I agree with the commenter above--Europe is a very different situation. I used to live in Italy and France. Although we had a car, it was not really necessary because we could go anywhere on trains and buses, plus occasional bicycles. Distances were short because those towns were built when there were no motorized vehicles and the countries are the size of states in the US. Gasoline was very expensive, but it didn't matter much, as we only used the car on some vacations. The metro area where I live now is the size of New Jersey, and commutes are long for most people. It's a gazillion degrees in the shade for at least five months out of the year, and people don't ride bicycles for fear of falling on the pavement and frying to death ;-) The same problem presents itself when waiting for the infrequent buses. Better mass transit is the answer, of course, but as of yet there is very little push toward increasing the amount available.
I wonder what is going to happen in 10 years or so, when all those now 62-year old baby boomers find that their reflexes and eyesight just aren't what they used to be and they become a real danger on the freeways, whether gas is $10 or $2?
I tasted a sample of the chips and I was impressed until I read the ingredient list. The first ingredient is masa, i.e. corn flour. The second ingredient is oil. They're not much healthier than Fritos.
for those as can neither afford to move nor give up the car - fruitless.
yes, we have trimmed the fat from the budget & become frugal; however, living out here in the Valley, just up & moving or switching cars or jobs is not practical; particularly in the current economy.
as for the endless comparisons to Europe - enough please. They are smaller geographically than the US. They grew with an eye towards closeness that allows for their public transit etc. We/USA did not. Particularly, the South & West. Also, if everyone moves to the condensed cities - who will handle the necessary tasks of food production?
Yes, we are a consumption based economy and society, and being frugal would "seemingly" hurt the economy. But think again, think different, think macro. Frugality would actually benefit the economy.
If everyone became frugal:
Our trade defecit would go down.
The dollar would go up.
Interest rates would go down.
Inflation would go down.
Much of what we consume is imported, if we consume less, we import less. When we import less, than we export, the trade defecit declines and the dollar rises.
If we consume less, we conserve more, we end up saving money. When we save money, the treasury has to borrow less money, and interest rates go down.
When we are frugal and consume less, prices stop rising, and inflation goes down.
You're exactly right. According to the IS-LM model decrease in consumption leads to a decrease in demand, which in turn leads to a decrease in output. It's a big simplification of the actual economy, but what it boils down to is that the economy will readjust to a different, yet still stable, equilibrium with a lower level of output.
I'm always a little bit amused by how that decrease in output gets to people, especially because in biology we call rapid, uncontrolled growth "cancer", and we do our best to combat it. :)
If everyone suddenly becomes frugal ... it will have a sudden impact on the economy. I agree with you, that the more frugal a community is the more stable they can manage a recession. But, its the suddenlyness that is dangerous, which is why the politicians are telling us that everything is ok. The consumer price index has already declined for 4 months. They don't want a panic.
Another danger is high inflation, like we are seeing with food prices, because it can create a panic.
There is a bit of faulty logic in the thought that spending is always good for the economy. A certain amount of money should be saved so that it can be invested in new projects.
I'm a little rusty on my economics, but take a look at the wikipedia entry for the Golden Rule Savings Rate. (sorry not sure how to link)
Think about the name of the economic slowdown we're currently facing. "The Credit Crunch" (or something along that line) I imagine if people were a little more frugal, saved a little more, and were not so dependent on credit to finance their spending our country could be in a lot better situation than it's in.
I agree with you 100%. If people had consumed less and saved more we would not be in the financial mess we are in right now. Unfortunately there are now many people who have been forced into frugal living in order to pay off debt and keep a roof over their heads.
who cares what other stuff costs per gallon. If we can't afford to fill our gas tanks, we aren't going to be buying all that other crap on the list. The price increases are all based on speculation and gas stations are gouging us into the poor house. At this rate, we will be not in a recession, but a depression as seen in the late 20's.
