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Originally Posted by Greg B
Great points Hell Puppy.
I think the biggest problem is the price of gasoline. It's an essential. We're a mobile car driving country. I live in Los Angeles and everyone drives to the point no one gets anywhere. I've seen people drive a block. A fucking block to get their mail at the post office! We drive for necessity and for social reasons. Hot fancy cars to show off. We use our cars to annoy others and spread news and for the dumbest of reasons and that just got fucked up because the fun out of driving ends when gas eats into the wallet. Those pennies count. As fundamental an urge to jack off is, people will starve to keep their cars rolling to keep up their image. Being concerned about how others perceive us is man's worse foible.
There's no excuse for credit crunches because anyone can get a credit card still. Even if it's a pre paid card. So again, I'm not seeing slumps, I'm seeing changes. I think the surfers are getting smarter in what they choose to buy. My traditional sources may dip but newer ones flourish. I think the blogging is helping alot. It's the biggest boost in sales I've had since the old TGP2!
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Just like in the early 70's we're paying the price for having the car be such a large part of society. That round ended up with smaller more efficient Japanese cars unseating the Big 3 automakers in America.
This one may last a lot longer as cars are already pretty small and efficient in terms of gas. Hybrids aren't the answer, operational cost of the lifetime of the vehicle doesn't add up. You basically pay up front in the price of the car what you save in gas. You're better off with the basic 4 cylinder stick shift versions of the same cars.
I think we have a race on our hands. Oil production should max and then start to decline sometime in the next 15 years. Hydrogen or other technology and the infrastructure to support it is still likely 10-15 years or more out.
You think it's ugly now, wait til all of the easily accessible oil on the planet is gone.
Atlanta is much like LA, there's no choice but to drive. Only in recent years have they bothered to think about putting sidewalks in the suburbs. Mass transportation? It carries a stigma that is largely accurate because the powers that control it design it to move people too poor to buy a car rather than move people who work from home to the job centers.
But hey, at least we can now legally pack heat on Marta! If it went where I wanted to go, I might actually use it more often now.