These days, I like to fantasize that the price of gas gets so high -- $10, $20 or more a gallon -- that American auto use goes down dramatically. So dramitically that you see more bikes and mass transit than you see cars on the road. But I suspect that most Americans are so car-obsessed that they'll still drive even if gas was $100 a gallon.
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Michigan
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Re: The high gas price fantasy
Wed, April 30, 2008 - 1:01 AM$10 a gallon for gas And these SUV owners thought fuel efficient cars are UNcomfortable. Maybe that will get their lazy "tails" on their feet, bicycles, etc and their glorymobiles into the junkyards.
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Re: The high gas price fantasy
Sun, May 4, 2008 - 9:41 AMit will be the wealthy that continue to drive. already, many working folks i know are being forced to make decisions that are difficult. This will be a time of pain for the working classes and the poor,because,frankly, we have been sold a bill of goods.
If I buy a house in the suburbs, rely on a car to get to work, (totally typical american thinkiing, based on the bill of goods we have been sold) and gas prices skyrocket, several things happen. One, i pay more of my limitied income to get to work. Since most suburban communities lack family wage jobs in sufficient numbers, houses are far from jobs, and hence, become less valuable. I suffer a loss of value. Everything I need to consume is shipped, i will pick up the higher shipping costs. Local ag is pretty much a thing of the past. Our daily lives are based on the premise of cheap oil. Now it isnt, and its gonna hit the workers much harder than the wealthy.
Most folks dont really know how to make an intelligent choice,based on their best interests. they make the best of the lousy choices offered.I can't be too smug about my relative success dealing with high fuel prices,because i know many others will be suffering.But not the shareholders of Exxon, i guess. -
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Re: The high gas price fantasy
Wed, May 7, 2008 - 4:28 PMjOe:
You are on the money completely. The poor always bear the brunt of the downturns in our economy even though the wealthy and the powered elites are the ones who set the framework.
Frankly, I believe that those of us who are walking in the light (and by that I mean we have heard the inner voices of our higher selves speaking to us the truth) need to stand up and make an example. And, no, I'm not talking about religion. Lol.
I own a car, and I do not make a lot of money (far from it). However, I have been using my car on a VERY limited basis for the past two years (the total time of ownership. Before that I used to have NO car at all). What do I do? I bus to work even though I live in a satelite suburb and I ride my bicycle to the grocery store, and, yes, I do ride in/with traffic.
It always tickles me when people at work look on me in awe when they realize that I bus to work, but I get an equal reaction when I tell them that because of my commuting habits, I only have to fill up the tank of my 2005 Toyota Corolla once every 2.5 weeks, and that runs me about $25 each time!
I am so glad that I have adhered to the inner voice of my higher self and that I do not have to depend on my car. I work in a semi-corporate environment where I have to dress professionally, and I take the bus through some really tough neighborhoods, and it's fun to see the kids around me on the bus look on in this sort of reserved interest, seeing this big, black guy with his lunch bag and a messenger tote filled with puzzle books, novels and my left-wing, Progressive mags riding the bus to work. I love the feeling.
All of you who have listened and adhered to the voice of your higher selves...I thank you. -
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Re: The high gas price fantasy
Fri, May 9, 2008 - 4:07 PMI also fnd it amusing when people at work realize that I also ride the bus to work. It averages me about 3 weeks between fillups. Fortunately I live in an area where I can also walk to the grocery store, restaurants, etc.
I also had a lady that I work and ride the bus with ask about my walking habits and when she realized aboout my afternoon walk it inspired her to start walking more. She said that she lives about a half mile from her grocery store and can start that way.
I am glad that I am also leading by example (I hope). People do watch and sometimes their interest is reserved. All it takes is one person to show that if I can do it, so can you. It is a good feeling when I can inspire a person like this. -
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Re: The high gas price fantasy
Wed, May 14, 2008 - 3:14 PMYeah, my new coworker came in today with a parking ticket from expired tags on her car. She then started calculating how much its going to cost to fix it (and possibly time off to take care of it at the DMV), and looked at me and said, "You are lucky that you don't have to do this. You probably save so much money besides gas by not having a car." Then, "...maybe I should take the bus more often." Well, you said it yourself and I just led by example. Its totally possible, and not only that, liberating.
Likewise, I love getting my required exercise with the bus commute and it also forces me to shop more frugally because I know I can only carry two or three bags at most from the store at one time - so I don't buy stuff I'm not going to eat or that isn't good for a few meals. More Americans would have less of a problem with obesity if they took the bus - because you have to get exercise, and you have to cart all those groceries up the stairs, to the curb, from the curb, to the house. Maybe that 6-pack of coke doesn't look that appealing when you have to walk home with it... -
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Re: The high gas price fantasy
Thu, May 15, 2008 - 4:33 PMBrittany, you go with your bad self. That is sooo true. When I pay off my car next year, I think I'm strongly considering selling it because living without just seem more liberating, and I find myself using it less and less.
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