May 30, 2008 Comments Off
No doubt, the politicians who came up with the idea of subsidizing the diversion of grain to the production of bioethanol did not intend to starve the world’s poorest people; but the fact that the consequences were unintended does not absolve them of responsibility.
May 7, 2008 Comments Off
Now I know it’s getting bad. My favorite technology pundit is writing about the price of gasoline and the breakdown of society. Here’s an excerpt from the discussion in the comments:
During the Depression, when “ordinary decent people just like you and me” numbering in the millions were being utterly killed by the economy and DC was turned into a homeless encampment for war veterans and (ironically) being attacked by the National Guard…it was a time when people were seriously open to radical change. It was a time when the US could have taken an insane swerve towards Communism or national Socialism.
Right now, if I want to visit a friend of mine who lives just an hour’s drive away, I drive over there and see him. If gas went to six bucks a gallon, I’d first do some math and realize that okay, the visit will cost me about forty bucks. And instead of an evening of dinner and conversation and some Wii, I’d stay home instead and iChat him.
THAT is a major shift, and it’d make me re-think my views towards how the country is being run.
Go, therefore, and read the article.