Two-thirds of Americans might have to reconsider their lifestyles.
Two-thirds of voters said gas prices are a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem for them and their family.“Americans worry about gasoline prices and half say prices have forced them to change their vacation plans,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Before this summer, this issue barely rated a mention. Now voters say gas prices are a bigger problem than health care or terrorism and almost as big a problem as Iraq.”
Makes sense. As long as my SUV is happy, I can deal with allergies, asthma, and arthritis. Even the occasional random destruction of an office tower is dink-shit compared to the price at the pump. Ya gotta have priorities.
Amazingly enough, Americans are not, despite our Hummer-centric culture, completely idiotic on this issue.
In addition to offshore drilling, American voters support every measure suggested to help solve the energy crisis and reduce dependence on foreign oil:
- 56-35 percent in favor of building new nuclear plants
- 51-42 percent back drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge
- 87-10 percent back government funds for renewable energy such as wind and solar power
- 78-18 percent for mandating higher mileage standards for cars.
Okay, I get the complaints about parallelism and punctuation. But give ’em a break. They just want to drive mindlessly whenever the whim takes them. No real American would walk, after all, to the Seven Eleven.
First thought: no wonder Americans are hated. Second thought: no matter how many times Americans say the American life-style is non-negotiable, you raise the price of gas by fifty cents and philosophies change. Ideology, says Marx, is often a cover for self-interest. And no one’s self-interest is more transparent than the American consumer; therefore no one is more easily manipulated. Democracy is not a question of choice at the grocery store.
Looks like you and I were on the same page typing similar sentiments. It's too far for me to walk, but I can surely ride to the convenience store and the post office.
Posted by: Buck on August 21, 2008 7:56 AMSomebody asked Norman Mailer once if he was worried about humanity killing itself in a nuclear war. "Hell, no," he said, "we'll drown ourselves in our own shit long before that." For shit I guess you can read oil. Probably coal, too. Far as I know the first real emissions problem came in the nineteen century from Great Britain's huge coal deposits. Unless there was something in Rome (besides lead poisoning from the aqueducts). Maybe Chuck knows.
Posted by: Aitch Jay on August 21, 2008 12:36 PMRome did have sewage problems early on. But that was exactly the sort of problem whose ass they kicked. Forcing the Romans to engineer something was like forcing Obama to give a speech.
Posted by: Chuck Dupree on August 21, 2008 6:14 PM