We are actually approaching an incredible, truly mind boggling tipping point.

[Stinky The Clown]

Soon enough we will find that some people who have jobs simply cannot afford to drive to them anymore.

As the price of gas goes up, part time minimum wage employees will be finding it a literal losing proposition to drive to work for a four hour shift. At first it will only be a few, but as the cost of a gallon goes it, soon enough, it will affect more and more.

I heard today that some financial analysts now see $140 barrels by summer.

It was only a wry joke a year ago ....... but we may very well be seeing the end of the US as anything better than a thirds world debtor nation.

The ones who will survive will be the ones who do such things as bake bread in a backyard oven and sell it on the streets.

[Indenturedebtor]

1. I'll just leave.

If I'm going to sell bread anywhere it's going to be somewhere without cops every ten feet, etc. You know like somewhere I can afford to stay in a house/shack.

[raccoon]

25. Sounds like Honduras would fit the bill. nt

[MuseRider]

37. Last time I was in Honduras

we landed amid an arsenal of tanks and walked through a line of armed soldiers just to get from the plane to the airport. We were searched and everything was gone through all in a small, closed room with armed soldiers. Planes were not allowed to fly at night. When the 8 of us went through the mainland on a bus we were stopped every 10 miles or so and we had to get out of the bus to be checked out by young men (YOUNG men) with BIG guns.

I hope it has changed since then but it sure surprised me to see your answer. ;)

[raccoon]

44. I think this is what prompted my answer, what he said,

" I can afford to stay in a house/shack. " Having been to Honduras not too long ago on a mission trip, that description seemed to click. Though I'm sure there are many other countries where people live in shacks that in this country we would consider a poor excuse for a chicken coop.

When were you there, by the way?

We didn't run into the soldiers you mentioned, but here and there we saw armed guards, wherever there was anything worth stealing, for instance, at a bank on a Sunday, at the complex where we were staying.

[MuseRider]

96. We were there

in the mid to late 80's. Things were pretty politically unsettled then to say the least. It was quite scary in the dark at the side of the road up against the bus.

[Dorian Gray]

82. I was in Roatan

an island off of Honduras, recently. And it was a paradise. But, not part of the mainland.

[MuseRider]

95. We were in Guanaja

for 3 years, diving trips. It was always on the mainland where these things happened. Mid to late 80's could be part of the reason. It was quite discomforting.

[DS1]

2. already seen it

waitresses at my local haunt are quitting because tips just don't cover gas to make it worthwhile

[Uben]

3. Bread for sale

Just gettin in my two cents worth!

[liberal N proud]

4. I tried to explain a similar scenario to a moron today

He was in my office lamenting that the credit crunch was not over. I said of course not because there is now a whole new level of Americans who were able to afford their mortgages and feed their families. But that as the fuel prices have risen it will be putting some of these people into danger of defaulting on their mortgages because they have to choose to drive to work, feed the family or pay the mortgage.
He couldn't equate the two.

And the cycle will continue until we have all been taken down.

[jaxx]

5. Regular is now just over 4.00 downstate IL

10% ethenol is 3.87...that's what I buy.

Where I work we have a lot of people who come in from small towns up to 30 miles away. They say the gas is making a big difference in their paychecks stretching for 2 weeks.

The price of everything is going up, including food and electricity, while wages stay stagnant. I don't know what people are going to do to keep their heads above water.

[Mabus]

8. That's what I was trying to explain to a friend a couple of weeks ago

Last week he was listening to C-SPAN radio and heard some Republican say something about raising the price of gas like a $1 a gallon. My friend that would be a great way to make people use public transportation. I told him that there were a lot of people who didn't have that option because public transportation does reach them. I explained that back home in Kansas there are people who commute miles to work. They drive in from their small towns or are living on family farms but working in a nearby town. Not to mention what a $1 per gallon gas hike would do to those who still run small family farms.

He just moved from California where he used BART to get around and is now using the Metro here in the DC area. He has no clue what the rest of America looks like.

