Question for liberal ELITISTS... (Iraq, suspect, Obama, March)
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I live in a house that I've spent quite a bit on to make more energy efficient. I have relatively energy efficient cars, but that doesn't matter too much because I take the bus or rail to work. I live within 3 miles of where I work And I purchase wind generated electricity from my supplier, because it's the right thing to do. Economically I don't have to do any of that. I could afford to drive and SUV to work every day, but such behavior is irresponsible. I certainly don't blame anyone else for my troubles and I certainly wouldn't accept the word of some republican stooge that the problem is not drilling in ANWR or the US continental shelf.
I do live in the real world. I take responsibility for my own action. Why don't you try it. After a few years of pain, things may get better for you.
Its easy to do that stuff when you have money and live in an area that has mass transit. You elitists are a small minority compared to most Americans who live in suburbs and depend on their cars. People can't just sell their homes and move on the fly, especially in this housing market. What about all the people who dont live in NYC or Chicago and therefore don't have access to all the luxuries you think EVERYONE should be using? I would love to be able to live somewhere where I didn't have to depend on my car, but that is not a possibility. Look at things from somebody else's perspective for a change.
Its easy to do that stuff when you have money and live in an area that has mass transit. You elitists are a small minority compared to most Americans who live in suburbs and depend on their cars. People can't just sell their homes and move on the fly, especially in this housing market. What about all the people who dont live in NYC or Chicago and therefore don't have access to all the luxuries you think EVERYONE should be using? I would love to be able to live somewhere where I didn't have to depend on my car, but that is not a possibility. Look at things from somebody else's perspective for a change.
First off...most cities have some form of public transit; it is not just Chicago and New York. The problem is that (1.) Americans generally don't want to take the bus because they feel it is for poor people and they are spoiled and (2.) because of the historical lack of political support as referenced in (1.), many of the systems we have are underfunded and not that efficient.
I realize that some people need a car and they must drive miles and miles to work because of poor and short-sighted decisions made years ago. Clearly, you can't sell your home on a dime and move. But a lot of people currently complaining about living on the edge, also go out and buy crap all the time, drive everyday, etc. There was a story online at NPR about these people in Ohio who were supposedly so poor they couldn't afford meat. Then you look at the picture of these people and they are huge; I mean massively obese. They clearly don't walk that much (they probably can't) and probably spend their time at fast food restaurants inhaling Big Macs. You can eat healthy, sparingly, and cheaply...trust me I try to do just that.
Anyway, the point is that things need to change. As I have said before, if we were smart we would have done what countries like Germany did in the early 1970's during the first oil crisis; they slowly raised taxes on petrol to slowly reduce demand over time and this encouraged people to live closer to where they worked, drive less, and shop locally. This also encouraged smarter development with employment, shopping, and residential close or relatively close together, even in the burbs. They then pumped the increased tax revenue into public transit to give people alternatives to 100% reliance on the automobile.
Now I know you don't like the Europe comparisons be it really is exhibit A on how stupid and short-sighted we are as Americans sometimes. Now change is being forced upon us whether we like it or not. Sudden and rapid change is always more painful than slow, steady change over time so many people in the economy are going to lose out. But the point is that we no longer have the ability to really control this, especially in the short term.
Bchris, please PLEASE tell us where you got your argument that liberals are panting over $8./gal gas? Your argument on this whole thread is quite unrealistic. EVERYONE I know is having hard times. I have a Toyota, supposed to get good gas mileage right? Even w/good gas mileage it still sucks to have to pump in $40+ worth of gas into my car. And I don't even use my car nearly as often as I used to or as much as the regular commuter. And you think us liberals LIKE it that way? Ridiculous. And people ARE conserving, they're conserving in not just the way they commute to & from places, but also in their spending habits on food, entertainment, clothing, coffee, etc. It is quite baffling that you can not only blame liberals for this problem but then also claim that we actually enjoy it & look forward to harder times.
how about we blame them both. both sides are to blame. it's a 50/50 deal. it's much easier for the politicians to pick sides and blame the other guy because it makes the ignorant masses take sides as well. blame the other side instead of blaming washington. what a freaking joke.
The most accurate post on this thread. Soon as you ask a pols why this
or that is a problem they roll out this blame game mantra of he said she said.
Maybe, instead of all the energy Americans use in finger pointing, they
could focus on problem solving we could get a lot more accomplished.
If someone built a car that ran on politicians excuses, we will no longer
need carbon based fuels. Only problem is, it might create
more pollution as a by-product than the fuel we are trying to replace.
Its easy to do that stuff when you have money and live in an area that has mass transit. You elitists are a small minority compared to most Americans who live in suburbs and depend on their cars. People can't just sell their homes and move on the fly, especially in this housing market. What about all the people who dont live in NYC or Chicago and therefore don't have access to all the luxuries you think EVERYONE should be using? I would love to be able to live somewhere where I didn't have to depend on my car, but that is not a possibility. Look at things from somebody else's perspective for a change.
Unless you live out in the middle of the Ozarks then city transit will be available to you, it will go into the suburbs and back into the city, you just have to look up what route you'll be on. It may be more inconvenient than using a car, but it's much less expensive.
This question is phrased as though "liberal elitists" actually have control over gas prices. They don't. Those are set by the market. The market is not there to help you out or see to it that you avoid hard times. That is not its role at all. The market allocates resources according to demand and scarcity, demand expressed in terms of money, and scarcity in terms of supply.
This question is phrased as though "liberal elitists" actually have control over gas prices. They don't. Those are set by the market. The market is not there to help you out or see to it that you avoid hard times. That is not its role at all. The market allocates resources according to demand and scarcity, demand expressed in terms of money, and scarcity in terms of supply.
That's just how it is. It's out of our hands.
If gas goes to $8/gallon on supply and demand, then so be it, but what I am talking about is if it is TAXED to $8/gallon. Liberal elitists, including Mr. Obama want to add extra taxes on gasoline with the intention that it will force us to drive less when all it will actually do is destroy whats left of our economy.
Europeans pay just about twice what we do for gas. All of the difference is taxes. They get by just fine because their vehicle fleets average just about twice the mpg that ours does, hence we each end up paying just about the same fuel cost per mile driven. The major difference is that their governments end up with billions of dollars to support public goods and services that we don't have. Advantage, Europe. Of course, they did get into this position relatively slowly, basically starting from the 1970's with the two oil embargos. We would have done that as well, except for Ronald Reagan and his two-bit macho "morning in America" BS that insisted we could all continue to waste energy until the cows came home and never be the worse off for any of it. Wrong again, Ronnie...
Everything I have read indicates people ARE driving less, even buying less gas at a time. I'm one of them.
I have not driven less... I haven't cut back on my spending either... Oh wait, I have been living within my means the whole entire time... I might have to cut back if the liberals start demanding I pay more taxes so they can spend more... imagine that...
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