Thanks for the head start on the problem that our government doesn't talk about. Back in the '70's the media and the federal governemnt were leading the way to conservation of energy, with car pooling, 55 mph speed limits, and energy efficient appliances etc. Sad that so little of this is in the public view these days.
Am hoping that the Fed, the SEC and the commodity exhanges will crack down on the rampant speculation in the energy and commodity markets. The leveraged trading in hedge funds and futures and collusion among the major suppliers to restrict suppies (and production) is driving the entire Commodity Markets triple digit inflation already... Oil, grains, metals and more.
Thaks for the "seed" thinking about coping. All good ideas, and a good discussion.
I bought my home 10 years ago because it has both an attached, oversized 2-car garage AND a detached, oversized 2-car garage. My then-husband used the detached garage as his art studio. As he was a non-contributing liability of a partner (my bad choice in men), the house remains mine. I have 4 bedrooms, 3 baths on 2 levels. The basement is like a home in itself, with its own bath, living room, office, bedroom, and kitchen. I have about 2500 square feet in living space, plus a total of four garage spaces and work space. I'm every man's dream! LOL!
It is way too much house and property for me (the lot is 16,500+ square feet and is mostly in gardens...my therapy after life with a disfunctional, starving artist.
BUT! I have the world's most fabulous, wonderful neighbors! It is like living with a family of choice, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. And, now that I'm not supporting another adult, I can easily afford to own it and maintain it. As a matter of fact, I couldn't buy something smaller for what my monthly mortgage payment is on this place.
High oil prices are going to mean tough times for everyone--and for poorer and more rural folks especially.
There's a certain category of people who dream of rural self-sufficiency, but that's a very hard life. Rural living without self-sufficiency, though, depends on having some sort of transportation infrastructure. These past 70 years, it's been provided by cheap fuel. For a generation or two before that, it was provided by light rail--small communities sprang up around each rail stop, and workers could take the train to jobs in town. Without that infrastructure, though, rural living may simple become untenable, except for people willing and able to be largely self-sufficient on their own land.
I would suggest giving bicycling a second look. Maybe there's a way to reach the grocery store without going on the highway, if you go the long way around on back roads? Even if the trip is two or three times as long, that's still a reasonable bike ride for grocery shopping.
Beyond that, I don't know enough about your situation to offer much in the way of specific advice. My general advice, though, is the main message of my post: Make a plan. There may be no short-term solution to your problems, but there are any number of long-term solutions--change jobs, change careers, move to another part of the country, become self-sufficient on your own land.... Maybe with some serious thought, a willingness to embrace change, and enough lead time you'll find your way to a solution.
what about those of us for whom all of your suggestions are not an option-we already drive small cars,we already live in a small house,but my husband has an 18 mile drive to work every day and moving closer is not an option with the housing market the way it is plus who can say if the job will be there is 6 months, we have a Propane furnace and a wood furnace-guess which one we use? Burning wood is not environmentally friendly but the wood is free for us.
The nearest grocery store is 3 miles away on a major highway-biking is not an option,the school is 8 miles away,the post office and bank are 5 miles away. I work from home which is great but I still need to go to the post office for shipping at least twice a week so i consolidate all of my errands into that time. If gas prices go over $5 it will then take over 25% of our after tax(and health insurance) income to pay for it. My income depends on people having disposable income-money to spend on hobbies-so of course if gas prices continue to rise it will spell DOOM for my business. It is a can't win situation for many small town/rural Americans.
Washington is clueless.
On the topic of home heating, I just replaced my propane furnace with the Affinity 8T heat pump from York. The $6000 project should pay for itself within 2 years by saving on energy costs at today's prices.
My house is only a year old and I spent over $4000 for propane heat in Virginia(2800 square feet). I talked to many people who have propane, electric or both, and I realized that those of us with propane spend a lot more. Even people that have a dual fuel system (electric + propane) spend way more than an all electric system.
