Automobiles
Automobiles, Jobs, Oil Etc.
By Daniel G. Jennings
Looking for a job in recent weeks, I’ve run into the question do I own a car? I don’t, and I know I didn’t get at least three jobs I was perfectly capable of performing and getting to and from on time because I didn’t have a car.
From this and other personal experiences I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot perhaps a majority of Americans think life is impossible without a car. They’re always offering me rides, when I don’t need them and asking when I’m going to get a car. (I have no plans to do so, because I can’t afford it). They can’t imagine the possibility that one might be able to get around town on the bus and do things like grocery shopping without an automobile.
The fact that somebody can live without a car perplexes them, or more precisely they don’t want to imagine life without a car. Why this is I don’t know but I think they feel threatened by my carfree existence.
When they see someone living without a car, a lot of people probably begin to wonder have they been wasting all the money they spend on car payments, gas, insurance, maintenance etc? Have they been dumping money out the window? Nobody likes to get ripped off or proved wrong.
A person living without a car proves them wrong and scares them. Especially an obviously middle class person who feels happy without a car.
All this has gotten me to wondering what will happen if large numbers of Americans suddenly find themselves without cars. That I suppose will lead to mass panic and hysteria. Imagine all the middle class people running around screaming that they can’t get to work to make enough money to feed their children. There will be anger at politicians and frustration.
Is it any wonder our government is willing to invade Iraq and make an alliance with the loathsome regime in Saudi Arabia? The politicians are scared to death of the day the middle classes’ cars get taken away by high oil prices. Of course the cost of car ownership is now so high that any major economic downturn such as a real estate bust could deprive untold millions of Americans of their cars.
The madness that will result from such an event will tear our society apart. I imagine there will be riots and worse. Maybe people will be murdered for gas by soccer moms.
Our oil supply is shrinking China and India both major military powers are demanding a growing share of the world’s oil. Worse, the major oil fields in Saudi Arabia are wired to blow.* If the King of Saudi Arabia is about to be kicked out or killed he might push the button. If Al Qaeda ever takes over in the oil kingdom they too could blow the oil fields. Either way the oil will be gone, what will happen when that happens or when oil prices hit $5 a gallon.
Think what would happen if millions of yuppies were suddenly trying to get on and ride buses. Can you imagine some white guy in a three piece suit getting on the bus and asking the driver, “do you take credit cards? And what do you mean you only stop at bus stops. And why do I have to sit with all these poor people? And you mean I have to make three transfers to get downtown!!”
I imagine there will be riots at bus stops when twenty or thirty people show up and try to get on at once. Some of them will push and shove each other and bus drivers will start carrying loaded guns.
The short term effects will be terrible, riots, panics, hysteria, high prices. The long term effects will be good decreased auto ownership less money wasted on cars and freeways. More spent on rail and mass transit, serious government spending on alternative fuels. Millions of Americans will learn how to live without cars, many for the first time in their lives. Average people will be shocked to learn that not having a car doesn’t mean going back to the bicycle or the horse and carriage.
That will undoubtedly be a good thing, a lot of Americans will find themselves with a lot more discretionary income and government might find more money for things like schools and healthcare. America won’t have to maintain such a massive military machine or do business with monstrosities like the regime in Saudi Arabia. Guys like me will the norm and not treated like freaks because we don’t want to waste our money on four wheels and an engine.
It won’t be utopia or perfect but it will be better than what we have now. And a lot of Americans will be better off without cars. Unfortunately that lesson will be a hard and bitter one to learn. I just hope it comes sooner than later.
*Gerald L. Posner reports on Saudi Arabia’s “scorched earth strategy” for destroying its oil fields in his book “Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi US Connection” New York, Random House, 2005.
By Daniel G. Jennings
Looking for a job in recent weeks, I’ve run into the question do I own a car? I don’t, and I know I didn’t get at least three jobs I was perfectly capable of performing and getting to and from on time because I didn’t have a car.
From this and other personal experiences I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot perhaps a majority of Americans think life is impossible without a car. They’re always offering me rides, when I don’t need them and asking when I’m going to get a car. (I have no plans to do so, because I can’t afford it). They can’t imagine the possibility that one might be able to get around town on the bus and do things like grocery shopping without an automobile.
The fact that somebody can live without a car perplexes them, or more precisely they don’t want to imagine life without a car. Why this is I don’t know but I think they feel threatened by my carfree existence.
When they see someone living without a car, a lot of people probably begin to wonder have they been wasting all the money they spend on car payments, gas, insurance, maintenance etc? Have they been dumping money out the window? Nobody likes to get ripped off or proved wrong.
A person living without a car proves them wrong and scares them. Especially an obviously middle class person who feels happy without a car.
All this has gotten me to wondering what will happen if large numbers of Americans suddenly find themselves without cars. That I suppose will lead to mass panic and hysteria. Imagine all the middle class people running around screaming that they can’t get to work to make enough money to feed their children. There will be anger at politicians and frustration.
Is it any wonder our government is willing to invade Iraq and make an alliance with the loathsome regime in Saudi Arabia? The politicians are scared to death of the day the middle classes’ cars get taken away by high oil prices. Of course the cost of car ownership is now so high that any major economic downturn such as a real estate bust could deprive untold millions of Americans of their cars.
The madness that will result from such an event will tear our society apart. I imagine there will be riots and worse. Maybe people will be murdered for gas by soccer moms.
Our oil supply is shrinking China and India both major military powers are demanding a growing share of the world’s oil. Worse, the major oil fields in Saudi Arabia are wired to blow.* If the King of Saudi Arabia is about to be kicked out or killed he might push the button. If Al Qaeda ever takes over in the oil kingdom they too could blow the oil fields. Either way the oil will be gone, what will happen when that happens or when oil prices hit $5 a gallon.
Think what would happen if millions of yuppies were suddenly trying to get on and ride buses. Can you imagine some white guy in a three piece suit getting on the bus and asking the driver, “do you take credit cards? And what do you mean you only stop at bus stops. And why do I have to sit with all these poor people? And you mean I have to make three transfers to get downtown!!”
I imagine there will be riots at bus stops when twenty or thirty people show up and try to get on at once. Some of them will push and shove each other and bus drivers will start carrying loaded guns.
The short term effects will be terrible, riots, panics, hysteria, high prices. The long term effects will be good decreased auto ownership less money wasted on cars and freeways. More spent on rail and mass transit, serious government spending on alternative fuels. Millions of Americans will learn how to live without cars, many for the first time in their lives. Average people will be shocked to learn that not having a car doesn’t mean going back to the bicycle or the horse and carriage.
That will undoubtedly be a good thing, a lot of Americans will find themselves with a lot more discretionary income and government might find more money for things like schools and healthcare. America won’t have to maintain such a massive military machine or do business with monstrosities like the regime in Saudi Arabia. Guys like me will the norm and not treated like freaks because we don’t want to waste our money on four wheels and an engine.
It won’t be utopia or perfect but it will be better than what we have now. And a lot of Americans will be better off without cars. Unfortunately that lesson will be a hard and bitter one to learn. I just hope it comes sooner than later.
*Gerald L. Posner reports on Saudi Arabia’s “scorched earth strategy” for destroying its oil fields in his book “Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi US Connection” New York, Random House, 2005.
posted by great one at 7:35 PM
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