On Thu, 9 Nov 1995 Steve Johnson drunkenly gasped:
>So Joel Walker tripped over a possum and regurgitated:
>> ok. a today-car costs about the same as a year's wages.
>> gee ... in the 1950's, a car cost about a 1950's year's wages.
>> funny thing about that. :)
>
>Yes, well those of us think in real time and not on AMD time... ;p well, ahem,

wellll ... i thought 1950 was real. :)

>control which we all know is mostly a form of consumer blackmail.  Especially

well, of course, silly! after all, who pays for everything?? the consumer!
(also known in various disguises as: The Public, The Taxpayer, and The General
Population). we always have and we always will.

now, as to "blackmail" ... well, i don't know. i mean, it's not like they're
gonna tell everyone about Steve and that chicken last summer if he doesn't
buy a new car ...  and like someone else said about Exxon and the other oil
companies: "we" create the "demand" ... if we all rode bicycles, then the
states/cities/governments would start figuring ways to tax bikes, or to put
some silly regulation that says you have to have Nitrogen or Cardon Dioxide
in your tires instead of "air".

and if we were still riding horses, think of all the pollution-preventing
devices the poor horse would have to wear!!! :)

>here in California where the fees are beyond ridiculus.  Then, the cost
>for a new car is outrageous when the above stated 'improvements' start to

oh, i agree the cost is outrageous. i think the cost was outrageous back in
1950 ... next to a house, an automobile is the most expensive thing you'll
ever buy. but it is also one of the most useful machines you can have.

and the psychology involved in the ownership and driving of a car is what the
car companies depend upon. the freedom of movement, access to far away places
in reasonable amounts of time, are just too addictive to the average person.

which is also why there are such large differences between countries/societies
and cultures round the world ... americans are primarily automobile-conscious
folks. other people are more mass-transit oriented, or even pedestrian ...
can you imagine how different your life would be if you lived within walking
distance of your work, your grocery store, and ALL the places you needed to
go???

joel