As I tried to say with the bit about European reactions to high energy costs, I don't think high oil prices will produce a catastrophe. On the other hand, the economy faces many problems just now besides high oil prices. As you point out, inflation and the collapsing value of the dollar (both the same thing, of course) are as big a problem as high oil prices. I think the high levels of debt in the economy are going to be as big a drag as high oil prices as well.
I don't think there's a magic number where things suddenly get much worse. But there are plenty of problems out there adding to our economic troubles.
I'm actually a long-time reader of TOD. (I'm pbrewer over there, although I haven't posted many comments since I started posting here.) And I've read both of Deffeyes's books.
I don't doubt that the peak oil analysis is generally true. I do tend to quibble with some of the folks over there who seem to think that prices can only move in one direction. Whenever fuel costs get painfully high, people will make the sort of changes that I'm talking about above. Once a critical mass of people do so, the result is a long-term shift in the demand for oil. Each of those shifts is likely to produce a drop in price. It'll be a temporary drop, because the quantity of oil produced will decline over time, meaning that the price will rise again eventually. But the price decline won't be immediately reversed, because structural changes like moving closer to work or buying a smaller car won't be immediately reversed just because energy costs come back down for a bit.
We've always lived small (between 800-1100 sf) for $$ reasons, but it helped me to realize I'm happy living on top of my family. I don't like one bathroom when everyone needs to brush their teeth and the tiny kitchen stinks at Thanksgiving. Let's not even get into what it's like to have two grown people with multiple wardrobes (military, field, workout, office, casual - and that's just the man of the house) sharing a single old-school closet! I'd like to fit more people around my dining room table too. Luckily, we live in a mild climate and can eat outside much of the time.
I know (and like) my neighbors. It is easier to clean this tiny box, but it looks messy with less effort. ;-) I like knowing where my kids are and being able to hear every thing that happens. I hope our next house will be bigger (or at least have better storage and plumbed facilities). But I don't see it as a vast expanse.
I know "peak oil" has become a buzzword, but because of it, oil prices can't come "back to normal." If you're interested, check out TOD (http://www.theoildrum.com/). They have plenty of the information necessary to come to that conclusion yourself on their site and seem to be pretty down to earth.
Also, check out Hubbard's Peak by Kenneth S. Deffeyes for the basic science behind the idea of peak oil. It's a fun and quick read, and takes you through the essential arguments and calculations that geologists do in the oil biz.
About 18 months ago (when Oil was below $90.00) I was reading a article in which an economist was saying that if crude oil prices ever got above $125 (and stayed there) that his opinion was that would be the "witching point" where the economy would contract to a point in which it could not recover... It was his contention that consumers would no longer have any discresionary income...that wages could not rise far enough or fast enough to keep up with the resulting inflationary pressures resulting from $4-5 gas
It's great to talk about how increased energy prices are going to change the "American Consumer" but I don't think many of you realize how the economy will "implode" before we can get to a "Non-Consumption/Non-Consumer" generated economy (if ever..we have no real manufacturing base to replace our Consumer generated economy...it's all been exported)
The Good News is that the Federal Reserve may finally raise interest rates....because most if not all of the problems that we are having can be traced back to the falling value of the Dollar (even the problems caused by Speculation in Crude Oil Futures)
Of course, I'll believe that when I see it.
"Fasten your seat belts...it's going to be a bumpy flight!"
From Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: "We acquire protein from a number of sources, but the foods that are richest in it - egg whites, cheese and meats (including fish and fowl) - contain virtually no carbohydrate. Protein is available in smaller amounts from vegetable sources such as legumes (beans) seeds, and nuts, which also contain fat and carbohydrate."
I highly recommend Dr. Bernsteins book and it is available on Amazon.com:
I was diagnosed as a Type 2 approximately 2 months ago and had a fasting BG of 450 mg/dl. By following Dr. Bernsteins advice, I am down to a fasting BG of about 115 mg/dl and am trying to get better than this.
