Record High Gas Prices?

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by t vago

...Just you wait until the other economic powers dump the dollar altogether...

China already is, quietly. They have been buying gold with USD for > 4 years.

Keep up at the back...

[Arragonis]

PS. They were doing this when Bush Jnr was in power too - they think the USD is dodgy and has been for years. Which is why they have encouraged consumption at home. The 'this relationship is good for both of us' deal between the US and China is kind of good for China - they don't really need the US.

[t vago]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

PS. They were doing this when Bush Jnr was in power too - they think the USD is dodgy and has been for years. Which is why they have encouraged consumption at home. The 'this relationship is good for both of us' deal between the US and China is kind of good for China - they don't really need the US.

Indeed. What have we left to sell? We have decimated our manufacturing capability. We don't produce any oil. We don't really lead in technology anymore. Our education facilities are becoming a joke.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock:
I agree, they are wasteful. You also have the right to throw your money down the toilet if you choose.

Sure. What these people don't have is a right to my sympathy, or a right to expect me to like supporting them (whether directly through welfare, or indirectly through things like mortgage bailouts) when their wasteful ways make them go broke.

This is another predictably non sequitur response in a long sequence of them.

Who asked for your sympathy? What has that got to do with anything?

If you have an issue with welfare or mortgage bailouts, the blame is directly due to government, that sponsored, endorsed and promoted those programs. Let people fail. Let them go broke. But I think you are fully aware that although unnecessary idling of a car is a minor waste of fuel, it will hardly make anyone "go broke". (And so your response is, as usual, another emotionally based diversion, as a distraction: a red herring.)

Quote:
Live and let live.

But you do realize that it's supposed to be a two-way street? That the "let live" part applies to you, too?

Hey, I'm not the one who is complaining about some mommy idling her minivan. YOU are.

Neither am I one who is complaining that there are too many vehicles on the road or making my locale more congested by traffic than it used to be.

You folks that want the price of gas to rise are advocating it as a punishment for more people being able to enjoy more mobility than in the past. That's an ulterior motive, and a mean spirited, puritanical one at that. It amounts to saying "I don't need to drive much (or at all) so I want that same austerity and acerbic deprivation imposed upon everyone else. I also want everything to remain the same as it used to be, because change disturbs me." It's a position that is petty, defensive, resentful and vengeful.

So often it gets translated to some people getting to have a party, and the rest of us having to clean up the trash afterwards.

Oh, another loony analogy offered as a "translation". How non sequitur can these replies get??? Did the mommy also litter the street? If she did, go call a cop. At least there is a law against littering. But more likely it's another expression of class envy, that she can afford to be marginally wasteful in idling her car.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by t vago

Indeed. What have we left to sell? We have decimated our manufacturing capability. We don't produce any oil. We don't really lead in technology anymore. Our education facilities are becoming a joke.

Compared to China (and Southern Asia generally) pretty much the rest of the world is becoming a joke in education and technology terms. The latest stat is that China will match the US for patent applications (which is a reasonably good measure of technology) in a few years.

As for Oil China has little at home, it is using it's financial muscle ($71bn trade surplus with the US for a start) to buy what it needs, and the rest to finance a military machine to ensure it gets what it needs after that. It can quite happily go toe to toe with the US militarily just now, and will be able to rely on stronger forces in the future just when the US has to cut back on spending.

It is the UK circa 1880 - top nation, and not scared to show it. All it is missing is an overt empire.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Who asked for your sympathy? What has that got to do with anything?

Why, they did, of course. Why else are they (and you) whining about the increased price of gas? Seems they not only want sympathy, they want the government to intervene (even more than they do) in the quasi-free market to make that they keep on getting that cheap gas.

As for the rest, I suggest you go find a quiet corner and resume practicing your autoproctology? You've demonstrated a native talent, and with a little work could become really good at it :-)

[RobertSmalls]

I look at places like Europe and Japan where people have adapted to $6/gal gasoline. They have small cars, diesels, very livable cities, useful mass transit, and a culture of sharing the road with bicycles. I want to see gas prices high enough to bring these good things to America.

In fact, one of the biggest reasons I would like to see the price of gasoline rise is to encourage conservation, change people's attitudes about consumption, and reduce the trade deficit. I would have preferred that the price increases came from taxes instead of market forces, but I'll cheer on any price increase I can see until people start taking the actions required to reduce their consumption to a sustainable level. Buying the right car, driving it correctly, and getting >40mpg would be a start.

Also, ThymeClock, let me jump ahead to the ad hominem attacks. You are a very sour person.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

So is everything else. So what?

If you would care to look up really high you will see the point of that quote, flying somewhere way above your head.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by t vago

So you'd rather we stagnate. That nice computer you have that you used to type out your ignorance is a "cluster****." Those many vehicles in your stable that you have is another "cluster****." All of this nice technology that was developed as a result of what you incorrectly call "idiotic," that enables you to live longer than people did even 50 years ago, is another "cluster****."

Hey, here's a solution - if you don't like this society that you live in that allows you to type out your bull****, and allows you to live high enough to afford numerous vehicles, then get out of this society! Go move to a worker's paradise, like in Cuba or North Korea! They certainly don't have to worry about urban sprawl or excessive consumerism.

Feeling's mutual. I would much rather prefer not to be identified as an anti-American hypocrite who slanders American servicemembers as "mercenaries" and "baby killers." I'd much rather live in a society that grows and tackles problems as they come, rather than whimper and whine about them.

By what leap of logic does one equate "no growth" with stagnation? What does technology have to do with growth? Does technology not still progress? Is it not possible for the quality of life to increase under no-growth? They are not tied together.

As for the rest of your inaccurate slanderous rant, careful, you might get an aneurysm.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Compared to China (and Southern Asia generally) pretty much the rest of the world is becoming a joke in education and technology terms. The latest stat is that China will match the US for patent applications (which is a reasonably good measure of technology) in a few years.

As for Oil China has little at home, it is using it's financial muscle ($71bn trade surplus with the US for a start) to buy what it needs, and the rest to finance a military machine to ensure it gets what it needs after that. It can quite happily go toe to toe with the US militarily just now, and will be able to rely on stronger forces in the future just when the US has to cut back on spending.

It is the UK circa 1880 - top nation, and not scared to show it. All it is missing is an overt empire.

For starters, read this.

China has oil. And they will find it.

Oil may be "finite". But that has nothing to do with how much is still undiscovered and unfound.

America will also find more oil resources and dig it out, when all else fails.