For a child, the arrival of a package filled with Styrofoam packing peanuts is a joyous occasion. No matter how many toys they have they’ll still take pleasure in playing with the box and peanuts for awhile. Their parents will scold them because the peanuts make a complete mess but they’ll often allow it just to keep the kids quiet for 10 minutes.

It reminds me of society’s current approach to energy consumption…simple, irrational, cheap, and a total mess.