Comments on: Are we the change we’ve been waiting for?

By: Mikey

Mikey — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:18:01 +0000

1) “Government has been trying to promote mass transit use for years and it hasn’t work[ed]… What has worked [are] market forces. Gas is right at the point where it is making people think about alternatives to driving everywhere. Not government… the market.”

2) “There are a LOT of people on the left inwardly happy that gas is high because it’s what they wanted for years… except they wanted the money to go to taxes and not company profits.”

KG, et al-

1) There is no such thing as a free market. Our GOVERNMENT carefully propagates this myth and coddles it with taxes and credits. It’s all sleight of hand. The closest thing to a ‘free market’ is marijuana, and of course that market is steeply skewed by… wait for it… government action. The free market will never serve the greater good. The government? Maybe.

2) I’m tickled pink that gas is $4. It’s about fucking time. A buddy of mine owns a gas station and sometimes I hang out just to listen to fat-ass SUV drivers whine about how much their vaginas hurt and try not to snicker. Americans create their own gas-dependent nightmares and I have chosen not to play.

It’s wrong to blame “big oil” for the price of gas. Their feed stock (crude oil) has more than quadrupled in price. Profit margins remain exactly the same as they have for decades, it’s just a slice of a bigger pie, hence higher top-line numbers. QED.

It’s wrong to blame the government for the price of gas. They try like hell to control the global price of oil, and it’s not working. (Anyone notice a little conflagration down in Iraq? Gee, why do you suppose we stepped in that shit?)

The high price of gas is DIRECTLY driven by fat-ass Americans. WE control the market, and idling in three-ton, single-occupant cars isn’t getting it done now, is it?

Mikey

By: dentext

dentext — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:54:31 +0000

jee-zus we are a bunch of morons.
anyone take the intro to logic class?
reasoned argument ain’t much in evidence.

Gas $, btw, is for the greatest part-
1 a function of production going on/offline (take iraq down out for 5-10 years, petro goes way up)
2 a funtion of the $ sliding against other currency.

Someone else can figure if a single cogent thought is is the thredz.

By: bikesgonewild

bikesgonewild — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:01:36 +0000

…el jefe sez “the problem w/ ‘the market’ is that it is only reactive…people don’t change their habits until it hits their pocketbook”…that is an unfortunate fact about living w/ the ‘freedom’ we have…people have become complacent & stupid because we’ve taken so much for granted for so long…

…our free market economy is a great system but w/out an intelligent viewpoint based on some “real fact” education regarding natural resources & their recovery costs, are we only insulting ourselves…

…we need a balance rather than going from one extreme (we have it all) to another (we’ll have nothing soon)…we need to make intelligent decisions but by the same token we don’t need to go to the opposite extreme…

…one of the rehashed stories over the weekend was about people hording guns, food, supplies, blah, blah, blah because of fear over shortages…when we’re the kind of society that bases our every move on fear of others, we won’t be making intelligent choices…of course w/ that kind of viewpoint fostered by the present administration, it’s hard for a lot of folks to have anything but fear…

By: big jonny

big jonny — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:53:23 +0000

12 gauge 00-buck and 29er for me, thanks.

By: KG

KG — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:25:04 +0000

At least someone is willing to admit they’re fine with $4 gas while everyone else pretends to be upset about it.

And yes, if there had been huge government pushes for alternative fuels and public transportation they would have flopped because it would be cheaper to pay for a gallon of gas and drive a big comfy SUV. Why would you not, gas was cheap, it’s been cheap for a long long time.

Either way, it doesn’t bother me, I live 3 blocks from work and ride my bike everywhere.

By: Farris

Farris — Tue, 27 May 2008 03:37:16 +0000

.308 and 26″ for me thanks

By: PistolPete

PistolPete — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:59:25 +0000

Aw shit,ain’t nuthin’ gonna change but the rhetoric,if that.Barak wins,learn Spanish and kiss your guns goodbye,not that they ever did me any good.I’m a big ol’ non- politico/corporate killer softie anyhow.Plus,McCain gonna win.We are all fucked…No matter who wins we’re all gonna need a butthole resizer.At least gas is still goin’ up.It can’t ALL be bad news…Me,I’m lookin’ for a nice little canyon,gonna grow watermelons an’ marijuana,stash a good stash o’ 29er tires an’.223 ammo…

By: cs

cs — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:21:49 +0000

Does My Unwarranted Wiretap Make Me Look Fascist?And whats wrong with spoke cards?Are they worse than ribbon magnets?oh and KG you might want to check out a few books.Bad Samaritans;Shock Doctrine;Blackwater;or The Trap:Staying Afloat In Winner Take-All America if you want to read about the result of unfettered capitalism.Or for that matter,the environmental record of any utility or publically owned company when given unregulated access to “free market” corporate business philosophy as endorsed by shareholder driven greedheads.While Wall Street hypes “free market” capitalism,it’s as destructive to the greater(common)good as the supposedly depised Marxism,however corrupt.Corporate,mostly republican leadership is working on bringing back the age of the robber barrons while slowly killing the middle class.Supply and demand is no replacement for policy.Tell me if I’m wrong;aren’t soceity and socialism based on the same thing?Yet I’m supposed to be a member OF society while horrified by socialism?Its bullshit.Sorry for the sermon;the old lady’s away and i’m left home with the beer.

By: cs

cs — Mon, 26 May 2008 23:40:00 +0000

got anther one;DMUWMMLF?

By: cs

cs — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:49:04 +0000

y’all suck my naders;Ralph in ‘08

By: el jefe

el jefe — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:40:28 +0000

The problem with “The Market” is that it is only reactive. People don’t change their habits until it hits their pocketbook. Hopefully, it’s not too late. Like I said we’ve been warned about peak oil for 30 years. Carter was the last president to listen.

DMPLBITT = Does My Penis Look Bigger In This Truck. (I believe it’s Mikey’s acronym. I wish I had come up with it…) You know the jacked up Hummer H2 with off road 20s that has perfect paint and will NEVER see dirt. I don’t have any problem with people who drive big trucks for work. Some have to. You can tell those trucks. They have toolboxes, dirt, dents and scratches.

Oh and there should be a “not” after the “of course” in my last comment.

By: Opus the Poet

Opus the Poet — Mon, 26 May 2008 20:35:10 +0000

DMPLBITT? Interesting acronym, but what does it mean?