I feel bad for the people these high prices are hurting, but in a way I'm glad the price is going up. It gives people the motivation to find other ways of living, more sustainable ones. I think gas prices are going up slowly enough that it's not too difficult on people, but quickly enough that it's drawing really very necessary attention to fuel efficiency and fuel dependence. It's making a lot of people realize that using less fuel is easier than they'd thought. And I bet it's making a lot of people demand better public transportation options.
Whether gas prices go up or down or stay the same over the long term relative to the prices of other things, I hope they stay "high" for at least another few years, preferably much longer. We will be happier people if we get more exercise, have shorter commutes, and live in less polluted environments. If $10/gallon gas is what it takes to accomplish that, I'm all for it.
I can understand the pain that people are going through but eliminating the tax is not the right answer. It encourages more consumption, reduces much infrastructure revenue, and hurts the trade deficit and when you factor that is saves an average American $30 it seems really silly.
I feel that increasing the gas tax and using those dollars to spur renewable energy is much preferred. But I think everyone realizes that is is political suicide.
Ppl on this page seem to be looking a little more at the religious aspect of this instead of the scientific.
Poles reversing and the sun reaching the center of the universe seem to me a little more important than Mayan or Christian or any other prophesies...
Read the research if you like but astronomers agree that it is going to happen, all on the same day. What they aren't sure about is what will happen.
Worse case senario??... when the poles reverse the atmosphere instantly disappears and we lose gravity... WOAH...
Cant wait to see what happens then =)
I'm sure it will be a fun ride. I plan on staying outside all day that day.
Hi, I am single with one child. I filed taxes with earnings of 28K and didn't have to pay any taxes to IRS. I only got $600 back for the stimulus check. Aren't I also supposed to get $300 for my child?
Although sales at stores can make buying food for a food drive practical, they usually don't last forever so you might miss out on the chance to support the charity.
There is a company I know of that automatically donates 10% of the proceeds of each sale to charity. The company is called Holy Food Imports. You can find their website at www.holyfoodimports.com
I agree with the commenter above--Europe is a very different situation. I used to live in Italy and France. Although we had a car, it was not really necessary because we could go anywhere on trains and buses, plus occasional bicycles. Distances were short because those towns were built when there were no motorized vehicles and the countries are the size of states in the US. Gasoline was very expensive, but it didn't matter much, as we only used the car on some vacations. The metro area where I live now is the size of New Jersey, and commutes are long for most people. It's a gazillion degrees in the shade for at least five months out of the year, and people don't ride bicycles for fear of falling on the pavement and frying to death ;-) The same problem presents itself when waiting for the infrequent buses. Better mass transit is the answer, of course, but as of yet there is very little push toward increasing the amount available.
I wonder what is going to happen in 10 years or so, when all those now 62-year old baby boomers find that their reflexes and eyesight just aren't what they used to be and they become a real danger on the freeways, whether gas is $10 or $2?
I tasted a sample of the chips and I was impressed until I read the ingredient list. The first ingredient is masa, i.e. corn flour. The second ingredient is oil. They're not much healthier than Fritos.
for those as can neither afford to move nor give up the car - fruitless.
yes, we have trimmed the fat from the budget & become frugal; however, living out here in the Valley, just up & moving or switching cars or jobs is not practical; particularly in the current economy.
as for the endless comparisons to Europe - enough please. They are smaller geographically than the US. They grew with an eye towards closeness that allows for their public transit etc. We/USA did not. Particularly, the South & West. Also, if everyone moves to the condensed cities - who will handle the necessary tasks of food production?
Yes, we are a consumption based economy and society, and being frugal would "seemingly" hurt the economy. But think again, think different, think macro. Frugality would actually benefit the economy.
If everyone became frugal:
Our trade defecit would go down.
The dollar would go up.
Interest rates would go down.
Inflation would go down.
Much of what we consume is imported, if we consume less, we import less. When we import less, than we export, the trade defecit declines and the dollar rises.
If we consume less, we conserve more, we end up saving money. When we save money, the treasury has to borrow less money, and interest rates go down.
