incidentally, I don't understand the lament of how much petrol in the UK (for instance) costs. Since most of the charge goes for taxes and those taxes prepay a good many things, including health care, why is it an "expensive gasoline" item? Somebody has to pay those costs somewhere along the line.

In the US, much of the fuel taxes goes to pay for the road system- which often is a boondoggle in itself. But it appears that we are paying at least as much as the UK in actual fuel costs.

Nicht wahr? Enlighten me.