We should have learned from the '70's and the gas shortages but we didn't. We didn't invest in light rail or other methods of mass transportation other than upgrade the city buses. In Kansas, we also spent a lot on more on new highways and not enough attention to mass transportation.

[shockra]

14. That was Don Young (AK).

http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/may/09/young-backtracks-pitch-raise-federal-gas-tax/

[Mabus]

20. That was it. Thanks.

Yeah, my friend was just perplexed to find out that not every place had a BART or Metro system. :banghead:

[nichomachus]

32. Reminds me

of when I was much younger. I was used to being in Boston or New York. One time, my company sent me to Atlanta for a convention. I didn't bother renting a car because I was going to be staying "downtown." I figured I could just use public transportation. What a shock.

[Mabus]

86. I definitely know what you mean

I've been having reverse culture-shock since I moved to the DC area. I'm so used to a semi-lousy bus system back home (one of the bus drivers got suspended a few years ago for going off her bus route and to do some personal shopping). Here, the transportation system is so much better and convenient.

[femrap]

57. people are that stupid

and self-centered? Geez.

[NuttyFluffers]

65. i'd argue that it's criminal to have such low mass transit, actually

after being to europe and asia our levels of mass transit is shamefully low. the rest of the world DOES NOT live like this -- not even in the "third world" (they have even just dinky buses and jalopy taxis to haul people between small towns), even places in latin america and oceania and africa have this level of rural mass transit.

everyone should be perplexed by our standards of mass transit, for it is unsustainable and insane. it was and is an anomaly in the world, especially to people who've traveled beyond america's borders. our national myopia might be a terminal case...

[femrap]

70. I agree...we suck.

But out in middle of the country, we're spread out. With the price of gas, something will change out here...car sharing. Trips to the grocery together. Maybe a delivery service. Change is coming if we like it or not.

[NuttyFluffers]

72. y'know, americans are like humans everywhere, very resourceful...

(though we are terribly lazy in doing the right thing, until we have no other option)

i think "bush taxis" could be a new business opportunity to a few people willing to get some electric cars and shuttles. but i don't know how much of a need is currently available. i think if you picked out the local rural meeting places, like the Big Box Store (wal-mart?), church (temple?), post office, city hall, and then a few nexus points in the surrounding rural area residential areas, you could possibly run a functioning taxi services.

it would require coordination, but i think americans can do that. and it would require advertisement, but with the internet and rural grapevine that shouldn't be too hard. but it would also require sharing... that might be beyond us currently. i'd like to think we still can share, but some days i just do not know.

[reformedrethug]

75. Ok how do you propose

to handle those that work the odd hours?
Right now I leave my house at 5AM and get home about 5:30 PM. my wife works 3rd shift and the time she leaves varies depending on the workload.

Also, are you proposing that the public transport run every 5,10,15 minutes? What if somebody has an emergency and needs to leave right away? Example is last March my wife was on her way home from work and a deer decided it wanted to depart this earth and jumped in front of my wife's car and I had to leave work and go get her. If I had to wait on public transport it would have taken much longer to get to where she was, unles there are stops every mile I would not have been able to stop where she was, etc...

If you live in the city public transport is great if it exists, if you live in the country there is no way for it to work other than moving from town to town.

[Mabus]

90. Exactly

The towns and cities in the midwest are laid out differently than in the larger metropolitan areas. Here the cities run into one another. I've driven from my house to downtown DC a couple of times and the cities are all connected. Back home in Kansas there are miles between most cities and the only available buses are Greyhound or Trailways which are more concerned with long trips rather than commuter trips.

