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Let Them Eat Cake - A Fellow TACH'er Responds


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  • SEE ALSO: Let Them Eat Cake Editorial
  • Here are the comments of a fellow TACH'er concerning the "Let Them Eat Cake" Editorial

    Bob,

    All I can say is a big AMEN!

    I wish I too knew why. Our country has lost its collective will to succeed. All we care about is our creature comforts. I'm old enough (53) to remember JFK and our goal of "putting a man on the moon in *this* decade." We've lost all that, for some reason. Perhaps it's just too many wars, too many scandals, too many corrupt politicians that we just can't seem to get rid of (see Clinton).

    I agree the solution is right in front of our faces. And, if we don't put the effort in today (not next week or next year, or God forbid, next decade) we may never get past this horrendous addiction to oil. It's hard for me to believe that all of our so-called leaders are that corrupt or in the pay of big oil (I'm a little pollyannish too).

    However, a big problem is change. It's easier for most folks to just keep going in the same direction. They're afraid of losing what they have (especially their nice salary or investments) and so, it's easier to just get up in the morning and do the same thing. Change is scary. What happens if it doesn't work? What happens if I can't get a job making $250k per year? And, that eventually comes down to the folks buying the cars who aren't making $250k and can't afford a $30,000 hybrid.

    Could our gov help solve this problem? Absolutely. If we had a leader who could put two words together in a sentence and had the vision of what needed to be done. Take that $200 BILLION we're spending in Iraq and spend it on changing the infrastructure. Will folks need help purchasing their first hybrid (until they too come down to $11,000), yes. Do it. You want to juice the economy, replace EVERY non-hybrid car. You want to continue driving your 10mpg gas guzzler? No problem, gas is now $20/gallon (there's your taxes), good luck.

    Will this happen? (This is where I get realistic.) Sorry, I don't think so. Don't forget, inertia is Newton's first law of motion. Do I continue to hope? Absolutely!

    Thank you again for a well written, well thought out editorial. And, in closing, I'm sure you're aware of this but just in case, Marie Antoinette probably never said "let them eat cake." What she (again, probably) said was "well, they can eat cake, can't they?"

    Phil M
    Hillsborough, NC