When we are frugal and consume less, prices stop rising, and inflation goes down.
Frugality is good for you and the economy!
You're exactly right. According to the IS-LM model decrease in consumption leads to a decrease in demand, which in turn leads to a decrease in output. It's a big simplification of the actual economy, but what it boils down to is that the economy will readjust to a different, yet still stable, equilibrium with a lower level of output.
I'm always a little bit amused by how that decrease in output gets to people, especially because in biology we call rapid, uncontrolled growth "cancer", and we do our best to combat it. :)
If everyone suddenly becomes frugal ... it will have a sudden impact on the economy. I agree with you, that the more frugal a community is the more stable they can manage a recession. But, its the suddenlyness that is dangerous, which is why the politicians are telling us that everything is ok. The consumer price index has already declined for 4 months. They don't want a panic.
Another danger is high inflation, like we are seeing with food prices, because it can create a panic.
There is a bit of faulty logic in the thought that spending is always good for the economy. A certain amount of money should be saved so that it can be invested in new projects.
I'm a little rusty on my economics, but take a look at the wikipedia entry for the Golden Rule Savings Rate. (sorry not sure how to link)
Think about the name of the economic slowdown we're currently facing. "The Credit Crunch" (or something along that line) I imagine if people were a little more frugal, saved a little more, and were not so dependent on credit to finance their spending our country could be in a lot better situation than it's in.
I agree with you 100%. If people had consumed less and saved more we would not be in the financial mess we are in right now. Unfortunately there are now many people who have been forced into frugal living in order to pay off debt and keep a roof over their heads.
who cares what other stuff costs per gallon. If we can't afford to fill our gas tanks, we aren't going to be buying all that other crap on the list. The price increases are all based on speculation and gas stations are gouging us into the poor house. At this rate, we will be not in a recession, but a depression as seen in the late 20's.
Thanks for the head start on the problem that our government doesn't talk about. Back in the '70's the media and the federal governemnt were leading the way to conservation of energy, with car pooling, 55 mph speed limits, and energy efficient appliances etc. Sad that so little of this is in the public view these days.
Am hoping that the Fed, the SEC and the commodity exhanges will crack down on the rampant speculation in the energy and commodity markets. The leveraged trading in hedge funds and futures and collusion among the major suppliers to restrict suppies (and production) is driving the entire Commodity Markets triple digit inflation already... Oil, grains, metals and more.
Thaks for the "seed" thinking about coping. All good ideas, and a good discussion.
I bought my home 10 years ago because it has both an attached, oversized 2-car garage AND a detached, oversized 2-car garage. My then-husband used the detached garage as his art studio. As he was a non-contributing liability of a partner (my bad choice in men), the house remains mine. I have 4 bedrooms, 3 baths on 2 levels. The basement is like a home in itself, with its own bath, living room, office, bedroom, and kitchen. I have about 2500 square feet in living space, plus a total of four garage spaces and work space. I'm every man's dream! LOL!
It is way too much house and property for me (the lot is 16,500+ square feet and is mostly in gardens...my therapy after life with a disfunctional, starving artist.
BUT! I have the world's most fabulous, wonderful neighbors! It is like living with a family of choice, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. And, now that I'm not supporting another adult, I can easily afford to own it and maintain it. As a matter of fact, I couldn't buy something smaller for what my monthly mortgage payment is on this place.
High oil prices are going to mean tough times for everyone--and for poorer and more rural folks especially.
There's a certain category of people who dream of rural self-sufficiency, but that's a very hard life. Rural living without self-sufficiency, though, depends on having some sort of transportation infrastructure. These past 70 years, it's been provided by cheap fuel. For a generation or two before that, it was provided by light rail--small communities sprang up around each rail stop, and workers could take the train to jobs in town. Without that infrastructure, though, rural living may simple become untenable, except for people willing and able to be largely self-sufficient on their own land.