Also, like you pointed out, what happens to the people who are out in the country? The mere fact that the population base/density is much different than the large metro areas like DC or NY it is harder to schedule service to and from on anything more than an hourly basis and make it economically feasible to run/subsidize with taxes. Not to mention that bus service out to rural areas would run into seasonable problems like deer, snow or ice. And contrary to what people think, there are some pretty hilly places in northeast Kansas. When I used to commute from Baldwin City to Lawrence in the winter time the roads south of town could be slicker than shit but once I got past Pleasant Grove hill (several miles south of Lawrence) it would be all sunshine and no snow. There have been times when it has snowed several inches in Lawrence but there is no snow in either Topeka or KC. Then there was one time when Topeka was in a tornado watch, Lawrence was in a winter weather advisory and KC was snowed in. The weather variability between towns in some areas of the country is incredible.

fwiw, we have been pushing for light rail and commuter trains between the Topeka-Lawrence-KC corridor but the powers-that-be say it isn't feasible because the population is so dispersed and they are pushing to increase the number of driving lanes along I-70 instead.

[femrap]

99. Many new businesses will arise as our 'world' gets

smaller. Conservation Engineer...showing people how to save electric/gas/energy/food/etc.

[jmowreader]

79. Why in HELL would anyone from Alaska want that?

Yes, I know about the Alaskan crude. You can't fuel up on that; it has to be refined.

But isn't Alaska one of the most car-dependent areas in the world?

[eShirl]

22. "We should have learned from the '70's and the gas shortages but we didn't."

We were starting to... but then soon after Reagan got in we halted or reversed most of the progress we were just starting to make.

[Mabus]

23. That's very true

We went through the period when ketchup was a vegetable and mental patients were being turned out of mental hospitals. Not to mention the numerous treasonous acts that the Reagan administration got away with.

[pink-o]

66. And check out how Reagan got his political start in California!

http://www.sfgate.com/news/special/pages/2002/campusfiles/

Click on the link "Governor's Race".

[Mabus]

84. A really good friend of mine was at Berkeley

and was part of the Free Speech Movement (he was the one who pointed out to me that the Flying Spaghetti Monster, FSM, was probably more than a coincidence) in the 60's. He still has posters from building takeovers and protests.

I'm going to send him a link to this article and tell him "thanks". ;)

[madokie]

15. Its none of my business but have you compared the mileage you get with the gasohol

if it is actually cheaper to buy.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

21. I've read that running on pure ethanol gets 10% less mileage than gasoline

but of course it's better for the environment.

[windbreeze]

47. not only that....

I have read that it eats up your engine seals...etc., ethanol is not good for your car, period...wb

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

60. If you drive an old car, you have to make several adjustments

Alcohol eats older types of rubber. You have to replace your fuel line, parts of your fuel pump and perhaps parts of old carbureters with metal that's sensitive to alcohol. You also have to enlarge the carburetor jets and change the timing. On older cars, you might also have to change the gas tank or use a separate plastic gas tank because of the effect of alcohol on the metal lining of older gas tanks. But on modern cars it apparently isn't a problem, such as the cars built in Brazil or the flex fuel cars built in the U.S. Alcohol tends to clean up the engine, though, which is a good thing and if you make the adjustment, you have to clean out your fuel filter often when you first start using ethanol until the carbon is cleared out of your fuel system. And alcohol cuts down drastically on harmful emissions. The engine also runs cooler, as alcohol doesn't cause as much heat as gasoline when it burns. There are pros and cons about using alcohol. I've thought about applying for a federal permit to operate a small still in my back yard, using sugar or molasses to make pure ethanol. In time, it might prove to be very economical as gas keeps going up in price.

[MadinMo]

102. I'm driving a 91 Camry and have used the 10% ethanol

for several years now. No problems eating the rubber up. I think the idea that ethanol ruins engines is another falacy put forth by the anti-ethanol (Big Oil) people.

