Gas Prices
I know I haven't written much about law lately, but since I got my internet access in my apartment I have been online looking at news a lot. I have some thoughts about gas prices. According to an article in today's NY Times, "Full Tanks Put Squeeze on the Working Class," apparently having to fill the tank is putting the hurt on a lot of people.
Okay, I'm not even in America right now, and I'm sick of this discussion. I say ENOUGH ALREADY to those who are complaining about gas prices. People, get a clue! Are people totally ignorant about the current global fossil fuel and warming crises, or are they so self-absorbed that they just don't care? I'm all for ANY phonomenon that causes people to think twice about driving places in their cars, and while I think its totally inexcusable and disgraceful that the oil companies are the ones who are racking up the SILLY profits here, at least there's SOME mechanism in place that will, one way or another, get people to think about how they can save fuel.
This NY Times article is rich. Apparently this crisis is hitting people especially hard in the Miami area, where people are being forced to give up trips to the mall, the movies, and to visit friends/family because all that requires gas that they need to make their 60-mile daily round trip commute to work. Still others have been forced to subject themselves to daily 2-hour commutes on public transportation as a result of giving up driving to work altogether.
The tone of the people in these articles is distinctly disparing: the woman who now relies on public transportation calls it "a nightmare" and says she's losing sleeping time due to her new commuting schedule. However, the woman who has to commute 60 miles back and forth each day to work scoffs at the idea of carpooling, refusing to leave her "aging Toyota 4-Runner" at home because it will force her to sacrifice her autonomy (specifically, "I don't want to depend on nobody.")
On the one hand, reading this article makes me want to shout, "Are you kidding me?!" But, on the other hand, I understand what these people are going through, really, and I do feel badly for them. Making lifestyle changes in which you are denied former conveniences is really difficult, and it is unfortunate that lower-income people are feeling the hurt the worst in this situation. However, for the good of everyone, I really can't see rising gas prices as a problem or crisis or anything negative. For so long in America people have treated gas like we have oceans and oceans full of it and it will never run out, buying SUVs and motorhomes, going to car races and monster truck rallies, clogging up our freeways and polluting our air. Its a desperate situation, and, well, they call for desperate measures.
I know that the cost of EVERYTHING goes up when gas prices rise. I really do appreciate that. But we in America have SO MUCH as it is, and there is so much waste in America as well. Can it be all bad that we are forced to consider conservation and frugality in our daily lives? My instincts tell me no. I know those are difficult concepts for most Americans to appreciate, but my goodness, we have to do something!
It is very interesting to think about this problem while sitting over here in Germany. I have been in a car a total of 4 times in the last 7 weeks, each trip lasting about 10 minutes (3 times in taxis going home late after the trams stopped running, and once when my friend Dani dropped me off after she and I met for a drink). Other than that I have exclusively walked or used public transportation. Don't get me wrong, I miss my car EVERY DAY. It's like a drug, really, and I have definitely felt the pain of not having it. But for once I feel like I'm really doing something positive, rather than just wishing I was.
Gas prices in Germany are astronomical, and I really think it's better that way...according to my calculations, they pay about $6.38 a gallon for gas (1.30 Euro for a liter, and there are 3.8 liters in a gallon, and 1 euro equal about $1.20). As a result, people here walk, ride bikes, ride trams and trains, and have smaller cars (I have maybe seen 5 big SUVs since I've been here). Granted, it's much easier to be in Germany without a car since the transportation infrastructure is so outstanding. But seeing what they have done here shows that IT IS POSSIBLE.
I want to say something too about my husband SP. He commutes each day from our home in the San Fernando Valley to the Westside of Los Angeles on the bus. He almost never uses his car. I know a lot of people who say they want to do something to help the environment, but SP really walks the talk. SP is a professional and works in an office. His company pays for his bus pass each month. While he's on the bus he listens to music or plays games on his phone. He will NEVER drive if he doesn't have to. And I'm proud of him because he's much better about it than I am.
It's time to stop seeing public transportation in the U.S. as something to be suffered. Politicians in America owe it to us to study the systems in Europe and come up with plans to make something similar at home. We can't continue down the path we're on. There's too much ozone asthma, too much smog, and too little consideration. It will be difficult for many people to adjust but we've had our fun and now it's time to be responsible.
