gas boycott

Subject: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 13 Apr 99 - 01:30 AM

I saw it here first. I think a couple of days ago one of our lady folkies mentioned a gas boycott on the 30th of April. A noble idea I thought but never fly. Well, today I got email from a friend in Northern Ohio that was almost verbatim of what was expressed here. Point? I'm relatively new to computers (about 10 months now) but this and other tidbits show me there is a power here to change things in ways we've never imagined. From gas prices to pointless wars in far away places. Put me down as supporting the gas out on the 30th. Let's see what we can pull off.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: hank
Date: 13 Apr 99 - 08:41 AM

Well, with all respect to the fact that this is off topic, and not everyone agrees with the message. Gas is cheeper then water (depening on the name on the label, and your location) If you want to make a different you need to change your habbits, not the oil companies. On my way to work this morning we were commenting on the people driving their recycles to the end of the driveway as being against the spirit. (100 foot/30m driveways) If you continue to use gas your not going to change anything. Personally I belive in ethanol, but it isn't avaiable everywhere.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 13 Apr 99 - 02:17 PM

Hank we had an ethynal plant up river. when they took away the requirement to put alcohol in our gas it went belly up. The market prevails. Folks will get what they want in an open market as well it should be.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: northfolk/al cholger
Date: 14 Apr 99 - 12:18 AM

FYI California just banned MTBE, and all gas will have ethynol, think you don't have, or can't get power?, you are wrong...I have witnessed 50 years of change...all of it caused by one person talking to another....

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 14 Apr 99 - 06:44 AM

Thx Northfolk, At 51 I agree. There has been much change, some for the better, ditto the worse. thanks for your reply

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: tomtom
Date: 14 Apr 99 - 01:26 PM

I just don't understand the complaints about gas prices. Everywhere else in the world, gas is around 4 times as expensive as it is here, and as a result, they drive more fuel-efficient cars and comsume less gasoline in general. Instead of a one-day boycott to protest the "high price" of gasoline, why not a once a week boycott to limit your own consumption. I say, tax the hell out of gasoline, and booze and cigarettes, too.

tomtom drinker & smoker

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Bert
Date: 14 Apr 99 - 01:51 PM

I think we should tax the government.

Only elected officials, Government emplyees and contractors should be taxed.
THEY are the ones who SPEND IT ALL.

Bert.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Bob Schwarer
Date: 14 Apr 99 - 05:02 PM

What do you consider "Tax the hell out of" to be? Bob S.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: tomtom
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 09:08 AM

I'm just making a general comment about what seems to me to be the prevailing attitude of most Americans. Of course, that's a generalization, but I find myself getting shouted out by friends and neighbors more often than I would like. I don't like to pay taxes. And I don't think the government spends our money wisely. And it pisses me off to think about these slime-balls that we elect to office rolling around in our hard-earned money. And I do my small part to fight what I think are injustices. I'm a conscientious objector to the Virginia State Personal Property Tax, aka Car Tax--haven't paid it in almost four years--because I think it's a crock. And it could get me in trouble. As much as I hate paying taxes, there are many necessary programs, institutions, etc that these taxes pay for. Why not place a high sales tax on cigs and booze, as opposed to high tax on other things we actually need, like food or clothes? Of course, there's no assurance that a high tax on cigs and booze would correspond with a lowering of any other tax, but to fight these "bad habit" taxes seems like misdirected energy to me. There's more important issues to think about than fighting for the right to harm yourself for cheap. And again, I drink and smoke. As far as gasoline goes, I think our consumption as a nation is so high because the cost of gas is so low. People drive to visit their next door neighbors. People drive to take their garbage out. Not only does it choke up the air, but it has made us a country of unhealthy fat people (another generalization). Walking is good. And I do have a car. And I do drive to work everyday. But I try to be reasonable. And if it cost more to fill up my tank, I would probably be even more reasonable. That's all. Sorry to go on and on tomtom

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Bert
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 11:38 AM

Why pick on cigarettes and booze? Why not tax sugar and cooking oil and coffee? They do just as much, if not more harm to our health.

Or better still let's make a list of everything harmful to us and our environment and tax all of those things.

There's also: Paper, Air Conditioning, Formaldehyde, Fluoride, Chlorine, Pesticides, Defoliants...The list goes on and on.