Mr MadinMo has been running 20% ethanol in his 2001 F150 for about a month now. No problems. Good mileage.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

103. I have several old cars and have thought about pure ethanol conversions

I have a 1957 DKW, a 1969 Citroen DS, and a 1973 Saab 96. The Saab with its German-made v4 Ford-Taunus engine seems to be the most robust of the three and I'm thinking of going pure alcohol with it. I often go on vintage Saab forums where they've discussed Ethanol. I think there's legislation requiring 10% ethanol to go into all gas in the U.S. by 2010. According to vintage Saab owners, it seems that 10% ethanol has virtually no affect on old rubber, but pure ethanol probably will. Alcohol is a very powerful cleansing agent. The best approach is to put a separate alcohol fuel tank of about 5 gallons in the trunk with its own separate fuel line and to use a T valve on the two fuel lines as they enter the fuel pump to be able to switch over to regular gas when needed. The things you must do is simply buy a modern fuel line for the plastic fuel tank for the alcohol, change the jets in the carbureter (I have a Weber and spare oversized jets are very inexpensive), and advance the timing. There are several myths about alcohol. It seems that it really doesn't damage even old cars if you make the modifications. In fact, pure ethanol protects the valves on old cars by providing a cushion for them, the way old leaded gas used to do. Alcohol eliminates pinging and alcohol injection has often been used in the past on vintage sports cars for the reason that it burns the gas more completely and efficiently. And it's clean and can be made cheaply. I'm thinking of filing an application with the federal government to operate a five gallon still in my backyard and buy molasses or sugar in bulk to make. I could probably make my own ethanol for about $1 to $2 a gallon. There are even plans on the Internet to run a still on solar energy, further reducing costs.

[madrchsod]

6. last year some employment agencies here were

asking people how far they were willing to travel because of gasoline prices last year. this years lay-offs has pretty much solved that problem.

we have sold our country to the highest bidders and we wonder why there`s no jobs or future...

[LiberalEsto]

16. Yet the companies import workers on H1-B visas

all the way from places like India, to take our jobs. I wonder if increased airfares - due to increased fuel costs - will slow down the insourcing.

[eleny]

7. I heard the 140 a barrel report and was stunned by it

One of those things where you ay to yourself "Yeah, ri-i-i-i-ght" and then you say again "Oh, no".

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Someday.... and I can just smell it coming.... someone is going to

say they have gas and they are going to get mugged. It won't be a pretty sight.

[tama]

10. The end of suburbia

http://www.endofsuburbia.com/

Which is of course just a milestone on the way to the End of Civilization. Let's just hope the civilization don't take the whole planet down with it.

[Virginia Dare]

24. If we don't change voluntarily, it will be forced on us..

likely our children and grandchildren's lives will be very different than ours.

[tama]

64. Resistance is futile

Times they are a changing.

The hard question where I fail together with most, is how to help our children to prepare for the change. Instead of letting them grow conditioned by the currently prevailing consumerism. I can't save my children, any more than the civilzation they are obligated to become part of. The conundrum...

[bdamomma]

92. we are supposed to hand over a better life to our children

I don't see that happening, shameful on our part.

[tama]

97. Better life

does not mean more stuff, it means less stuff, sharing. Our children will live through the roughest time, if they live. But once freed from the consumerist hypnosis, their children or grandchildren will have chance of better life, better than we can imagine living in servitude of this sick system, cleaning the mess we left behind and helping the Planet to regain its health.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. THis morning I had to think... go to the PX to do my weekly

shopping or not....

You see, it is worth my money if and only if I have to buy meats....

Otherwise... the local store, two miles from home, is a better choice

[shireen]

12. true cost of gas

heard on some news show, don't remember which one, that speculators have driven the price to double it's actual true market (based on demand) value. There is no oil shortage. It's those damned speculators, greedy slimy parasites....

If only i remembered where i heard it ... it was just within the past 2 days. Old age! sigh!

[mmonk]

53. That correct. The futures market and hedge funds.

Supplies are currently fine from what I heard. The profiteers are going to have one more run before deregulation ends.

[reformedrethug]

76. That is exactly

what I have been saying to people I know, my question is tho is this:

WHY are the speculators running the prices up?

[sammythecat]

13. I don't think you're being at all alarmist

in using the phrase "truly mind-boggling tipping point". The American middle-class has slowly, but steadily, been eroded for the past 30 years. In the 21st century that rate of erosion has gone from "steadily increasing" to what will soon be exponential. We can no longer expect the future to be better, we can only hope and pray.

