People across America lately have been complaining over the rising cost of gas prices. The thing they fail to realize, (primarily the liberals) is that this is EXACTLY their solution to the problem of things like “Global Warming” and our continual increase in resource consumption.
Despite what my, or your personal opinion is on Global Warming, the simple fact of the matter is that the so-called, primary cause of it’s effects is due to pollution, and as protestors have made known, the primary souce of pollution is excessive driving of our automobiles. Which leads me to the first point of my argument…
1. High Gas prices effectively combat environmental damage.
It’s really simple. If we drive too much, and it’s causing damage, then make it harder for us to drive. That’s what rising gas costs have done, and continue to do. If we truely are damaging the air to the extent of causing a long-term global warming problem, then having some economic strain to help motivate us as a nation to find solutions to our problem is a golden opportunity. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, however, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if OPEC is indeed overcharging for costs, and gas taxes are increasing to hopefully help pay off an also increasing national deficit, why would be stopping the government from purposefully increasing gas prices to reduce our long-term level of consumption? Which leads to my next point.
2. High Gas prices force us to find alternative fuels and lifestyle choices.
What motivates America is money, and the thought of getting more of it. It’s called Capitalism, and hate it if you must, I’m not here to condemn those who seek after larger bank accounts. However, if you abide by the rules of the economy, and the free market, you are subjecting yourself to the benefits AND the strains of the structure of that type of economy. Economies that are totally dictated by one side of the sales counter don’t provide growth. This being said, to keep an economy on track that is based on this type of system, it requires balance. Over the past decade we’ve experienced the Dot Com boom, rapid progress in automobiles, and other tech. advances. An example would be the consistant decrease of computer and internet prices. Taking this into account, it’s only obvious that the manufacturing and corporate side would need it’s chance to rebuild and regroup. The common misconception is that good sales equals good company growth, but this is seldom the case. When the Apple iPod was released, sales boomed, and it’s stayed high for years since it’s release. However, due to this, Apple has been slow to release new breakthroughs, instead dedicating their efforts into reproduction. What we’re doing is we’re using our prime abilities to develop and turning them into money making production lines, instead of continuing to develop. What this in turn means, is that eventually, when the market has been flooded with the now “old” product, there is downtime needed in the economy to give companies an opportunity and the motivation (obviously, economically) to develop new ideas and products, that will, in the end, benefit the consumer.
This is my 3rd point.
3. With the financial strain brought on by the rising costs, business will be thirsty for new ideas and concepts that aim to effeciently gain customers.
The key here is effeciency. Why haven’t Ford Model T and Model A’s been continued in production? Because they get poor fuel economy, has low power output, are unsafe, and frankly don’t provide much benefit to the modern user. It takes innovation and motivation to produce higher quality products. By higher quality I don’t necessarily mean longer lasting, so please don’t confuse the two. An example of this would be the Twinkie. It’s not uncommon to hear of them lasting over 2 or 3 years and still being of the same consistancy as they are when purchased. However I would still not consider a Twinkie to be a high-quality product.
Overall, I think the misconception of the American people are based on a few factors. They want cheap, high quality goods with no deadtime. We’ve been introduced to things so quickly in the last 30 years, with the invention of TV, Microwaves, faster cars, to now high-speed internet, lighting fast computers, cellular phones, and MP3 players, that we have forgotten about the human aspect of the economy. The fact of the matter is that we have simply passed our capable output levels, and no amount of technology will be able to correct that. Based on our current economic structure, the market thrives on the rough areas. It’s in these lower economic times where discoveries that will power our economy for decades to come are discovered, or implemented. So while I do sometimes find myself complaining about the rising cost of fuel, I also try to think of it in the sense that it will somehow benefit me later, maybe by helping to control contamination of other things I enjoy, like the air, wildlife, and nature, but also through stimulating economic and technological breakthroughs that will make our lives even easier for years to come.
