead of saving more. To say nothing of the fact that many being lured by this program can't really afford to buy a new car and may eventually default on the payments. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Just remember, we’ll all be clunkers one day. I’d like to think those who love me will let me hang around a while rather than trade me in for a younger more efficient model. After all, didn’t a 1970's commercial used to tell us, You're Not Getting Older, You’re Getting Better. Oh yeah, but that was a hair dye commercial. Never mind.

TO WATCH FATHER BECK GIVE THE ABOVE REFLECTION, CLICK HERE: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8280780