I'm 57 and I've never felt this grim about the future before. I know, as kids, we were excited about our futures and all the thrilling and wondrous possibilities. Now, the near term future seems more like something we'd like to put off as long as possible. Each year seems somewhat worse than the year before. In the long run that thrilling and wondrous future may still be in store, but I fear the next 20-50 years may be something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

[femrap]

58. I feel the same way....

I want to get off the grid so I'm not left w/o heat and electricity. I think that is the only intelligent thing to do. And grow a garden. Back to nature is the way to go. I'd like to find others who want to do the same thing so we could have a community to help each other.

I have little hope in our leaders and the youth....I just want to hang out with those who are older and wiser and of course have lots of animals around.

[Canuckistanian]

17. Right you are. "Pets or Meat" will soon become a reality

For those who don't know, Michael Moore in his documentary "Roger and Me" showed a woman in Flint Michigan who was devastated by the GM layoffs in Flint.

So, she decided to raise rabbits for "Pets or Meat" in her back yard.

I think MM did a sequel called "Pets or Meat" chronicling this woman's downfall from properity to abject poverty.

[proud patriot]

18. I've reccently been making changes in my life

3 years ago
1) quit smoking ciggs

started
2) 2 months ago started eating lots of fruits and veggies .
Also added more fish

today
3) started riding my bike to build muscle so I may ride the
2.9 miles to work . Today I did a 1/4 of a mile . Plan on
building my muscles and living more active , Playing more .
I just saw the movie "Into the Wild" it has inspired me
to "run with the wild horses" well as much as a mother and
wife can run wild that is .

:hi:

[reformedrethug]

77. IF I get the job

that I have a 2nd interview for our lifestyle will change dramatically. We will be working in the same town so that means we will be moving, depending on where we move too I may consider buying a bike to ride in addition to the motorcycle. When I was in the military I used to live off base and ride my bike in every day, it was a great way to stay in shape.

[madrchsod]

19. ..worse job outlook for high school students since the 1940`s....

according to the center for labor studies at northeastern university in boston...

35% held jobs in 2007 and in 2000 45% held summer jobs....

another first for the leader of the free world

[Terry in Austin]

26. K & R

[KG]

27. and it's not like it wasn't forseen by men of vision.

[EstimatedProphet]

28. I put something up about this a couple years ago

Dropped like a stone...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x643426

Imagine having a motor scooter with a five-gallon tank, but the nearest gas station is six gallons away. You can not fill your tank with trips to the gas station because you burn more than you can bring back -- it's impossible for you to cover your overhead (the size of your bankroll and the price of the gas are irrelevant). You might as well put your scooter up on blocks because you are "out of gas" -- forever.

CENTRAL BANKERS CAN NOT PRINT ENERGY! If a country must spend more-than-one unit of energy to produce enough goods and services to buy one unit of energy, it will be impossible to cover the overhead (e.g., Zimbabwe). At that point, every country's economic machine is "out of gas" -- money and common stocks worthless -- forever.

See ENERGETIC LIMITS TO GROWTH, by Jay Hanson, ENERGY Magazine, Spring, 1999; http://www.dieoff.com/page175.htm

"Nothing is efficient in Oceania except the Thought Police." -- Orwell,
1984

[Prophet 451]

29. Probably inevitible

Best case scenario is that we see a return to the days where most people lived and worked within walking/cycling distance.

[Turn CO Blue]

30. You'll see major freight companies & airlines GONE by fall

which means the cost to ship or distribute anything (land or air) will be extravagantly high and the prices for food and goods will go up astonomically! Coal is also starting to go up, so expect electricity and rail costs to skyrocket. Most airlines are losing so much money that they only have cash on hand for maybe 3-4 more months. Already truckers are spending $1200-$2000 per day on diesel fuel. Jet fuel is $130 per barrel or more.

Already we've seen the price of some food items double just this year.

Congress ought to be holding preemptive hearings (har de har har) to do something about these oil and coal speculators, and about OPEC.

