No idea about this. I drive a Honda Civic in the US, and hardly notice gas prices. I’m much more concerned about food prices, rent prices, and unemployment rate.
My bike doesn’t take gas, and (for now) my bus pass costs the same as it did before my government’s latest bout of war crimes in Iran started.
your bike does take gas. has your grocery bill seemed to have gotten bigger?
Fair enough, but I have some bike fuel reserves under my epidermis that I was hoping to unload anyway.
In all seriousness, this is a bad situation for everyone. But I still consider myself lucky to have a car free life right now.
Spin it any way you want, stores are supplied by gas guzzlers
I want fossil fuels extinct, for the second time.
Honestly when Americans chime in about anything going on in the world. When I hear an American complaining about another country or their actions, I just want Americans to sit down or go fix their own dumpster fire. I
Baby needs to be thrown out with the bathwater. It was a fun project, but at some point everyone needs to cut their losses, and accept that uncontrolled capitalism is not it.
Too many people here still think the problem is just Trump. They might temporarily agree with you but I guarantee if we get some shill like Newsom as our president in 2029 most people will go back to sleep.
I’m afraid things will have to get much worse here for the average suburbanite before they realize the dumpster is even on fire.
The meme captures the absolute frustration in Europe and the rest of the world for our spiralling costs. Costs arising directly from the elected President illegally attacking Iran, without discussing with anyone but Israel.
We’re not arguing who has the greater car / truck dependency. But for those still wanting to pursue the point, don’t forget that Europeans pay considerably more taxes for our public services and so more tax now too.
This is true, but the risks of the oil economy have been known for a very long time. Everybody knows that the oil/auto fuel supply chain is in areas with fragile geopolitical relations and it’s not like this hasn’t happened before.
What we should be doing is channeling our frustration toward transitioning from ICE automobiles to EVs[1], but look at how slowly European carmakers are adapting. The rate of change in Germany has been embarrassingly slow and China is galaxies ahead of anyone else. We need to invest and compete, rather than throwing up our hands and blaming others for fucking up things we shouldn’t be depending on anymore.
[1]: and improving public transit too of course
I’m not really convinced China is that far ahead of everyone else in the EV market. Sure, they have cheap cars, but is the quality better? I haven’t tried a lot, but to me it seems the quality and features are pretty much the same as european, japanese or south korean. I just bought a Japanese car, because the BYD that was comparable but cheaper just felt like a toy car. Everything about the interior just felt like cheap plastic. The infotainment screen was a mess, and I had to go into 3 (3!) submenus to turn on the heated seats.
I’m not convinced the chinese cars are better. They’re comparable and cheap, but it’s not like they offer something no one else does.
How do you do, fellow non-Americans!? Colour me gobsmacked at the euros I’m paying when I procure my petrol (by the liter! this is non-negotiable) to fill my tiny aluminium moped.
Have at it bro, you guys elected a diaper-wearing moron for the SECOND TIME because of the price of eggs 😅
Shaming someone for wearing diapers, which is in and of itself completely harmless, and not for the fact that their government is sending minorities into concentration camps and burning the planet down hurts people who wear diapers that survive like you and me much more than it hurts the addressee.
You have to say quart instead of liter or they don’t get it. It’s close enough.
I say, good looking out, ol’ chap! Yeer a good laddie!
Which of the gases are European’s paying more than Americans? Is it Argon? Don’t they know it’s stored in the bulbs? It’s basically free.
I’d happily pay European-level taxes on my gas if my taxes didn’t purely fund war and keeping the rich in power
I’d pay those taxes if the dumb wars ended, we did not have a scammy healthcare system, and a public safety net that actually functioned well plus not having to use fucking middle men to pay my goddamn taxes every year…
I’d happily pay European-level taxes on my gas if I had literally any alternative to driving in my area.
I’d happily pay european-level taxes on my gas if we had the same amount of affordable electric alternatives.
Which country doesn’t do that?
Europeans don’t have to drive to survive the way most Americans do.
There are more European countries than the Netherlands.
The distances the average american has drive is greater than that of the average european
Sure. Doesn’t mean that there aren’t millions upon millions of Europeans who spend more than 1-2 hours per day in their cars.
Well it’s about time we fix that, isn’t it?
Ah yes goods and supplies don’t have to come by truck. They can just public transport themselves to the supermarket.
don’t forget the postal delivery pony
Depends. In cities no. In rural areas or small villages, often yes.
Im also european but even in rural areas you tend to not have to drive american distances as often. Americans often consider anything below 3h drive a short drive (crazy right?)