I would suggest giving bicycling a second look. Maybe there's a way to reach the grocery store without going on the highway, if you go the long way around on back roads? Even if the trip is two or three times as long, that's still a reasonable bike ride for grocery shopping.
Beyond that, I don't know enough about your situation to offer much in the way of specific advice. My general advice, though, is the main message of my post: Make a plan. There may be no short-term solution to your problems, but there are any number of long-term solutions--change jobs, change careers, move to another part of the country, become self-sufficient on your own land.... Maybe with some serious thought, a willingness to embrace change, and enough lead time you'll find your way to a solution.
what about those of us for whom all of your suggestions are not an option-we already drive small cars,we already live in a small house,but my husband has an 18 mile drive to work every day and moving closer is not an option with the housing market the way it is plus who can say if the job will be there is 6 months, we have a Propane furnace and a wood furnace-guess which one we use? Burning wood is not environmentally friendly but the wood is free for us.
The nearest grocery store is 3 miles away on a major highway-biking is not an option,the school is 8 miles away,the post office and bank are 5 miles away. I work from home which is great but I still need to go to the post office for shipping at least twice a week so i consolidate all of my errands into that time. If gas prices go over $5 it will then take over 25% of our after tax(and health insurance) income to pay for it. My income depends on people having disposable income-money to spend on hobbies-so of course if gas prices continue to rise it will spell DOOM for my business. It is a can't win situation for many small town/rural Americans.
Washington is clueless.
On the topic of home heating, I just replaced my propane furnace with the Affinity 8T heat pump from York. The $6000 project should pay for itself within 2 years by saving on energy costs at today's prices.
My house is only a year old and I spent over $4000 for propane heat in Virginia(2800 square feet). I talked to many people who have propane, electric or both, and I realized that those of us with propane spend a lot more. Even people that have a dual fuel system (electric + propane) spend way more than an all electric system.
@ TheDepressingTruth:
As I tried to say with the bit about European reactions to high energy costs, I don't think high oil prices will produce a catastrophe. On the other hand, the economy faces many problems just now besides high oil prices. As you point out, inflation and the collapsing value of the dollar (both the same thing, of course) are as big a problem as high oil prices. I think the high levels of debt in the economy are going to be as big a drag as high oil prices as well.
I don't think there's a magic number where things suddenly get much worse. But there are plenty of problems out there adding to our economic troubles.
I'm actually a long-time reader of TOD. (I'm pbrewer over there, although I haven't posted many comments since I started posting here.) And I've read both of Deffeyes's books.
I don't doubt that the peak oil analysis is generally true. I do tend to quibble with some of the folks over there who seem to think that prices can only move in one direction. Whenever fuel costs get painfully high, people will make the sort of changes that I'm talking about above. Once a critical mass of people do so, the result is a long-term shift in the demand for oil. Each of those shifts is likely to produce a drop in price. It'll be a temporary drop, because the quantity of oil produced will decline over time, meaning that the price will rise again eventually. But the price decline won't be immediately reversed, because structural changes like moving closer to work or buying a smaller car won't be immediately reversed just because energy costs come back down for a bit.
We've always lived small (between 800-1100 sf) for $$ reasons, but it helped me to realize I'm happy living on top of my family. I don't like one bathroom when everyone needs to brush their teeth and the tiny kitchen stinks at Thanksgiving. Let's not even get into what it's like to have two grown people with multiple wardrobes (military, field, workout, office, casual - and that's just the man of the house) sharing a single old-school closet! I'd like to fit more people around my dining room table too. Luckily, we live in a mild climate and can eat outside much of the time.
I know (and like) my neighbors. It is easier to clean this tiny box, but it looks messy with less effort. ;-) I like knowing where my kids are and being able to hear every thing that happens. I hope our next house will be bigger (or at least have better storage and plumbed facilities). But I don't see it as a vast expanse.
I know "peak oil" has become a buzzword, but because of it, oil prices can't come "back to normal." If you're interested, check out TOD (http://www.theoildrum.com/). They have plenty of the information necessary to come to that conclusion yourself on their site and seem to be pretty down to earth.