But *sigh* this is a reactionary government, not proactive. They'll wait until there are trucks, busses and airplanes absolutely grounded and 100's of thousands of truckers, airline agents and logistics personnel out of work before they see this giant ticking bomb as a problem.

In just a few more months (with this pressure of fuel prices), results in people - even rich people - not being able to get food or toilet paper because the supplies are all stuck in a warehouse -- when even the big box stores can't get their goods distributed because much of the national network of distributers have gone bust, THEN expect to FINALLY see people in the streets.

[taught_me_patience]

31. Americans, on average spend 6% of their income

on gas. This is below the 8% in the late 70's. We are not even close to a tipping point yet.

[Missy Vixen]

33. It's not just the gas

>We are not even close to a tipping point yet.<

It's the cost to heat one's home. It's the food on our table (or lack of it). It's the fact that people are now thinking twice about any discretionary purchase. We know two people laid off in the last week due to lack of work in their industries, and one of them works in the software industry.

That six percent grows exponentially with the other purchases besides gas for the car, and it's going to break millions financially.

Julie

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

39. The 1970s involved an OPEC embargo

It was a temporary shut-down in production resulting in artificial shortages and not an accelerating rise in the price of oil due to irreversible systemic market factors. If it even gets close to the disaster of the 1970s, with 2 hour waits in long lines for gas and with rationing, it's going to be awful.

[Hydra]

34. I've had to call in sick a few times

Because my tank wouldn't last til next paycheck.

I don't see this scenario far off at all...and the results will be BAD.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

35. Strangely, I'm glad

...sort of. All those people that praised Bush and his administration are finally feeling the reality of the vote they cast.

We saw this coming. There are people I literally begged not to vote for bush that are now whining the loudest about their personal
situations. Vote for McCain and they'll get more of the same.

Sorry, I'm bitter.

[Hydra]

36. Welcome to DU

And I'm bitter too- and not just toward the idiots that voted for him- they were a decided minority according to all election investigations. I'm bitter toward all of the lazy and complacent people in our party who claimed that Bushco would be subject to "oversight"

Well, I suppose they were! Our leadership is overseeing and cheering for them!

[EmeraldCityGrl]

38. It is beyond anything I imagined on that dark day in Nov. 2000...

Many of the people at the out of state reunion I was attending didn't even bother to vote absentee.

I remember telling them there would be war, famine and economic collapse and was teased and laughed at...who's laughing now?

Thanks for the welcome :)

[Hydra]

41. I welcome a fellow Doomsayer, then

At least I'm done giving warnings. Tired of being Cassandra :evilgrin:

[femrap]

59. Bitter is better....

it means you are thinking! Welcome.

[gatorboy]

40. Fine by me. Less cars on the road means I won't get killed when I bike to work.

It's the main deterrence I have with biking. People general don't give a crap when they see a bike on the road. In fact, they consider it an annoyance and I'm not about to try and compete with the Hummers. If less people are driving. I might have a fighting chance. :)

[Frank Cannon]

74. I'm so glad for you that you can bike to work

I hope, for your sake, that your youth and good health (and good weather) continue.

[Evoman]

42. You guys don't even pay as much as we do here in Canada.

One of my friends was discussing a driving trip he took to Seattle last month and remarked about the "cheap gas".

Welcome to the rest of the world. Now you just need to get a better health care system (which could mean that money you pay for insurance you could spend on gas I guess) and some higher minimum wages. That should help at least a little :shrug:.

p.s. I believe we pay close to $4 a gallon here (I'm too lazy to do the conversion from litres).

[dawgman]

45. your gas, as well as that of most of Europe and Asia,

Has always been higher due to taxation that pays for things like health care. Our gas is barely taxed. That is why it is lower.

[Evoman]

46. Yep, exactly.

But most of the americans I know are almost pathological about not paying taxes (not all of them, and not many on this site, so don't flame me).

