So your argument is that wasteful spending is good for the economy. When you drive around wasting gas there is no residual asset.
Productive consumption of energy has a residual asset. Bridges are repaired, people are fed and clothed, water is pumped,
Wasteful consumption got us into this mess. The only was out is production and conservation. Anything else is just a way of trying to deny the fact that the party is over.
So your argument is that wasteful spending is good for the economy.
When, exactly, did I say that?
Since you didn’t comprehend my point the first time, I will reiterate it again. We live in a global economy, and enacting xenophobic policies will hurt our own economy as much as it will hurt the global economy. Your idea is reactionary and parochial. It reflects a lack of basic understanding of global commerce and how it benefits all stakeholders.
There are few “absolutes” in the world economy. It’s always a question of balance. As a consumer, we should always look for the best “deal” personally; forcing the market place to adjust to our wants and needs while politically supporting what’s best for the health and well being of the public at large. Vote with your ballot and your pocketbook. We belong to the global community at large…their well being is ours as well. Our air/water knows no boundary.
Driving around more while using less fuel is a worth while and achievable goal for example, that benefits everyone, if you buy cars that will do it and vote for politicians that support it…or ride a motorcycle or sail when the wind blows and motor when it’s not…never stand still; that’s when you start to rust.
I’ve just cut down on a lot of my discretionary driving due to the cost of fuel. It’s not like it used to be in the 60’s and 70’s when we’d all hop in the car with mom and dad and go for a long Sunday drive. Now I need a reason to go somewhere, be it work or pleasure.
I was thinking specifically about the backlash from other countries who buy goods made in the USA. When we decide not to buy their oil, or their cars, or put trade barriers in place, they in turn will buy fewer American goods and our economy will also suffer. Thinking we can help the USA by hurting those who supply the goods we demand is extremely short-sighted.
I hope the OP is a better mechanic than he is a macroeconomist.
I feel the public in general and the OP specifically is completely misinformed about our ability to pick and choose from whom we buy our oil. All oil is placed into the world market and the oil we get any where in this country or for any other is at the convenience and profitability of the agreements made by these global oil interests.
The fallacy that we can control imports from particular countries, or even compel them to drill in any particular place, is just that, a fallacy. Oil distribution is fungible world wide the same way it is through our national pipelines. All we do when we threaten individual ctrys is to reap their anger in return.
We should all do our part and share the technology other counties to make oil a benign and not a strategic commodity and allow oil to continue to maintain it’s value to countries that produce it domestically. Oil is too valuable long term to burn.
Again, it’s a matter of balance and not who can wave the flag the highest.
If you are serious…
See how oil is used in this country, and tell me how much of a percentage a joy ride could make. 28% is transportation.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/USenergy2004.jpg
wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_use_in_the_United_States
I think it is all going to be a moot point soon anyway. In about a year we are going to be living in the new Weimar Republic.
Then we will all have money to burn
Huzzah!!! Well spoken. And thank you for serving our great country.
Thank your stepson for me for serving our great country.
But, it is not unpatriotic to go for a drive. That is not a wise thing to say. Actually it is an expression of our freedom and could be a patriotic thing. I will not let some cold, thick animal keep me pinned down in my house cowering in a corner. IMOO it is not an oil war but lets not get started on that.
Agree totally! It’s simply amazing to me that young people in my town (up into their 20s) still regarding “riding around” as a recreational activity; just goes to show how much extra cash a lot of Americans apparently still have to - literally - burn in this supposedly horrible economy. Those same young people should be instead working a part-time job to pay for the gas to get where they actually NEED to be instead of burning time, daylight, money, and - yes - precious imported oil.
That’s on top of the needless driving around regular adults do every day (usually one person per SUV) to shop, eat out, run errands, commute to work, etc. This is our great US of A consumeristic, self-indulgent, “independent” lifestyle, and when we totally run out of fuel one day, it’ll be no more than we deserve. It’ll also be pretty refreshing to see the traffic jams cleared.
Spoken like a true dictator.
The key is not to control peoples behavior, but to give them better alternatives, including our young. There are some cities with bike, pedestrian paths, public transportation and sports activities that make it an advantage NOT to drive around. Put our energy and support into that instead of whining about the poor attitudes of those poor souls less informed then we are.
Exactly. It is one thing to offer criticism of people’s behavior. It is another thing entirely to offer alternative ideas.
The people worth listening to do more than just criticize. They offer alternative suggestions. Thank you, dagosa.
Like the “consumeristic and self-indulgent” purchasing of multiple small foreign vehicles in a short period of time.
How much fuel do you think went into the manufacture of those vehicles.
If you are serious…
See how oil is used in this country, and tell me how much of a percentage a joy ride could make. 28% is transportation.
Consider too of that 28%, how much of it is jet fuel; are kids just running around in their jets. Consider that our military uses as much fuel as the rest of the domestic air line industry. So really, now much do my kids use while “partying” in their 86 Nova could I blame them for.
And while they were partying, I’m at home running my tractors, motor boats, jet ski, chain saw, brush cutter, chipper…etc. all for the fun of it. I feel so un Patriotic now I could cry.
Heck, my kids were much more patriotic than I, if that’s how we measure it.
Where do we draw the line? Is living in a mud hut and wearing sackcloth enough or should we commit suicide so we won’t waste anymore of the world’s oxygen by breathing and make way for worthier lifeforms? Which seven of the “octomom’s” litter should the wise and noble government euthanize to bring her family size down to acceptable limits?
If we all commit suicide bovine will reproduce out of control and their flatulence will destroy the environment. Aliens throughout the universe will be saying “what is that SMELL!”
I agree. Driving around just to enjoy the car or truck is as American as apple struedel.
Don’t blame the oil, Joe. Oil didn’t start the war. Soldiers die for the elite.