But then that goes for America too.
I guess? Most American cities have extremely poor public transport. NY and Chicago are okay but in most of Europe any place with more than 50-100k people will at least have a tram system and regional trains, maybe even a metro. It’s just when you get down to places with only a few thousand or a few hundred people, then the bus to town might only come once in the morning and once at night or something like that.
It’s not like all European towns have perfect public transit. We have plenty of places without a busline too. I agree it’s not to the extent of the USA, but here in Denmark we have a lot of smaller communities that simply don’t have busses, because they’re not directly sandwiched between two bigger cities.
Yes that’s basically what I was saying, that in small places the options can be very limited. I don’t know about Denmark but where I have lived (France, Germany, Switzerland) and visited, without literally any bus at all is still somewhat uncommon.
no, in Statesia most cities don’t have functional public transit
Try living in the alps, for just one instance.
Scandinavians drive a lot
Yes we do.
A crass misunderstanding, but sure, if its what you think.
Of course, excuse me while I take the monorail into town to do the weekly shop.
Oh no, if it isn’t the consequences of everyone’s collective actions
Yeah, fuck that guy for not being born in a different place or having the socioeconomic standing to pack up their entire life and move to a better place. He deserves to be miserable for other people’s collective actions!
Lack of empathy for people who inherited their forebearers mistakes is not a desirable character trait.
The consequences of what exactly? Living in a really big country with a much lower population density than Europe?
That’s such a nonsense argument. 80% of the US lives in an urban area. That has plenty of options for walkable neighborhoods with public transportation. The reason that those don’t exist are active policy choices that people have voted for and keep voting for.
Have you even been to the US? Even most of the urban areas have horrible public transit and even worse infrastructure for biking.
Maybe get off your high horse and engage in reality.
Maybe vote for somebody who will give you better public transport and cycling infrastructure.
I think that’s exactly what that person is saying though. There is plenty of opportunity for good public infrastructure, but bad policy and auto lobbies have prevented them from happening. A good example is how most neighborhoods are not allowed to be located with businesses/shops/restaurants, and vice versa. This simple change would make so much more of the country more walkable
The shitty thing is before WW2, America had some of the best public and most profitable transportation infrastructure in the world. American railroad tycoons were some of the most wealthy individuals in the nation for a time even and before that it was steamboat tycoons. As you say auto lobbyist ruined it all unfortunately and AmTrak is a sad excuse of what’s left.
To this day, the boomers in my life tell me that “freight trains in the US are the envy of the world.” Ok, great, but it would be nice if it was usable in daily life
Living in a country under laws written by oil corporations, in cities whose public transportation was privatized and destroyed by car manufacturers.
Yes… I’m occasionally sorry I was born too. Thanks for that.
I just answered the question. IDK why you’d take that as a personal attack.
Yes but no. What you say came later.
It’s easy to be cynical and point your finger at the corporations and politicians. They certainly play their role in the problem, but placing blame solely on them is really uninformed.
People in the US are spread way the hell out. It’s difficult for lower population areas to institute mass transit that is economically viable due to the low density and distances involved.
And as far as major urban areas with really high population densities? Not everyone who works in a large city lives there. Some people travel 1-2 hours one-way to make more money in the city and live somewhere much more affordable in the suburbs. It’s very hard to effectively service all of the suburban areas that surround large cities.
Bottom line, it’s as much of a logistical problem as any other reason.
Commuting from the suburbs to the city center is a perfect use case for advanced high-capacity public transportation. It’s something that most cities on earth manage, the US could too.
Also this isn’t theoretical. The deliberate prevention of new and in some cases destruction of existing public transportation in the US to increase car dependency is well-documented.
The pressing question is: why must public transport he economical viable when its supposed to enable the economy by moving people from their homes to the working place?
Fyi, Europe is bigger
What about rail? What about EVs?
What about trading in those giant penis extensions you drive for something more fuel efficient?
I have to drive 32 miles (~51 km) one way to my job and there is no public transit anywhere around here.
I don’t generally complain to Europeans about anything at all.
Should try to convince people that it’s less expensive to drive in Yarp because they buy liters of petrol instead of gallons of gas.
I’ve suggested this for ages to sell people on metric. Gas sounds cheaper per liter (smaller number), you weigh less in kg, etc. I don’t know why gas stations aren’t all over this with their shady marketing and 9/10 of a cent pricing.
Americans drive more so pay more, even when prices are higher in Europe
The average American drives twice as far as the typical European (16,000 vs 8,000).