Also, check out Hubbard's Peak by Kenneth S. Deffeyes for the basic science behind the idea of peak oil. It's a fun and quick read, and takes you through the essential arguments and calculations that geologists do in the oil biz.
About 18 months ago (when Oil was below $90.00) I was reading a article in which an economist was saying that if crude oil prices ever got above $125 (and stayed there) that his opinion was that would be the "witching point" where the economy would contract to a point in which it could not recover... It was his contention that consumers would no longer have any discresionary income...that wages could not rise far enough or fast enough to keep up with the resulting inflationary pressures resulting from $4-5 gas
It's great to talk about how increased energy prices are going to change the "American Consumer" but I don't think many of you realize how the economy will "implode" before we can get to a "Non-Consumption/Non-Consumer" generated economy (if ever..we have no real manufacturing base to replace our Consumer generated economy...it's all been exported)
The Good News is that the Federal Reserve may finally raise interest rates....because most if not all of the problems that we are having can be traced back to the falling value of the Dollar (even the problems caused by Speculation in Crude Oil Futures)
Of course, I'll believe that when I see it.
"Fasten your seat belts...it's going to be a bumpy flight!"
From Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution: "We acquire protein from a number of sources, but the foods that are richest in it - egg whites, cheese and meats (including fish and fowl) - contain virtually no carbohydrate. Protein is available in smaller amounts from vegetable sources such as legumes (beans) seeds, and nuts, which also contain fat and carbohydrate."
I highly recommend Dr. Bernsteins book and it is available on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Bernsteins-Diabetes-Solution-Achieving/dp/0316167169
I was diagnosed as a Type 2 approximately 2 months ago and had a fasting BG of 450 mg/dl. By following Dr. Bernsteins advice, I am down to a fasting BG of about 115 mg/dl and am trying to get better than this.
I feel bad for the people these high prices are hurting, but in a way I'm glad the price is going up. It gives people the motivation to find other ways of living, more sustainable ones. I think gas prices are going up slowly enough that it's not too difficult on people, but quickly enough that it's drawing really very necessary attention to fuel efficiency and fuel dependence. It's making a lot of people realize that using less fuel is easier than they'd thought. And I bet it's making a lot of people demand better public transportation options.
Whether gas prices go up or down or stay the same over the long term relative to the prices of other things, I hope they stay "high" for at least another few years, preferably much longer. We will be happier people if we get more exercise, have shorter commutes, and live in less polluted environments. If $10/gallon gas is what it takes to accomplish that, I'm all for it.
I can understand the pain that people are going through but eliminating the tax is not the right answer. It encourages more consumption, reduces much infrastructure revenue, and hurts the trade deficit and when you factor that is saves an average American $30 it seems really silly.
I feel that increasing the gas tax and using those dollars to spur renewable energy is much preferred. But I think everyone realizes that is is political suicide.
Ppl on this page seem to be looking a little more at the religious aspect of this instead of the scientific.
Poles reversing and the sun reaching the center of the universe seem to me a little more important than Mayan or Christian or any other prophesies...
Read the research if you like but astronomers agree that it is going to happen, all on the same day. What they aren't sure about is what will happen.
Worse case senario??... when the poles reverse the atmosphere instantly disappears and we lose gravity... WOAH...
Cant wait to see what happens then =)
I'm sure it will be a fun ride. I plan on staying outside all day that day.
Hi, I am single with one child. I filed taxes with earnings of 28K and didn't have to pay any taxes to IRS. I only got $600 back for the stimulus check. Aren't I also supposed to get $300 for my child?
Although sales at stores can make buying food for a food drive practical, they usually don't last forever so you might miss out on the chance to support the charity.
There is a company I know of that automatically donates 10% of the proceeds of each sale to charity. The company is called Holy Food Imports. You can find their website at www.holyfoodimports.com