Why I Think High Gas Prices Are Good
With everyone complaining about high gas prices (up to $3.49/gallon or about 25% from a year ago), I think it’s important to step back and think about the positive aspects of this.
We live in a country that has a free market. This means once the price of gas gets too high, companies and people are going to step in and offer us alternatives that save us money. Whether this is more efficient cars, mass transit, or alternative energy, the best alternative will prevail.
I’m not saying the time period where this change happens will be hunky dory, but I am saying in the long run everything will be fine. The world will not come to an end, but people will have to change. This is the worst part for people. They hate change. Let’s face it, humans are a creature of habit. If I’m used to filling up my big ‘ole pickup truck at $2 a gallon and it goes up to $4, I’m not going to be happy. I’ll have to change the way I do things, whether I carpool, ride a bike, or buy a hybrid.
This whole thing kind of reminds me of old people who lived through the great depression. They know how to be frugal! We’ve had the opportunity to learn how to conserve the precious resources this planet gave us, and some of us did, but most of the world will simply use the cheapest alternative, even if it is bad for the world as a whole. We’ll learn to conserve only because it’s forced on us.
Ten years from now, when we’re all driving electric cars that get recharged from solar panels on our rooves, we’ll look back and think about how great this change was. Until then, go over to CNN and enjoy the articles with people bitching about fuel prices.
