• delirious_owl@discuss.online
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    I can't believe gas prices are only $3/gallon. That needs to be at least $20/gallon to make any dent in this climate catastrophe

    Where's the party that is running on a platform of gradually increasing the gas prices to $99/gallon and beyond?

    • Mac@mander.xyz
      ·
      6 months ago

      Yes, punish us poor people who have no other option than to commute instead of the mega-corporstions. Good thinking.

      • mondoman712@lemmy.ml
        hexagon
        ·
        6 months ago

        Car dependency punishes poor people. The solution is viable alternatives, for which having fewer cars is often very beneficial.

        • Mac@mander.xyz
          ·
          edit-2
          6 months ago

          So because you think alternatives that don't exist should you would raise gas prices and obscene amount and put people on the streets?

          I live in a small rural town where everybody commutes to their factory job and is already barely scraping by. What do you think all those people should do to stave off being homeless when they can't afford to drive?

          • mondoman712@lemmy.ml
            hexagon
            ·
            6 months ago

            I think the alternatives should be good enough that raising gas prices isn't a problem.

            • Mac@mander.xyz
              ·
              6 months ago

              Please tell me your plan to collect all of the people spread across half of a state who commute to a central location.

              Mobility enables poor people. Not all poor people live in an idealistic 15-minute city.

              • mondoman712@lemmy.ml
                hexagon
                ·
                6 months ago

                I don't think rural living makes sense if you're also commuting. Small towns can have good transport links to other nearby towns but I don't think it makes sense to support those who decide they want to live beyond the practical reach of public services just for the sake of it.

                • Mac@mander.xyz
                  ·
                  6 months ago

                  I understand that you're doing a thought experiment about futuristic utopias but I am talking about the current situation right now and a comment that started this chain.

                  People live in rural areas whether you think they should or not and raising gas prices to reduce car travel disproportionately affects those people.

                  Now, if there was some way for poor people to get fuel credits or something so that they're empowered with mobility maybe that would work.

                  We also should probably not make farming any harder than it already is.

                  • mondoman712@lemmy.ml
                    hexagon
                    ·
                    6 months ago

                    It's not a utopia, it's perfectly possible if we work towards it.

                    And I said

                    live beyond the practical reach of public services just for the sake of it.

                    Specifically to exclude farmers

              • Cethin@lemmy.zip
                ·
                6 months ago

                There are other places in the world who do this much better than the US. How about instead of assuming it's impossible because you haven't seen it you consider that it is, in fact, possible but the image has been designed to make it appear impossible by those benefiting from it not being done.

                Also, choosing to live away from work is a choice. Suburbia is a choice, and actually one that costs more money in taxes than it makes over time, requiring it to continue to expand or admit it doesn't work. You can choose to live closer, or even choose to bike to a bus stop/train station/whatever that is positioned reasonably if things weren't designed around making car and gas company executives rich.

                • space_comrade [he/him]
                  ·
                  6 months ago

                  Also, choosing to live away from work is a choice.

                  Uh no in fact it's absolutely not a fucking choice for most people.

                  • Cethin@lemmy.zip
                    ·
                    6 months ago

                    Yes it is. It always is. There may be a premium, but there's a cost to car ownership and usage as well, but also more importantly there's taxes we all pay to keep rural or suburban life possible. Suburbs actually take more on taxes than they produce. The problem is that cost is socialized, which is fine if more costs were socialized.

                    • space_comrade [he/him]
                      ·
                      edit-2
                      6 months ago

                      Yes it is. It always is.

                      No it just fucking isn't. You really think every place of work magically has dozens of free apartments close to it and you can just hop to a different one every time you change jobs? What fucking fantasy land do you live in?

                • Mac@mander.xyz
                  ·
                  6 months ago

                  Suburbia? Thanks for showing you have no idea what I'm talking about.

      • delirious_owl@discuss.online
        ·
        6 months ago

        You have bikes and busses. Everyone does.

        Of course the increase tax on carbon would directly fund giving poor people free bus tickets and bicycle maintenance

        • Mac@mander.xyz
          ·
          6 months ago

          Bikes and buses are great if you go from one central location to another central location.

          Do you know how long bus routes are in rural counties? Imagine the logistics of trying to collect all the adults that want to get to work.