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In lugnet.general, Gary R. Istok writes:
> > It is really shocking how Americans do nothing but complain about their
> > ridiculously cheap prices, not realising that:
> > 1.the rest of the world pays twice, if not more, than you do.
> > 2.the rest of the world pays twice, if not more, than you do, probably
> > to subsidise the ridiculously cheap prices that you complain
> > about being too expensive.
> > </rant at no one in particular>
<snip>
> BUT Americans do make sure their elected representatives HEAR them (whining).
> When USA taxes are raised, the usual result is someone in government gets
> booted out of office. Lower taxes are the norm. And no, no one else • provides a
> subsidy for our cheap gas prices. They just more clearly reflect the true
> price, with far far fewer taxes.
I'm with Richard on that one. In the UK we pay the equivalent of about $5 a
gallon.
People here do complain about the huge petrol tax here but I'd say it's fair.
Driving *DOES* damage the environment. You drive a car - you get the benefit
of the convenience. Everyone else gets to suffer from the pollution. In the UK
some estimates have said that several hundred people a year die because
of the exhaust fumes from cars etc. driving near where they live. OK, that's
getting better because our Government has started forcing car manufacturers
to make their cars cleaner. But there's still the greenhouse effect.
What I see is Americans demanding the right to drive everywhere at low cost,
and generally use tons of energy without wanting to pay for much in
the way of efficiency measures etc. And then, because environmental
damage is global, the rest of the world has to pick up a lot of the bill for
the damage. Possibly that's what Richard meant when he talked about
us subsidising Americans. [1]
America is the country where politicians are most keen to go on about how
evil it is for Governments to borrow money and leave debts for future
generations. How come you've got such different standards when it
comes to environmental debts?
Simon
http://www.SimonRobinson.com
[1] To be fair, third world countries could legitimately lay the
same charge at Europe. But at least most European Governments
are trying very hard to cut down on energy use and pollution.
Follow-ups to off-topic.debate
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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| Simon Robinson <simon@simonrobinson.com> wrote in message news:FH13En.Mnt@lugnet.com... (...) (snip) (...) We don't. Our federal govenment has tons of debt. Any news to the contrary is just smoke and mirrors. Adam (25 years ago, 25-Aug-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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| (...) Environment-friendly as it may seem, insane gasoline taxes to subsidize inefficient public transport do not reduce pollution per se. Despite low gas prices, pollution here has been reduced quite a bit since the introduction of emmissions (...) (25 years ago, 25-Aug-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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| (...) All I can say is that despite how nice Europe is, I could never live in Europe. Everything is just too expensive compared to the US. For example, I paid US$X for my car. It the UK, the car cost £X, and thats a big difference. And then there is (...) (25 years ago, 14-Sep-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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| (...) Richard is right. We do whine a lot...... BUT Americans do make sure their elected representatives HEAR them (whining). When USA taxes are raised, the usual result is someone in government gets booted out of office. Lower taxes are the norm. (...) (25 years ago, 24-Aug-99, to lugnet.general)
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