Dear Sir/Madam,

In a recent editorial ("The Path to a Healthier America", March 24, 2004), the author expresses the hope "that someone focuses on this oddity: at a time when the nation is obsessively worrying about obesity, the [transportation] bill seems to do everything it can to make sure that Americans continue sitting in their cars for as much time as possible."

I have been focusing on this and related oddities for some time. I refer to them as the "insanities of normality".

The problem is that when something is "normal", i.e. common, usual and familiar, we instinctively (are programmed and conditioned to) see it as being okay, or at least, not too bad, and thus acceptable - all the more so when it is something that we like,  find useful or depend upon. It is basic human (in fact, basic primate) psychology. In Rome two thousand years ago it was "normal" for citizens to watch gladiators fight to the death as entertainment, something that would horrify most people today. It wasn't just that people enjoyed the entertainment; it was an important part of Roman life, something which many people made a living from or otherwise depended upon.

Future generations, when they look back at our times, will likewise be horrified at many of the things we consider to be normal and wouldn't dream of doing without, because they are so much a part of our lives, upon which so much depends. Our use of the motor car, for example, which, although just one of many, is probably the most important insanity of our grossly materialistic and non-sustainable way of life. 

We are quite literally plundering our planet of its natural resources, which along with the disruption and damage it is causing to Earth's climate, fauna, flora and life-supporting ecosystems, cannot have but disastrous consequences for our children and coming generations, but because our parents and grandparents (and their parents before them) brought us up believing that it was not just a normal and natural thing to do, but highly virtuous as well, calling it progress and teaching us to respect and admire the men who made millions from oil, motor cars, etc., we find it virtually impossible, tragically, to see it for what it actually is.

It would mean seeing the world with very different eyes, and learning to live and work very different lives.