It's weird that many people seem to want social services and things like that, but aren't willing to pay for them. It would be an interesting question to ask if people would pay 4 dollars a gallon gas RIGHT NOW if they got better public transportation from the extra tax. I'm guessing most of the people here would probably protest.

[lutefisk]

50. I would gladly pay the taxes if I could live in Canada

I do not like my tax dollars paying mercenaries and funding an obscenely large and misused military-corporate death machine.

To be honest, it makes me feel kind of shitty to think about what I'm paying for down here. What a waste.

Hey, my list of places I'd like to emigrate to are all high tax countries.

[earth mom]

68. No, the rethuglicans HATE being taxed. The rest of us don't mind. What we mind is that

our taxes are being used for bullshit like Illegal wars, no bid contracts-Halliburton, mercenaries-Blackwater, and full on corporate welfare.

If corporations and the rich were taxed equally, if our money wasn't been thrown away killing innocent people but instead spent on the people of this country and things like mass transit and universal health care most of us would be doing the happy dance.

Instead, we've been ripped off big time for YEARS with no end in sight. You'd be pissed off too if this happened to you and your hard earned money. :grr:

[SammyWinstonJack]

88. Probably thinks it could never happen in Canada, either. I wouldn't be so sure about that.

Couple of stolen elections and every thing is changed. Think that the greedy health insurance corps aren't salivating to get control of other countries' health care? We weren't doing too badly here until Nixon and Kaiser Permanente hatch a scheme to screw us over.

[earth mom]

91. Exactly. More people need to see the film SICKO. We need to kick the insurance companies OUT!

:grr:

[SammyWinstonJack]

100. Oh yeah but in order to do that, we need to kick out the greedy corprat controlled congresscritters.

And round and round we go! :banghead:

[NikolaC]

69. I Don't What It Is Today

However, last week it was $1.25 per litre, which equals about $4.74 per gallon for the "cheap" stuff.

[reformedrethug]

78. But how much of that cost

is taxes and how much are you paying for the fuel itself?

If I remember correctly the federal taxes on every gallon of gas sold here in the states is less tha $.20 then you add in the state/local taxes which in my case adds another $.40 I think.

[Initech]

43. We are truly, unquestionably fucked.

We could do the right thing and end this bullshit war, and the oil that would be going to the military would instead flood the market and bring prices down. But sadly this isn't the case.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

49. We have truly, unquestionably BEEN fucked.

can't find the appropriate smiley for this.

[Initech]

62. How about this one:

:nuke:

[KamaAina]

48. "Drive 'til you qualify"

then, when you can no longer afford to drive back into the actual city where you work, voila! You become another statistic in the mortgage/foreclosure crisis.

[ramapo]

51. I've been expecting this to happen

Thirty years of watching and waiting. Surprised it took this long. It is difficult, and very sobering, to think that the tipping point might actually be upon us. If it is, the next years will not be pleasant. They will be a very rude shock to the vast majority of us who have not experienced much in the way of widespread suffering.

[mbee]

52. Those who voted for Bush and Cheney need to look deep

inside themselves and realize what they allowed to happen. All the lies they told, the election fraud, the support of the illegal war. Now chickens come home to roost!

[newfie11]

55. unfortunately many are so stupid they are going like lambs to slaughter

and voting for mccain. There are still many idiots here in Nebraska that actually like bush and think he is doing a good job.:banghead:

[femrap]

61. This past weekend I parallel parked my car and

then noticed the car in front had BOTH a 'W 04' AND a 'John McCain' sticker. I couldn't stand it. I got a piece of paper out of my purse and wrote 'ASSHOLE' on it and stuck in under the windshield wiper. Guess I should just make a bunch of these up in advance.

[katty]

54. create EcoUrban Survival centers, the rural ones

will be more like 60-70's communes, hopefully, well run, planning and cooperation with infrastruture, chores, food, etal. We already have templates for these kinds of communal centers around the world. I am saving all my books, physical reading materials, paper, pens in case schools shut down.

[femrap]

56. Backyard oven.....good idea

Thanks...hadn't thought of that. I want to get off the grid.

