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Jewish World Review Sept. 2, 2005 / 28 Av, 5765 Stop Your Whining and Start Pumping By James Lileks
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Oh, stop complaining about high gasoline prices. Adjusted for inflation, gas is still not as costly as it would have been in the year 27, when the cost of pumping by hand and straining light sweet crude through slave livers would have been ruinous. And it's still cheaper than it was in 1981, before Ronald Reagan brought the price down by firing the air traffic controllers, who stopped driving to work and thus reduced demand. Or something like that. In any case, it could be worse.
What's that, you say? You live in the present, and hence are disinclined to accept windy bromides about historical trends? Well, you have a point.
So what to do about our gas crisis? The options are few, but clear. Start with this: The government cuts taxes on gas to put money back in people's pockets, and reduces the regulatory obstacles to new refinery construction.
(Pause)
(Snicker)
(Gales of laughter; wiping tears from eyes)
Oh, that's a good one, isn't it. OK, let's consider some serious ideas:
Doesn't matter: For some, it's not just the sight of a drilling rig that offends. It's the moral stain inherent in oil production, an ethical taint that touches everything. OK, then: Give the nation's artists free hand to decorate the derricks as they please. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. It would cause some people to seize up and fall over. Must ... hate ... derrick ... yet ... derrick ... is ... culturally ... transgressive. Does ... not ... compute.
The owners will wave thanks as they pass overhead in their private jets.
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JWR contributor James Lileks is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Comment by clicking here.
© 2005, James Lileks |
Mitch Albom | |||||||||||