and home of "That Singing Feeling" workshops
| Home |
| Biography |
| Reviews |
| Journal |
| Recordings |
| Workshops |
| Links and Likes |
| Contact |
JOURNAL
April 2008
AND THE GAS GOES HIGHER . . .
New York’s Mayor Bloomberg was recently defeated in his attempt to charge an $8 congestion pricing fee for all vehicles going south of 59th Street in Manhattan. Many lawmakers saw it as an unfair tax on the middle class.
Maybe they were right, but I think in years to come, Bloomberg’s effort to do something to ease overcrowding and help the environment will be seen as a bold step, much like Hillary Clinton’s failed attempt to get universal health care 15 years ago. At least they tried something!
Gas prices are now higher than they’ve ever been and are expected to hit $4 per gallon this summer. There is a lot of shouting and complaining from all sides about this outrage.
Americans have a love affair with their cars and each American seems to believe in a Constitutional right--like the right to free speech or to bear arms--to have his or her own personal car for every occasion.
Oh yes, it is now politically correct to “go green” and every day we hear commercials or talk show guests telling us about all the little things we can do to save the planet: switch to more efficient lightbulbs, reuse plastic grocery bags, unplug appliances that are not in use, recycle paper, plastic and metal. Because of our heroic efforts, I predict that bottled water will soon be a relic of the past.
But, you see, we can congratulate ourselves for doing all of those things, but at the end of the day it’s a pretty easy task to use a grocery bag for a wastebasket liner or to turn on the tap to get water. Not so easy to give up our precious cars. When is the last time you heard a public service announcement urging you to carpool with your neighbors or to take the buses or trains, or demand more buses or trains in your area?
We are willing to “go green” as long as we are not inconvenienced and deprived of the lifetstyle to which we’ve become accustomed. (And there are probably some of us who are privately shaming the billion people in China for having the audacity to follow our lead and increase their own automobile consumption. During this time of global warming, how could they?)
Granted, in our rural areas, cars are absolutely needed to get to and from work and those working class people are suffering from these gas prices. But back where I grew up, it is unfathomable to me why thousands of people, each in their own car, would prefer to drive to their jobs in Boston along crowded Route 2 every morning rather than take the train from Fitchburg to Boston. We have iPods and radios with headphones and bags full of books and crossword puzzles. Can’t we create our own private space on a train? And if demand goes up, more trains will be added to the schedule.
We are also the most obese nation on the planet. What would happen if every able-bodied person who works within five miles of their home started riding a bike to and from work three times a week?
Personally, I think gas can go up to $10 per gallon and most people would still prefer to sell their children rather than give up their cars.
We are a nation that has increasingly become divided between the haves and the have-nots. There isn’t really a middle class anymore.
The have-nots are suffering on every front: gas prices, food prices, mortgage foreclosures, high interest rates.
The haves, I’m afraid, still haven’t suffered enough. They’re still on the way to work Monday morning in their gas-hogging Beamers, stopping to reward themselves at a drive-through Starbucks for latte in a paper cup because they managed to switch over to energy-efficient lightbulbs over the weekend.
Welcome to America!
What's Your Opinion?
KevScoHall@Verizon.net