You seem to be viewing "what makes sense" through a lens of what you are accustomed to, which appears to be that of a growth oriented socioeconomic system that is quite simply not sustainable. Our "energy needs" are ridiculous and they are damaging not only our environment but, IMO, also our psyches. Convenience is pleasant, but it is making us soft and fluffy, which in the end, again IMO, is not a good thing.
Once you give things to people, it’s very hard to take them away. That’s the reality of things. Take Obamacare for example.
In some way I agree in theory- people don’t need giant homes, inefficient vehicles, to throw away 1/2 the food they buy, etc. The world would be better off if devices weren’t designed to be disposable after a few years or for planned obsolescence.
But good luck trying to get people to give up their excesses in life. Especially the ultra wealthy who control the strings of power. They would have to be the first to give up their mansions, numerous vacation homes, private jets, yachts the size of small cruise ships, etc. Or the large companies and their lobbies who benefit from consumerism.
Growing up in the 90’s there was always an aspiration of materialism and consumerism in media. The stereotypical “new money” lifestyle. I can only imagine in many respects this is only worse today in young people due to social media, not even considering characters like Andrew Tate and other scam artists. Many people who grow up wealthy want to maintain that lifestyle and many that didn’t want to achieve it.
I grew up in an affluent family, but compared to many others in town, mine was fairly middle class. This is despite them having a $3m 5500sq ft+ house, nice cars, sending 3 kids private schools + college debt free. Such was the environment of wealth (or in some cases more of an illusion of wealth) and privilege that in high school many of my peers’ conception of being “poor” was the parents who drove Toyotas, I kid you not.
I came to realize long ago “more” does not create happiness. That and how disgusting the greed and selfishness was among a lot of my peers and some of their parents. I credit my parents for not raising me to be an a-hole. Most people are well aware of the studies finding money ≠ happiness, past basic needs. Seemingly few actually internalize that idea, often living to the maximum degree their income and credit line allows.
My wife and I both earn a very comfortable living. But we have little interest in chasing materialism or presenting an ostentatious lifestyle. Despite being a “car guy” and being able to afford a new car, I still drive a 14 year old BMW (handed down from my father when I graduated college years ago) because it runs fine. isn’t yet a money pit, and is in surprisingly good condition.
Back to your points, I don’t think this is so much a matter of perspective, it’s largely a matter of human nature and the reality that creates which extends into our culture. It’s not surprising human instinct encourages materialism for survival advantage, which is probably also why it’s a psychological coping mechanism for many.
But my point about “making sense” was about allocation of resources in an energy transition. Even if everyone cut their energy consumption by 50%, it doesn’t change the we’re still be reliant on dirty power generation methods and the fact a solar and wind panel location significantly affects efficiency, which has its own opportunity costs including environmental impacts.
And we haven’t begun to touch the surface about not making sense when it comes to things like nuclear (the obvious answer to the energy situation), rare earth element mining/refining, solar manufacturing, future grid frequency management, energy storage, etc. But of course in politics, it’s the optics that matter, not reality.
