Or the constant "comparisons are not relevant at all because the US are so much bigger, do you realise how long it takes to drive from coast to coast?" Why would you want to?
A lot of those people seem to me to react like addicts in need of a quick fix. Some ask Jérôme to write about solutions, but dismiss them all when he does. What they call "solutions" mean "ways to get as much oil as we want, cheaply, and right now and forever". I'm unimpressed to say the least. "The womb that spawned that thing is fertile yet"
Why would you want to?
You're French, so you can't appreciate the concept of "tourist traps". You have no idea how much crap we can put together in every little town between New York and Los Angeles. ;) WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Crap Towns
which I guess has yet to take off in the US......
What will be interesting is how local governments and social agencies will respond. In New England's poorly insulated houses (many built in the 1920s) with oil furnaces, it is not unusual to go through 200 gallons of oil per month in the winter, which at $5 a gallon is quite a bit of money for those in the social class that typically lives in row houses.
But there are also some pretty tightly knit communities, many the remnants of previous generations of immigrants (e.g., Swedish, Polish, Italian, etc.) and recent immigrants (many from South America). It is not difficult to envision a support system within these communities that could help the most needy. For example, in floods and in the Blitz, people gathered and slept in school gymnasiums. If heating fuel becomes a crisis of that proportion, people will gather and sleep in the gym.
Certainly some people will die in the transition, particularly if they are not connected to their neighbors, but the question is about the scale of the problem.
Here is my simplistic approach:
That wouldn't take any rationing (possibly state help, but is that communist too?). I visited old houses in Sweden (I mean 18th century), and clearly the house was smaller in the winter. Is that not better than death, though?
Moreover, if we don't quickly learn to make do with less burning of oil, there WILL be a lot of deaths. Trying to sustain for a few extra years the most unsustainable of lifestyles is not really helping.
Anyway, I want a government program of course (I am French after all). But short of that, "bring cheap oil or we'll freeze to death" while dismissing any of the lifestyle changes strikes me as the wrong reaction. "The womb that spawned that thing is fertile yet"
Mind you, the last time it was tried it cost a lot more oil than it has generated, but you never know ... look around and there might be a better, safer bet. Nigeria, maybe. 8-)# {ducks, runs for cover} Utsukushikereba sore de ii
I assume the people have access to good quality plastic sheeting and duct tape (as recommended by their government's anti-terror agency or some such...)to tighten up those cracks in their crappy houses a bit.
You know, when Homeland Security was trying to decide on a symbol, my father suggested an eagle soaring up with a strip of duct tape stretched between its talons. My aunt, always the super-serious bureaucrat, did not see the humor.
Anyway, I suspect you're right. It'd be uncomfortable, but talk of people freezing to death on a large scale is difficult to imagine. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Few are willing to sacrifice by joining the army to participate in an oil grab - but there is a risk that down the road a poor and demoralized America will elect a false prophet that promises a return to the good old days. All countries will face this risk, America slightly more so.
you are the media you consume.
Daily Kos: Countdown to $200 oil: International Energy Agency says current prices justified
I dont think the world get our mindset either. If I am out of work, broke, cold and hungry, I will want my government to go grab the worlds oil. If it means war, then war it is. If we lose our way of life, we are going to be the worse thing the world has ever seen. The last depression we had no real standing military, Now we have the largest the earth has ever seen. I dont think we will sit and suffer, the mideast will become our next occuppied territories.
I dont think the world get our mindset either. If I am out of work, broke, cold and hungry, I will want my government to go grab the worlds oil. If it means war, then war it is. If we lose our way of life, we are going to be the worse thing the world has ever seen.
The last depression we had no real standing military, Now we have the largest the earth has ever seen. I dont think we will sit and suffer, the mideast will become our next occuppied territories.
Remember, you have to make adjustments for the Drama Queen factor when reading Daily Kos. Wonderful site, but Daily Kos really is little more than a giant Prozac advertisement at times. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
And yes, I know dKos well...I was a TU and everything for a couple years. Except for the following of the occasional link as last night, I have stayed away since January 1. One of the very few New Years resolutions I have ever kept. Much more civilised here.
