[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Two totally different situations/circumstances, Europe and the US. I don't wanna hear how not-bad they feel for us. (No offense to any Brits we've got on the boards)

They've got mass-transit. We don't. We could fit all of Europe and then some in our country...it won't work visa versa. I said it before, we need to adapt to OUR needs, not Europes. And drawing comparisons between the two regions isn't fair, or accurate in the least.

Sure, that lady doesn't need to drive her tanker; and I agree...but this gas thing is hurting the whole country, not just her. Think...truckers, which means food and other items which means EVERYTHING gets more expensive, as our pay rates don't go up to compensate. I don't wanna hear it from them.

.....and don't even get me started on the Prius comment...

Hmmmmmm.:seesaw:To play devils advocate or not?



there are a couple reasons why the Euros have a decent mass transit system.
1) they plan urban areas such that mass transit is a viable means of transportation.
2) they use gas taxes to fund public transit, killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

The general population density of Europe isn't too different from the eastern United States. Therefore, mass transit solutions implemented there could be adapted to work well for you. That includes highspeed rail going from city to city. Does it involve building new infrastructure? Yes. The Euros had to do that too, the continent wasn't created with rail lines prebuilt and busses running around in wild herds (which would have been awesome to see though!). They have a good mass transit system because they planned to have it and for people to use it. Do Europeans make significantly less money than Americans, preventing them from buying cars? No. Do they all work from home? No. Are their cities devoid of roads? No. So there doesn't seem to be much preventing them from using cars: they have the same basic transportation needs as any of us do. But due to a number of factors they figured out a way to get where they want without relying on cars.

As far as high gas prices hurting everyone I'm not going to say they don't but rather ask this question: whose fault is that? Production of raw materials and food, as well as manufacturing used to be relatively local operations. Now each area focus more and more on one thing becoming more dependant on other regions to do their job so that everyone can have something. This has extended byond national borders too. Locally produced goods hardly exist anywhere. The system works well with low transportation costs but when they go up, there is big trouble. Farmland gets turned into suburbs, factories are torn down to build office complexes. That stuff is hard to undo. Something to keep in mind that hasn't really been mentioned here before.

Oh, and I'm gonna start you on the Pruis too. It is a good little car that does what its designed to do quite well. It is not for everyone, and 7 people in that giant Ford would use less fuel than those same people each driving a Prius, but that doesn't matter. Prii(?), love em or hate em, have had a massive impact on the automotive world. Because of them, the notion of a Hybrid Camaro isn't completely insane. And it has forced GM to produce the Volt, something which I doubt they would have done otherwise.


Again, I am playing devils advocate so I may or may not agree with anything I just said.