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Well, now the price of oil is over $4.00 a gallon and many Americans are feeling the pinch. They purchased their cookie cutter homes in the burbs and their SUVs at a time when gas in some places was as low as $1.00 a gallon or less. Now, obviously, they are hurting. Well, get used to it folks. It is not going down anytime soon...in fact it probably will never go down to meet your earlier lifestyle and expectations.
The sad thing is that if we were smart back in the 1990's (or even earlier), we could have prepared for the current situation. Europeans have been doing just that for decades now and they are in a much better situation to deal with the current mess. They slowly raised taxes on the price of oil over the years, which gave people time to adjust to increased prices and deal with it accordingly (i.e. buy smaller cars, live closer to work, just plain drive less). Additionally, they used the increased tax revenue to fund public transit systems to give people an option other than the automobile.
Instead, as is typical, Americans fought taxes on fuel for short-sighted, frankly selfish reasons. We refused to really properly fund public transit. In fact, we didn't even properly fund our current road network; see what happened in Minneapolis with the bridge collapse. Additionally, we continued to move farther and farther out, increasing sprawl and we bought bigger and bigger cars for no real good reason. So now, when the price skyrockets in such a short term, people are unable to deal with the shift in prices. How do you like dem apples?
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,788,601 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by irwin
Well, now the price of oil is over $4.00 a gallon and many Americans are feeling the pinch. They purchased their cookie cutter homes in the burbs and their SUVs at a time when gas in some places was as low as $1.00 a gallon or less. Now, obviously, they are hurting. Well, get used to it folks. It is not going down anytime soon...in fact it probably will never go down to meet your earlier lifestyle and expectations.
The sad thing is that if we were smart back in the 1990's (or even earlier), we could have prepared for the current situation. Europeans have been doing just that for decades now and they are in a much better situation to deal with the current mess. They slowly raised taxes on the price of oil over the years, which gave people time to adjust to increased prices and deal with it accordingly (i.e. buy smaller cars, live closer to work, just plain drive less). Additionally, they used the increased tax revenue to fund public transit systems to give people an option other than the automobile.
Instead, as is typical, Americans fought taxes on fuel for short-sighted, frankly selfish reasons. We refused to really properly fund public transit. In fact, we didn't even properly fund our current road network; see what happened in Minneapolis with the bridge collapse. Additionally, we continued to move farther and farther out, increasing sprawl and we bought bigger and bigger cars for no real good reason. So now, when the price skyrockets in such a short term, people are unable to deal with the shift in prices. How do you like dem apples?
You are 100% right! You should see the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" where Al Gore points out that even the Chinese demand more gas consumption standards from autos than we do! We will be where they are in about 10 years- or never if GM and Ford get their way!
So you blame those from the subburbs, who moved away from cities to avoid crime, to avoid higher income taxes, to avoid high parking taxes, high regulations, to find jobs that that were chased away by government, and you think the answer is even more taxes in the 1990's, and not the fact that we have been limiting production of energy going back 30+ years?
Sounds like someone didn't get in on the fun things of life. Butt ehn the peole who owned those things are nott eh ones hurting because most can afford the change now;with fond memories.
You are 100% right! You should see the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" where Al Gore points out that even the Chinese demand more gas consumption standards from autos than we do! We will be where they are in about 10 years- or never if GM and Ford get their way!
Its bad when "An Inconvenient Truth" is being used to support opinions, not news.
Chinese demands on gas consumption standards have resulted in vehicles being sold there, that actually are being sold here, except lighter. i.e. less safety features, so unless your now abdicating we accept the Chinese standards, please be prepared to accept more deaths on the roads.
You are 100% right! You should see the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" where Al Gore points out that even the Chinese demand more gas consumption standards from autos than we do! !
I can't talk about an "An Inconvenient Truth" but what I can say is that Americans use more oil per person than any other country in the world. Many people who defend the status quo (and other morons) used to claim that we were the "richest" country in the world and that is why we use so much oil per person. Well that's not the case anymore folks. We are falling behind many countries in Europe who now have higher GDP per person than we do. But...why pay attention to such facts and figures when you can simply waive the flag and sing some stupid country song.
And as far as me personally...I am doing just fine. I don't even own a car, I walk most places and take transit. But I do hear from suburbanites in my office who complain about how much they pay to fill up their giant SUV they drive the 20 miles into work each day. Sorry if I don't have a ounce of sympathy for these people.
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