Not meant to knock anyones' posts that I quoted, but this is my point of view
Americans haven't exactly helped themselves here though, how many of the people who drive a huge SUV or something fitted with a V8 really needs to drive something that consumes this much gas? the simple patch here for alot of people would be to downsize their set of wheels.
Granted, this wont exactly help the people who are allready driving something conservative and struggeling to make ends meet, nor thouse who in truth requires an all terrain vehical, but i'd wager that a supricingly large amount of people could solve their money woes by replacing their Dodge with a Honda.
Doesn't have to be a Honda, just not a big oversized SUV. Oh so often I see a tiny little woman with one child driving a huge Chevy Yukon or Ford Excursion. No problem if that is what they want, but they get picked on when they complain about the price of gas
Oh spare me. Most Americans are literally living paycheck to paycheck.
I am sure many are, but that is an exaggeration to say most. Most of the people I know are not living paycheck to paycheck (I am probably the worse off out of all the people I know). Of course, I know some people who make 6 figures and spend it like it is in unlimited supply and are sorta living paycheck to paycheck. Those people have to learn how to control their spending and that is THEIR fault....
And most of us have been driving fuel efficient 4 cylinder sub-compacts most of our lives here.
I live in NJ, a big commuting state, and a large number of cars on the road are NOT compacts/subcompacts, and they really should be. There are alot of SUVs, trucks, and midsize cars driving on the highways. I myself drive a 2000 SUV, but only because I bought it used for more than $1000 less than trade-in value and $5000 less than blue book value. And I don't have to commute but 15 minutes one way to work. Admittedly, it was a steal and wonderful buy, but it sucks big time on gas.
The select few here that actually drive a Hummer are one out of a thousand and those are the guys probably working for the oil companies.
I can't believe the number of Hummers I see on the roads these days, although it really isn't alot compared to other cars. Definately more than one out of a thousand (one out of two hundred?)
You need to come to America to see the reality. Your media would have you believe that we all drive Hummers and wear ten gallon hats.
OK, no ten gallon hats
And yes, I know you pay taxes for your health care. But compared to what the average American has to pay it is small fries.
Contrary to what the media would like you to believe, I probably know more people who do NOT want socialized medicine as opposed to those who do. And here in NJ, the state will cover you if you and your children do not have health insurance. You must apply of course and the income limit is fairly generous. That is speaking of NJ only of course, I do not know of other states. Of course, NJ taxes suck (2nd worse in the nation) and that is why the states population is actually going down instead of up. Pennsylvania is looking mighty good
They used to call the U.S. the land of Milk and Honey. Now days most of that milk and honey is exported free of charge to poor countries at our expense. So if you think that we are all living it up here in the U.S. then you need a reality check IMHO.
Well, I don't live it up myself, I just don't like to spend money much. Some live it up, some really can't, and then there are those who live it up and get in financial trouble because they can't afford to pay off that vacation to Cancun which honestly is their own fault. I probably fall into the I shouldn't live it up category myself.
When third world types start starving to death because us Yanks can't afford to give our food away, the world will be a very different place. And it won't be pretty. And it's just a matter of time.
High oil prices and a bad year for crops overall I have heard will definately contribute to this problem...
You can't really call us whiners unless you look at the bigger picture.
Gas prices have a direct impact on all aspects of our quality of life. One thing the rest of the world doesn't realize yet is that when we start hurting, they will start hurting.
Very true, it is a global economy now whether you believe it or not.
i do agree that the americans are just like most most of the world population victims of this all. we realised some time ago in europe that america was not that fantastic country they would have us believe. the america we see in hollywood movies, or series like desperate housewives is not what it is really.
Um, if there are those out there in other countries that believe America is like Hollywood portrays things, or Desperate Housewives, they are not too bright to begin with.
Seriously, despite what good or bad you may think of us here, it is a wonderful country and alot of it has to do with what you make of it.
but where i think differently is about the outcome of this all. i say bring on the 300 dollar barrils, and expensive food!!
this time we have no choice anymore, we either improve our ways of living, or the planet will take care of us and whipe away 20% of the world population after the next natural disaster that will destroy food harvests. since there is no food reserve anymore, when there is a disaster many people will simply starve.
but cheap food and fossile fuel are major brakes in the "improvement" of humanity. once fuel is unaffordable, we will find other sources of energy like forests, the sun, water... AND! importation of cheap stuff from china will be too expensive and the clothes you wear and the TV's you watch will be made in your own country again, and it can only be good for the local economy.
same with food, no more exporting billions of tons to africa and flooding their econmony with cheap food, just like china floods us with cheap crap. the food you eat and milk you drink will be made by the closest farmer to your house, it wont have travellled 1000 miles like it does now.
i think its over with globalisation, back to a more "human" way of living.
I just generally disagree overall. You don't need to have such ecomonic hardship to cause change, and I also don't fall into the tree-hugger category myself. Also, for the most part, globalization is here and will not really go away.
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Of course, high gas prices suck, and here in the US we have it good compared to other countries in this regard. Of course, I don't know how much people commute in other (smaller) countries, but where I am from, alot commute big distances. I see the bigger problem here being the higher price of diesal compared to gas.
Also, my comments are not meant to knock those people who are truely in financial trouble due to things beyond their control. And of course, any comments I posted in regards to quotes are hopefully done respectfully