Start asking irrelevant questions("WHY does anyone NEED such a thing/truck/engine/gun/etc...")Those sorts of questions are always my favorite. I'd like to ask a rich leftist why, for example, he or she "needs" a 4,000 square foot house. We all know what a waste of resources a big house is, with all the heat and water they waste. Why not live in an apartment?
Also, why do leftists "need" to buy $400 Manolo Blahnik shoes (Sarah Jessica Parker, a leftist of note, likes this brand)? Why not go to Volume Shoes, and donate the $380 leftovers to charity?
Why do you need to buy original art for your home, leftists? Why not just buy posters? I could go on and on, but I won't; we all get the picture.
Revealing the hypocrisy of the 'other side' however, doesn't reduce the truth that all of the things you illustrate are true. Our society has become obsessed with material possessions. Conspicuous consumption is a plague on both ends of the political spectrum.
One thing I will never understand is why Conservatives aren't in favor or conservation. There is a large element of the conservative movement that relishes outdoor activities like hunting and fishing. Certainly, their stewardship philosophy differs from that of the environmental abolutist. However there shouldn't be anything inherently liberal or conservative about wanting to reduce pollution and preserve wild space. There is little evidence that tougher pollution standards reduce economic output in the long run (there may be short run losses from pollution dependent industries).
Republicans are on the wrong side of this issue if they plan to try to build rabid anti-environmentalism into the core of the party's beliefs. The Lets-despoil-the-wilderness-because-it-pisses-off-the-dems impulse is not one shared by the majority of Americans.