[rucky]

63. Yep.

Average commute: 20 miles
Average cost to commute: $10 r/t

Daycare: $50

Day's pay: $56

Net loss: $4

[krabigirl]

67. Telecommuting is one answer, but not for min,. wage jobs. :(

[LiberalAndProud]

71. It's already happening.

My son is a welder in South Dakota. Two of his coworkers with 8-year tenures resigned recently. One took a job that paid half as much, but was within walking distance of his home. He plans to sell his vehicle. He is now a manager at McDonalds. Says he'll be taking more home at $9.00 / hr with no commute than he could as a welder. In the rural areas, where people have been commuting 60 miles or more, it's no longer sustainable.

[MilesColtrane]

73. Just wait til the bombs start flying over Iran.

[Ganja Ninja]

80. A friend of mine that works for Wal-Mart is getting to that point.

They schedule their employees to work 4 to 6 hour shifts for 30 or so hours a week. She drives 11 miles each way to work in a Subaru so it's not all that bad yet but some of the other employees are hurting.

[Dorian Gray]

81. It's true that the price of gasoline is staggeringly problematic

for our country, but it is that way for most other countries, as well. Much of Europe has prices that are way higher, and they've managed not to topple financially. Hopefully we will survive this, but also while surviving, send a strong message to oil companies that we will not always buy their oil. If they want to continue to sell it, then they need to price it reasonably.

Also, I truly hope that this is the spur that our society needs to find more enviornmentally friendly and cost effective means of transportation.

[NashVegas]

83. Don't Worry - Congress Is Going to Sue OPEC

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSWAT00953020080520

Looks like the era of the strongly worded resolution isn't going away just yet.

[TwixVoy]

87. How is this possible?

OPEC is an association of international nations. How the hell are US courts going to have ANY authority over them? Honest question.

It would be like the supreme court ruling that North Korea should pay us $50 million dollars this year. North Koreas response? "Yea we'll get right on that...."

[Eric J in MN]

93. "OPEC investment in the United States" NT

NT

[tama]

104. By sheer immensly mind-bogging stupidity

This is their cunning plan: To enforce the court decision, house members will first declare boycott on OPEC. After thus disarming the whole oil-dependent US techno-army, they valiantly invade each and every OPEC-country with sharpened pencils. OPEC countries will be laughing so hysterically at these ridiculous buffoons that they are incapable to defend themselves against the pencil attack. Cunning!!!

[I Have A Dream]

85. I've been thinking this for a while now.

:(

[mdmc]

89. I'm working on learning how to bake Irish Brown Bread

Gotta be able to walk to work. Gotta be able to live without driving.

[lumberjack_jeff]

94. I think civilization is more resilient than that.

Sure, for some, it makes no sense to work for four hours. If employers can't get employees for 4 hours a day, they'll change the nature of the job so that it can be done in three, 8 hour days, or make the job full-time.

I could easily believe that if it became necessary, people in general could do just fine while driving 20% less, by telecommuting, changing from part time to full time work, riding the bus and consolidating errands.

Maybe small town grocery stores will become profitable again? Maybe someone will reopen the clothing store in my little town?

Decentralization isn't all bad. The walmart superstore wasn't built with bricks, it was built with gasoline.

[mdmc]

98. I am looking forward to our regional economy

I am ready to give up the gas and work toward a viable solution. Reduce consumption - shop local. The sol;ution is very easy. Getting to change is the hard part.

[Phred42]

101. this could be the realinement

Everyone will get new jobs closer to home.

I used to drive 2.5 hrs one way and there were people in that neighborhood that drove 2 hrs back in my direction.
that wont work any more

[klyon]

105. 4 people in a vehicle brings the cost down to a quarter of the price

car pool if you can
There are many inventive ways to set-up a car pool system in any region or work place.

[zonmoy]

106. Main reason I gave up driving

and now either use public transit or bike to everyplace I have to go.

[mdmc]

107. was it hard to do?

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