That's been my experience, too. In fact, the conservatives go out of their way to state that we didn't go for the oil. I don't think most people believe we went for good reasons anymore, though. At first, I'm sure most did. But these days I think people generally believe we went simply for the benefit of Bush's cronies. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
There is a pretty solid lefty community in the downtown area, but the city is very dependent on the military (Fort Carson army base is one of the main Iraq embarkment places, and Peterson AFB, Schriever AFB, the Air Force Academy, and NORTHCOM headquarters are here...) and there's a huge retired military population. Also it has a strong southern flavor with the attendant problems. And there is a big evangelical christian community, including the headquarters of a whole bunch of mission groups that you only will know about if you listen to short wave radio.
Plus we have some world class conservative idiots in our political system, including the famous Doug Bruce, inventor of the TABOR system of tax indexing that has ruined Colorado's finances, and who has only this year been caught kicking a photographer during the legislative swearing-in ceremony and then shortly afterwards calling undocumented workers "illiterate peasants."
Bottom line is that we have a lot of nutjobs around here. But if you don't read the newspaper it's easy to avoid knowing about it! :-)
and who has only this year been caught kicking a photographer during the legislative swearing-in ceremony and then shortly afterwards calling undocumented workers "illiterate peasants."
Just wow.
The distance we have come and the distance remaining to go are both impressive. If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.
There's also his (his capitals) NO WAY I'M GONNA WAIT AN HOUR TO CARPOOL MY TIME IS WAY MORE VALUABLE THAN THAT, next to comments about the absolute need for lower gas prices or people would die.
So... his time (one hour of his time) must be pretty hugely valuable if it tops all that. "The womb that spawned that thing is fertile yet"
I get really annoyed by people who divide their salary by the hours worked and then say "my time is worth this much". If they work one more hour their time is worth less as they don't get paid more, do they? When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Carpooling doesnt work for the US corporate professional. I know husband and wife's who couldnt do it , and they worked for the same comapny and both were high level management. They can come and go as the please and even they said it couldnt work.
Is it really like that in USA? Not here. You'll have much more predictable hours as a rank and file employee.
Nevertheless, my wife and I (pretty reasonably high management level) often trainpool. That is, we find a way to be in the same train (not that we need to of course), even though we are unlikely to finish right at the same time. But in the meantime you can do stuff on your computer, buy the groceries, get registered at a local library and pay a visit, call friends, just plain take a walk, answer the backlog of mails, write a poem...
If we can do it with a train (not everytime of course -but then if one gets in an emergency until 11pm you can always make contingency plans) when it's just for the sake of the 30mn together, I'm sure carpooling once a week must be doable for the not too obtuse. "The womb that spawned that thing is fertile yet"
I would say that in a typical large company (computer, biotech, financial), most employees arrive in the office between 8:00 and 9:00 and leave between 5:00 and 6:00. But perhaps 5-10% will arrive at 6:00, and 10-20% will stay past 7:00 in the evening. Off-site lunches can easily exceed an hour and a half. Many people also work at home, either reading email (managers) or working on their projects (engineers), even during weekends.
Also it is not unusual to take an afternoon off for a dentist appointment, and Elk Fever is a frequent excuse for absence during hunting season.
The technicians (lab bench workers, system operators, phone support people) have more tightly constrained hours, but practically every organization has some form of flexible time. Retail workers have even wierder schedules, usually involving some sort of rotating shift system so that our typical 7-days-a-week, 12-hours-a-day opening hours can be covered.
My limited experience in Europe is that the working environment there is more structured than in the U.S. People here work 45-50 hours a week, but not on a fixed 8 to 5:30 schedule.
There might be a difference in weekly working hours for the employees and workers, but mainly in large companies. The working time schedule you mention :
most employees arrive in the office between 8:00 and 9:00 and leave between 5:00 and 6:00. But perhaps 5-10% will arrive at 6:00, and 10-20% will stay past 7:00 in the evening. Off-site lunches can easily exceed an hour and a half. Many people also work at home, either reading email (managers) or working on their projects (engineers), even during weekends.
For high-level management, in most of the companies, working hours are not limited and there is no fixed time schedule.
"Ne te courbe que pour aimer..." René Char
I also happen that waiting is (if it's not too frequent or too long of course, and having brought a book sure is a safeguard) a very valuable experience in life, but I doubt he would understand. "The womb that spawned that thing is fertile yet"
