What a costly habit?

Driving through the desert, wind in your hair, with a powerful pick up will creates a strange and addictive spirit of individualism and independence - essential to the idea of America. The novels,plays and movies have reflected a childlike fascination that Americans and curious foreigners like me have for the vast, mostly empty yet productive land. Great distances were not seen as an hindrance, but as a challenge for man to master- it became something of a romance intuiting the experience of a lone ranger travelling on horse through the empty prairie.

Add to this romanticism, pragmatism and the ability to think big - you get the interstate. In 1956 the Eisenhower's administration started the grandest of all roadways . It is still amazing that you can travel a whole continent potentially stopping at only a few lights( With food,gas and some adult diapers properly stocked!!). Cheap land led to big roads. Big roads led to big cars, big cars led to big people. These big people needed to feel safe and this led to even bigger trucks. Well, it is the land of plenty, why shouldn't we have big cars,heck make everything big. With this came parking lots the size of Belgium,coffee cups so large you could put out a major fire.

Offcourse sustaining all this was an idea of plenty that is so ingrained in the minds of Americans- in this case of cheap gas. Nothing is free, somebody eventually will have to pay the price.Today, there is no bigger threat to the American civilization than this enslavement to gas.Communists,terrorists,anarchists,racists,secessionists,bigots of all kind together do not have the power to destroy this way of life than a costly gallon of gas.

Worlds richest country today, tomorrow?
The average gas mileage of a motor vehicle on American roads is about 24 miles per gallon. In Europe it is about 40 miles per gallon and probably more in Japan( For four years now the top selling car in Japan has been the small Suzuki Wagon R.In the US, it is the F150 truck series or atleast till recently. )

What happened to efficiency and thriftiness that were so ingrained in early builders/pioneers of the American dream.They are supposed to be on an individual basis one of the most productive workforces in the world. But to get this workforce to office everyday costs a lot!!.On average an American works more days of the year than the Frenchman or a German resulting in lesser paid sick and vacation days.Where is all this productivity gain going into? May be it is just spent on gas while idling in traffic on a Monday morning rush hour instead of paying for a trip to the Bahamas.

But even bigger danger than cost of gas is the government which has subsidized its price . By not allowing the invisible hand of the free market to regulate consumer trends and behavior, the men and women in power have set up an economy forced to take on a tough and sudden change. Jolts are bad for the economy. Allow the free market to perform in its entirety and watch human ingenuity come up with solutions to end this most modern slavery. Hopefully the new research being done by GM and other car makers with plug in hybrid(or rather electric) vehicles will still allow the car culture to continue but sustainably.