this is only because you live in new jersey and don't have to drive anywhere. whatever is good for martin is good for everyone else?
Exactly. And he lives in some utopia where alternatives could be produced and fully implemented overnight with no adverse effect on the rest of the economy. I personally think that this whole argument is so much simpler than all this. Oil tycoons/companies are greedy, evil bastards that will stop at nothing to get their next dollar. If you can't admit that, you either work for an oil company, or are just completely oblivious. All that money and all that power and we're supposed to believe they're benevolent? Ok, then.:lol:
wanting to make profits might make you greedy, but it definitely doesnt make you evil. if people want options bad enough, they will create them. but as of now they dont really want or need alternatives very badly. every other car on the road is an SUV. if we are getting screwed so bad, how come every soccer mom in america drives a yukon? people are complaining, but doing nothing except calling people "evil" for selling them something they want. if you want alternatives, create them. invest in new energies. if you hate oil companies making profits, buy a motorcycle and get a zillion mpg.
Gordon Gecko: "Greed is Good!" Greed built this country and continues to do so. Why does anyone go to work everyday.....start a company? To help their fellow man, or to make money? As a byproduct of the want of money, needs get met by providing a service. You're right CC, simple answer. Capitalism. You don't like it, give your money to me then. Greed is good.
cheap oil has helped create these huge cities where you have to drive a billion miles to get anywhere. maybe people should whine less and move back into the city from the suburbs if they hate driving so much. i pay insanely high rent instead of buying gasoline, but you dont see me calling my landlord "evil". i love walking.
Great column by economist Thomas Sowell on the gas price whining: http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/thomassowell/2006/04/27/195275.html
Then again, wages in areas such as yours are reflective of the higher costs of living (such as rent) compared to typically lower wages paid in less densely populated areas. I'm sure the majority of the commuters impacted the most from the dramatic increase in the price of gas have yet to see this increase compensated for in their wages. If and when they do, we (as consumers) will notice the end result - higher prices for the goods and services we buy. I do agree with your point about people refusing to cut their usage and encourage everyone to conserve as much as possible though.
i only encourage the whiners to conserve. it seems like i hear alot of complaing from a nation that consistently moves out into the suburbs and drives massive cars. if we want alternatives and we do not want to consume large amounts of oil, we should be working towards using less oil, not getting mad at the guys who are selling it, and calling them greedy and evil. if you are addicted to something, you have the problem. the guy selling it to you is the smart one.
hybrid vehicles typically cost $6K more than their non hybrid counterparts. with unleaded gasoline as high as it is and figuring hybrid vehicles get double the mileage, you are looking at a typical suburban family's average gas bill of 300 a month halved. the vehicle will pay for itself in around 3 years. its only cost effective if gas is extremely high. then again figuring monthly budgets and conservation into it, people can take that 150 and just slap it on their car note and not feel it at all.
I'm thinking I may go diesel the next time and make my own biodiesel at home. Then again, I'm sure they'll figure out a way to make a diesel engine so it won't run on the homemade stuff.
