One might read accounts that this sham of gasoline prices we observe today did occur in the 1970's in the precise way and with the selfsame consequences — to wit: off the scale gas prices, gas-hogging vehicles needing scrapped now found wastes; there came lay-offs, bankruptcies; and there was aligned businesses that folded as an immediate consequence; most ironic of all followed record profits for the oil corporations, after which car manufacturers began shifting their quarterly estimates and emphasis on trends, thus shutting down the design, assemblage, and marketing of large, hulking cylinder engines. But not for long did this hold.

One cannot overlook the link of one thing to another today. Unlike the 1970's, the year 2008 is likened to none other. Even GMC has ceased with dispensing dividends to shareholders as they once enjoyed for the past 80 some years. Not since 1922, just before the Great Depression, has such austerity evidenced in such a large, major corporation. GMC has always been held as American as "mother, home, and apple pie." It's all over now!

What we see today is the nail in the coffin in the ways America does business, certainly as the supreme leader of the world's market economies and central banking systems.

That good-ol'-boy fat, dumb, and happy day and arrogance is increasingly coming to its ending.

America's days of blind, selfish, gluttonous greed is rapidly coming to a close, and not few West Europeans and oil-rich Middle Easterners are aware of this, many of whom are gloating that America is about to undergo its come-uppance due to years of neglect, arrogance, and waste.

This is an ado with lots more than mere escalating gasoline and oil barrel prices. So yeah, we had better care — fast and in the right way.
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Low income families in rural areas have been unable to cope with the increased cost of fuel. There has been a rush to apply for food stamps and government financial aid because working low paying jobs will no longer provide food and shelter for a family.

As people have been forced to tighten their belts and spend less money, there have been severe consequences to retail businesses. There has also been a drastic reduction in the number of jobs available. So, in a short period of time most of us have been effected by the rising cost of fuel.

There are no simple answers to the problem. However, we must continue to conserve fuel, limit our reliance on foreign oil, and create more jobs for Americans. As much as I appreciate seeing people carrying their groceries on bicycles and motor scooters, I also regret that few of those vehicles are manufactured in America.
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In the meantime, my 1966 Karmann Ghia holds about 12 gallons, and a tank will take me about 350 to 370 miles. Now, I don't go very fast in the old girl, and we can't haul lumber home from the yard or pull a 5th wheel with her, but I get lots of compliments on her style. She beats the minivan for miles per gallon, and she's way more fun to drive.
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