Gas prices go up, gas prices go down. Gas prices go up, gas prices go down. It’s really funny how mad people can get about the price they pay for their fuel. Everybody is willing to do anything to stabilize and lower the price of gasoline. You’d think someone would realize that this is just a tiny little warning light. Hello America, you’re over dependant on fossil fuel. But nobody’s listening for that. That doesn’t make gas prices cheaper. Nobody’s thinking about how in fifty years we’ll have squeezed the earth of all its oil. We’re only concerned about the here and now, and what the bottom line means to me; the selfish disease that will surely topple America.

Every other country has figured out that selfish systems usually don’t work out that well. Americans like to make all the choices, and everything has to be catered to us. When it comes to transportation we don’t want to wait for a bus or a train, we don’t want to walk. We want the freedom to drive our cars from our front door to the front doors of our offices. It’s a God given right. But if everybody in the entire country has the right to do that, you’ve got problems. It’s called rush hour. It takes you twice as long to get home because every other idiot is trying to get home, too. Brilliant system.

And have you ever considered what it costs to operate a vehicle. First of all you have to buy a car. Then you have to pay for gas. Then there’s insurance. Regular maintenance. Those fun, not-so-regular maintenance items. Then there’s the roads. Sure, the government pays for those–but it’s really your money. Look at the entire economy that’s rooted itself around the selfish American icon that is the automobile. The auto industry itself, the plants making parts, the raw materials involved, the body shops, the brake shops, the tire shops, the oil shops, the muffler shops, the transmission shops, the gas stations, the car washes, the car insurance industry, the car dealerships, the after market industry, the entire sport of auto-racing. And I’m sure that’s only a partial list. And with gas prices rising, there’s been a lot of talk in the papers about who all’s being affected. Every one cent rise in gas prices costs the Post Office one million dollars. Delivery services, farmers, lawn mowers, pizza delivery guys, go-kart places, taxi companies, limo services–they’re all hit pretty hard when the gas prices rise.

With all this auto related industry, don’t you think we’re going to be kind of screwed when the gas prices keep rising and the oil eventually runs out? And don’t kid yourself, we will run out. It’s just a matter of time. Maybe you don’t believe the crackpot scientists. Maybe fifty years is a really low estimate. Maybe it’s more like one hundred years. But that still doesn’t buy us a lot of time. There’s only so much fossil fuel, and when it’s gone, well, we better figure something out.

But nobody seems to realize that right now. People are bending over backwards to shave a few cents off the price. Repeal gas taxes. Repeal the new EPA standard. Haul the oil companies to court. But nobody thinks, gee, maybe I should drive less. Maybe I should carpool. Maybe I should take the bus. Maybe I should ride a bike.

Selfish America, when will you learn?