Spoon Theory

PREFACE
Tonight we discussed some pressing issues which concern many people in Ann Arbor and across the USA. It all started when Tyler drafted a letter to the president (not a waste of time, as this girl proved) and inquired us as to what he should include. I drew the short straw and was denoted "evening scribe".

FOCUS/THESIS
1. Thinking about where our country was headed made us focus on three main areas: The economy, sustainability, and happiness.
2. These items can be summarized into a single, unifying idea. I call it Spoon Theory.

PROBLEM
The economy's current objective is to provide every American with plenty of goods and a house to store them in. But these days, work is scarce and many people can't afford the stuff that's become so vital to our lives. Raising taxes would cripple us further, and spending our way out without any cash on hand is what got us into this mess in the first place (source).

Happiness has become synonymous with material possessions. For decades, our society has been consumer driven, which lets us buy new toys as cheap as possible at the expense of our health and environment. It's no surprise, considering advertisements can make us want anything!

Hence, the Spoon Theory: We need no more than 7 billion spoons on this planet. Yet we keep making them! How many spoons exist in your house per capita? It's a waste! Everything is a spoon, from cars to gadgets. Why are we always spooning away, making more things we don't need? How can we reject this mindset, get off this never-ending treadmill of want?

RESOLUTION
We made our own granola. It's easy!

But it's not just the honey-sweet crunch that's brightened our spirits; it's the enjoyment of making something, the fulfillment of being sustainable, and the endless possibilities of what to do with that $3.49 we didn't spend at the store!

Healthy, home-made granola relegated to background by factory-farm fish sandwich.

CONCLUSION

We think that by getting back to the basics and limiting our impact, we can help out Barack with each of each of the three big issues we identified for him. Sure it's starting small, but dang, it tastes good on ice cream.