Bye Bye American Dream!

What is capitalism when its constituents are the same, 40 years before, 40 years hence! What is scary is the system was manipulated in such a way that “cheap gas prices” were there to stay, forever!

 

Gas guzzlers, like the SUV’s are a recent phenomenon, of the 90’s. Suburbia – was possible because of this, long commutes dithered none. Freeways were put to the best use…now, with gas prices rising continuously much to our chagrin and shock and showing no sign of abating, the near future is not rosy at all. The distant one does not look good either, with wage stagnation and housing deflation, there is no alternative for people to borrow, against what? Also, I am curious to see just how insane it will get…I remember those days where a popular TV bran “AIWA” was being introduced – “Bring your old television, trade it in for a new”. Now, it is highly unlikely you are going to see the big three in the USA (GM, Ford, Chrysler) do something on these lines…I will be happy to trade in my Honda for an electric car…but, not, wait, they want us to suck dry. First, I will be forced to buy a fuel cell/battery hybrid and enslaved in debt for god knows how many years and when the rest of the world has overtaken us, I will be sold the next solution. There seems to be no impetus to nip the problem in the bud…Just when will the American consumer will say “enough is enough” – maybe, not.

 

The cost of gasoline in Europe/Asia is upwards of $5 a gallon…there are dis-incentives to not use your car in Europe, it’s the opposite here. In India, inspite of the high gas prices, the maximum distance a motorist will clock is no more than 10-15miles(30miles roundtrip). Compare that to the United States, the example in the article below, the gentleman drives 100miles. At the place where I work, there are people who drive 50-75miles one way…

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20080409_Long_commutes__gas_prices_crimping_American_Dream.html