Reap What You Sow

Gas Prices Set New Record

I love these stories. Not because I feel bad for the people in them, rather for two other reasons. First of all, the reporting is horrible. They rarely cite actual inflation-adjusted dollars when speaking of the cost of gasoline. It's like the $3 a gallon we now pay for gas is the same $3 a gallon we could have paid in 1982. That's like if you stayed at your job and was always paid $50,000 a year. Or writing a story that bread isn't 10 cents a loaf anymore.

The other side of the reporting that is horrible is that these stories never reference the larger issue of urban design. Quotes like "I drive 55 miles each way to work." without even the slightest thought of WHY you drive 55 miles. No mention of the fact that GM destroyed the streetcar system. Or that the Interstate Highway System was co-opted for suburban development instead of national security. Or that all the white people couldn't stand living next to upwardly mobile black people in the cities so they moved out to the suburbs. (Of course the media, controlled by white people, would never mention this).

Secondly, the people they interview seem completely clueless. They complain that it costs $80 to fill their SUV, but never question why a single person drives a car that gets 12 miles to the gallon.

Americans go through life with blinders on. We eat shit and wonder why we are fat and have diabetes. We incorrectly raise our children and wonder why they shoot people. We drive gas sucking cars and wonder why it costs $80 to fill it up. We live 55 miles away from work and complain about traffic.

Oh, the drama.