Three Cheers for $4 Gasoline

Of course you must keep in mind that I am a retired engineer, living in the Smoky Mountains, who drives 10 miles to town once a week for groceries; these facts make it possible for me to develop a Solomon like understanding of reality from an Archimedean point of view.

Quickie from Wiki—“An Archimedean point is a hypothetical vantage point from which an observer can objectively perceive the subject of inquiry, with a view of totality. The ideal of "removing oneself" from the object of study so that one can see it in relation to all other things, but remain independent of them, is described by a view from an Archimedean point.”

Does $4 gas signify the beginning of the ending of a civilization of adolescent life styles divorced from the reality principle? Does it presage the beginning of the ending of a self-absorbed and largely fictional pattern of social behavior?

I doubt it but I can dream can’t I?

I listened to NPR interviewing the mayor of Houston Texas speaking about anticipated efforts for completely remodeling the living and cultural standards of the citizens of Houston in anticipation of creating a city where citizens might work, shop, and live within walking distances of shops, supermarkets, and jobs.

Reality seldom challenges salient points of hero-systems largely because the earth has been so bountiful; natural bounty has thus far allowed Americans to live largely in a world of playful fantasy that may be beginning to crumble around a commercial-military hero-system of fantasy.

Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock because he tried to awaken the youth of Athenian society to this very reality-principle; he died a hero in the eyes of history because he asked the youth to question their own hero-system.

Will $4 gas lead you to question your own commercial-military hero-system?

Socrates was very wise.

I especially like his last words.

"I drank what?!"

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Koreans and Australians buy Grand Theft Auto IV and in return the US gets LPG and gas hybrids.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007...i_plannin.html

You didn't think Americans were going to walk, did you?

After Grand Theft Auto V you'll be able to buy plug in hybrids. You'll need them too. The amount of gas Australia can pass across the ocean to the US is limited.

I live in Houston and for many of us, this already is our lifestyle. I live within 2.5 miles of my job. It used to be 3/4 miles, but my company moved to a different building. I can walk to just about any type of store I need.

The one thing the mayor is forgetting is the weather. With the super high humidity year round and high temperatures for at least 4 months (sometimes 6 months), no one is going to walk to work.

I doubt many people will want to live within walking distance of a refinery

Three Cheers for $4 Gasoline

Of course you must keep in mind that I am a retired engineer, living in the Smoky Mountains, who drives 10 miles to town once a week for groceries; these facts make it possible for me to develop a Solomon like understanding of reality from an Archimedean point of view.

While you may have yours, there are also a lot of people who can't afford to move, can't afford to buy a new car, and are being squeezed pretty hard by the increased gas prices. It may be well and good to see those who wantly wasted fuel get what's coming to them but a lot of innocent people are being caught in the crossfire. Your cheering for high gas prices while living comfortably in your retirement comes across badly to those who're still working and struggling to get by.

Houston my be fortunate enough that they won't have to worry about high price gas; Houston may soon be under water do to climate change.

I am a good Republican. I have upped my income, now up yours.

P.S. I am really a Democrat and just making fun of the GOP.

Coburst, that was unkindly said. The political cracks were similarly unappreciated.

In any case, Larry's right. Further, you may not be driving an SUV, but the rising gas prices are raising the delivery costs, and thus the prices, of absolutely everything you buy.

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And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Well - I just had 5 days with the rental companies idea of a small car ( 7 seats, V6 Ford Taurus that averaged 21mpg with plenty of highway driving )

Between $3.95 and $4.20 in Upstate NY, Vermont and Connecticut

The US public, auto-industry and government are basically reaping what they have sown. For many decades, the auto-industry has failed to supply, the public has failed to ask for, and the government has failed to make attractive, efficient cars. The 21 MPG I got on mainly 65-75 mph highway driving was considered reasonable wherever I went. BMW were making a song and dance in adverts for getting 28. TWENTY EIGHT. Adverts saying 28 is a good target?

It isn't. It wasn't good twenty years ago, it sure as hell isn't good now. Shockingly low fuel prices for seveal decades meant that the public didn't actually give a damn that they were getting through it 50%+ faster than their European counterparts.

Now your fuel has reached about half the price we pay in the UK - suddenly, everyone is outraged...and honestly, after driving 1000 miles (actually 1000.1 when we gave it back to Hertz ) I can say, without a shadow of doubt - you're still not paying enough for your gas to make the dramatic and rapid change in public perception that is required to stop you drinking the stuff like it's going out of fashion. Over 5 days, I drove 300, 0, 250, 250 and 200 miles. Big long journies that in Europe would make great sense to do via Train. In the US - it was cheap, insultingly cheap in an environmentally vulgar way, to drive, lone occupant, massive massive distances, in a pathetically inefficient car.

Of course, people think a Prius is the right sort of thing. It isn't - and given the US driving pattern, it really REALLY isn't. The Prius is such a complex and (for the auto-industry) rare metal rich vehicle, it's total environmental impact during its life is actually larger than many SUV's.

Last weekend on the BBC show Top Gear, going toe-to-toe, flat out, around a race track, a Prius got 13 mpg. A BMW M3 - a massively fast sports saloon, matching the pace of the Prius, got 15 mpg. On a long journey, the Prius might get 35-40mpg. A small diesel will get 70mpg (and yes, I know and have seen first hand that Diesel can be hard to find, and more expensive than petrol in the US - but when you're getting 50% more mileage, a 25% price premium still nets you a financial gain )

America - your fuel is cheap. Hideously, stupidly cheap. If you didn't have a chronic addiction to using it in pointlessly large quantities, you would realise that.

$4/gallon is not high enough. 21mpg is not high enough.

You are a bunch of Petroholics, and you need help.

Doug

I'm going to defend the American way. It has
always seemed to me the greater distances that
generally have to be travelled for commerce
in the United States have caused lower petrol
prices. Distances in the UK are much lower
but government still needs those tax revenues.
The historical patterns of transport in
Europe seem to have evolved much canal and
rail movement.

Flat out. Those are the key words. You don't drive a Prius flat-out. They're not made to do that. They're made to have optimal gas mileage in stop-and-go traffic.

The comparison is a lot like ripping on Porsche for making cars that can't carry a half tonne payload over unplowed roads.

1) Again, TDIs are built to have optimal mileage while holding at their cruising speed. This is not the same sort of road situation in which the Prius was designed to be optimal.

2) Volkswagons have a reputation for being more expensive to maintain, especially in North America. If it costs you $500 more per year buying gas over diesel, but average $500 more per year in maintenance over the car's lifetime, you haven't saved a thing. Total cost of ownership is a better measure, overall, I think.

3) Volkswagon apparently recently announced they were making a TDI-hybrid. It was still in testing, so they didn't release a gas-mileage figure in that press release. This is, however, second-hand. I didn't see the press release, only a description of it.

The "rightness" of one's choice of car depends significantly on the specific road conditions one will encounter. As an Eastern Canadian, I'm best served by a car that cruises well, that starts reliably in very cold weather, that can take 15in rims (reasonable negotiation of snow drifts), and is inexpensive to maintain over its lifetime. My manual-shift, gasoline-powered Corolla meets my needs very nicely, thanks all the same.

In any case, yes, the hybrids aren't "the solution" in the long run, but they're a step in the right direction. The only cure for not-enough-innovation is more innovation.

__________________
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Both ignorant and offensive. Must be nice to be perfect.

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