Okay, I'm not even in America right now, and I'm sick of this discussion. I say ENOUGH ALREADY to those who are complaining about gas prices. People, get a clue! Are people totally ignorant about the current global fossil fuel and warming crises, or are they so self-absorbed that they just don't care? I'm all for ANY phonomenon that causes people to think twice about driving places in their cars, and while I think its totally inexcusable and disgraceful that the oil companies are the ones who are racking up the SILLY profits here, at least there's SOME mechanism in place that will, one way or another, get people to think about how they can save fuel.
This NY Times article is rich. Apparently this crisis is hitting people especially hard in the Miami area, where people are being forced to give up trips to the mall, the movies, and to visit friends/family because all that requires gas that they need to make their 60-mile daily round trip commute to work. Still others have been forced to subject themselves to daily 2-hour commutes on public transportation as a result of giving up driving to work altogether.
The tone of the people in these articles is distinctly disparing: the woman who now relies on public transportation calls it "a nightmare" and says she's losing sleeping time due to her new commuting schedule. However, the woman who has to commute 60 miles back and forth each day to work scoffs at the idea of carpooling, refusing to leave her "aging Toyota 4-Runner" at home because it will force her to sacrifice her autonomy (specifically, "I don't want to depend on nobody.")
On the one hand, reading this article makes me want to shout, "Are you kidding me?!" But, on the other hand, I understand what these people are going through, really, and I do feel badly for them. Making lifestyle changes in which you are denied former conveniences is really difficult, and it is unfortunate that lower-income people are feeling the hurt the worst in this situation. However, for the good of everyone, I really can't see rising gas prices as a problem or crisis or anything negative. For so long in America people have treated gas like we have oceans and oceans full of it and it will never run out, buying SUVs and motorhomes, going to car races and monster truck rallies, clogging up our freeways and polluting our air. Its a desperate situation, and, well, they call for desperate measures.
I know that the cost of EVERYTHING goes up when gas prices rise. I really do appreciate that. But we in America have SO MUCH as it is, and there is so much waste in America as well. Can it be all bad that we are forced to consider conservation and frugality in our daily lives? My instincts tell me no. I know those are difficult concepts for most Americans to appreciate, but my goodness, we have to do something!
It is very interesting to think about this problem while sitting over here in Germany. I have been in a car a total of 4 times in the last 7 weeks, each trip lasting about 10 minutes (3 times in taxis going home late after the trams stopped running, and once when my friend Dani dropped me off after she and I met for a drink). Other than that I have exclusively walked or used public transportation. Don't get me wrong, I miss my car EVERY DAY. It's like a drug, really, and I have definitely felt the pain of not having it. But for once I feel like I'm really doing something positive, rather than just wishing I was.
Gas prices in Germany are astronomical, and I really think it's better that way...according to my calculations, they pay about $6.38 a gallon for gas (1.30 Euro for a liter, and there are 3.8 liters in a gallon, and 1 euro equal about $1.20). As a result, people here walk, ride bikes, ride trams and trains, and have smaller cars (I have maybe seen 5 big SUVs since I've been here). Granted, it's much easier to be in Germany without a car since the transportation infrastructure is so outstanding. But seeing what they have done here shows that IT IS POSSIBLE.
I want to say something too about my husband SP. He commutes each day from our home in the San Fernando Valley to the Westside of Los Angeles on the bus. He almost never uses his car. I know a lot of people who say they want to do something to help the environment, but SP really walks the talk. SP is a professional and works in an office. His company pays for his bus pass each month. While he's on the bus he listens to music or plays games on his phone. He will NEVER drive if he doesn't have to. And I'm proud of him because he's much better about it than I am.
It's time to stop seeing public transportation in the U.S. as something to be suffered. Politicians in America owe it to us to study the systems in Europe and come up with plans to make something similar at home. We can't continue down the path we're on. There's too much ozone asthma, too much smog, and too little consideration. It will be difficult for many people to adjust but we've had our fun and now it's time to be responsible.
posted by Jennifer at 06:40
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