Imagine that

Imagine that you've $100. And that each of your 30 million fellow citizens -- every man, woman, and child in Canada -- does as well. We'd have quite a lump under the collective mattress: $3 billion worth.

Now imagine that we directed that amount toward an initiative in keeping with creating an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable society. Let's say...oh...building urban bicycle infrastructure. That would correlate to the ten largest Canadian cities -- Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Regina, Winnipeg, pick three other cities -- each receiving a cheque for $300 million. Right now.

That would make quite a difference wouldn't it? Possibly a complete revolution in the living patterns of a significant percentage of those cities' -- and Canada's! -- inhabitants.

Now toss in another $400 million and imagine that the total was directed toward an enterprise that already benefits by billions in implicit subsidies, has ceased to be a going concern; makes what people aren't buying, is rapacious in its hunger for resources and infrastructure, and is a significant contributor to the defilement of our landscapes and ill health of our populace.

No need to imagine it, read all about it. Ottawa and Ontario have just teamed up to bail out the Bankrupt Three to the tune of $3.4 billion. And because this lifeline doesn't buy viability, just time, and not much of it at that, it's a good bet this may be the first payment of an extended installment plan.

I suppose here we could all retreat to our respective corners, brandishing our best arguments on the merits of creative destruction, the devastation of mass economic dislocation, the ripple effects to our manufacturing sector, the obsolescence of an antiquated business model, the exorbitant legacy and union costs, the efficiencies of foreign based manufacturers, and the just or unjust deserts due the whole undertaking.

But let's refrain this time around. The intention isn't to debate the action itself with all its ancillary aspects and implications but to prompt one to consider just how central are autos and the auto industry to our society's self conception.

If the notion of taming the technology, i.e., curtailing cars in our cities, is perceived as an infringement of a Gawd given right to drive amok, then the possibility of the behemoth floundering of its own accord, provokes outright panic. How the hell to get to the drive-thru for cash, coffee and, mechanically separated preformed meat by-products?

We simply can't conceive of ourselves without a predominance of cars or a massive industrial and infrastructural sector devoted to them. It's an affront to our notions of prosperity and primacy; it reveals our true imperatives: nothing short of a crisis would provoke such alacrity and unity in government and that's what this is. And who can argue the reaction is not without some justification?

What a dilemma. The last time we were in the driver's seat was prior to the energy crisis in the early 70s. Since then we've traded in the Caddy for a Tiger that bears us along ever more precariously. We created the beast, hopped on for a ride, but we don't quite know how to hop off without a mauling. This though the cost of holding on keeps rising.

So we lament the need for mass transit, green initiatives, less oil dependency, livable cities, yet the reality is that none of these propositions is quite as compelling as the prospect of serving up billions in corporate pogie to outfits largely dedicated to the opposite.

Denmark is often regarded as emblematic of a green society transformed by bicycles, enlightened land use patterns and alternative energy. What's often overlooked is that it achieved its transformation through three decades of sustained policy. By that metric Toronto will qualify for world class green status in about 2040 -- great, right about the time I'm due for a pair of Depends. If lucky.

The Danes, not having the luxury of any natural resources to speak of, learned their lesson the first time around. Instead we went for plan B: we bought the SUV and for the last 35 years have cruised between the Mall, the McMansion and the drive-thru. Oops.

Which serves as a sobering ray of morning sunshine after the hydrocarbon hangover that the realization of green, bikeable, liveable cities is not a short term proposition. They don't happen overnight and they don't happen without a plan and prolonged effort. (Not necessarily a cause for despair though as this doesn't preclude significant changes in limited spheres, not least individual lifestyles.)

Perhaps I've got it wrong though. Who would've imagined a generation ago that the likes of GM would amount to a write-off? Or that crude would skyrocket to $140 per barrel? Or that the Northwest Passage would be ice free in summer?

A reality so volatile beggars the imagination. It also has a tendency of quickly deflating delusions, and as the Danes found, constraining choices. Maybe we'll suddenly awaken to the fact that persisting against environmental and economic actualities is not only lunacy, it's an impossibility. Imagine that.

The sooner the better.