taking Down the Joneses

Tapping into America's competitive spirit to rise up against the energy threat. by Herb Rubenstein, Chief Operating Officer, iCAST and Jordan Karne "Keeping up with the Joneses'' is a well known phrase in America. First coined in 1919 and made popular in the 1950's, this phrase captured the essence of how many Americans attempted to match their neighbors' purchasing power. This sentiment has even made its mark in American music as Janis Joplin so frankly stated "Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends." ‘Keeping up with the Joneses' captures something deep and profound about commercialism and materialism, and also reflects something even deeper about the American psyche: Americans are intensely competitive. While perhaps this sounds a bit extreme, remember our entire economic system is based on competition. We compete against the clock and we even compete against ourselves. But when it comes to energy consumption and efficiency in the United States, competition rarely enters into the equation. Even more worrying is the real threat of complacency and inaction by many of us who feel incapable of making an impact on the big picture of society's energy use and demands. How can Americans compete with each other when it comes to energy conservation? The answer lies in how we keep score, and like in the game of golf, the lowest score wins. Forget about keeping up, in order to win, we must start keeping down.

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