But you could just tax 'paper' alone and get enough money to run ten countries:-)

Bert.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 12:56 PM

A LOT OF GOOD POINTS BY ALL HERE, THANKS FOR THE INPUT ALL. Yes, when I lived in Germany I really paid through the nose for gas and yes we really get bargain prices here. As for taxes I am paying to damn many of them. The price of booze and cigarettes is already through the roof because of taxes. Right now, I am being denied a passport because my son would not behave in my house, left to go to his mother's, who promptly put him on welfare and got him a medical card. Thus, they charged me with child support. You are paying for this too folks. Give me my money. I won't buy bombs and missles with it, I won't give it to lazy people, I won't pay hundreds of thousands of government workers to create needless paper work ( and saving countless trees in the process). I will create jobs by spending it on tangible things that really works. 'nuff said I reckon

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 01:10 PM

A LOT OF GOOD POINTS BY ALL HERE, THANKS FOR THE INPUT ALL. Yes, when I lived in Germany I really paid through the nose for gas and yes we really get bargain prices here. As for taxes I am paying to damn many of them. The price of booze and cigarettes is already through the roof because of taxes. Right now, I am being denied a passport because my son would not behave in my house, left to go to his mother's, who promptly put him on welfare and got him a medical card. Thus, they charged me with child support. You are paying for this too folks. Give me my money. I won't buy bombs and missles with it, I won't give it to lazy people, I won't pay hundreds of thousands of government workers to create needless paper work ( and saving countless trees in the process). I will create jobs by spending it on tangible things that really works. 'nuff said I reckon

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: A crank
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 01:38 PM

There are two kinds of people in the world. One group realizes that Americans are NOT overtaxed, that the vast majority of our taxes go for middle-class entitlements that most people want, and that the tiny portion that goes for welfare is sort of this little deal we have to keep American cities from looking like Calcutta. The other sort just hate paying any taxes whatsoever. They use buzzwords like "faceless bureaucrats", "government waste", and "welfare cheats" to put a philosophical face on selfishness. These are called Republicans.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 03:16 PM

yep, you're right crank. Give all the money you want to whatever cause you want, but please stay out of my back pocket. Speaking of Calcutta, my block is beginning to look like that city. The government has been buying up houses on the street for " low income housing". Most of the porches have car seats and sofas and assorted other junk sitting on them and bathless kids are turned loose at dawn until they wander in sometime at night. Yep, it's a real government utopia here.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: tomtom
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 03:35 PM

I'm sure these "bathless kids" are sorry for spoiling your view.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 15 Apr 99 - 10:10 PM

tomtom. the children are innocent victims, I have no problem with them. They are constantly in the street and like to play by a fence that is a blind spot to drivers. I spend the summer trying to ask them to stay on the sidewalk or in their yards so that I don't have to see one of the little things killed. I do have compassion. I wish their parents did but they are too busy snorting coke and getting blitzed. If that is heartless, than I am guilty.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: hank
Date: 16 Apr 99 - 09:05 AM

crank, don't pick on one party so much. They are all bad. Crypts and the Bloods, I think I'm a Crypt, but I don't know, or something like that.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: MudGuard
Date: 19 Apr 99 - 02:22 AM

Hello Crank,

I think the division of the two kinds of people is different.

Group One holds most of the US citizens
Group Two holds the rest, i.e. all the people who do not think that the USA is the only or at least the most important thing in the world!

Andreas, member of Group Two

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: bill\sables
Date: 19 Apr 99 - 05:13 PM

Sorry, I thought it said Geoff Boycott the Cricketer

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Pete M
Date: 19 Apr 99 - 05:34 PM

I always understood the basic definition of a civilization, from an anthropological point of view, is a social organisation which uses its surplus production to care for its non productive members. As has been said many times before; the US is the only country to have moved from barbarism to decadence without an intervening period of civilization.

Pete M (Group 2)

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Pete M
Date: 19 Apr 99 - 05:39 PM

Ah Bill, now if we are going to talk about really important issues, how's Kent doing in the County championships these days? England was bound to go down hill once they stopped playing an Kent wicketkeeper.

Pete M

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: The Crank
Date: 20 Apr 99 - 02:11 PM

Jawohl, Andreas. I was confining my consideration to Stateside people whining about high gas prices and high taxes -- neither of which do they have. Aber, du hast recht: I have been living in Paris and getting a much less Amerocentric view of the world -- it is very enlightening.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: hank
Date: 21 Apr 99 - 09:21 AM

Just because someone else has it worse doesn't mean you don't have it bad. I'll agree that people overlook what the goverment does. A major reason we have such high taxes is because people say "There is so much excess spending, cut a few of those programs", but everytime it is proposed to cut a bunch of programs they then say "Not that one, that is a good program, only cut the bad ones" Without realising that no matter what program you can find someone who thinks it is good. Since few people are willing to stand up and say "cut them all, including the ones that binifit me" nobody is going to cut all the excess programs. So we whine without changing things.

I don't want to say right or wrong. Just the way it is.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Pete M
Date: 21 Apr 99 - 10:05 PM

The problem Hank is in the subjective analysis of "good" / "bad" / "worse". I think you will find there is a great deal of disagreement not about which programmes should be cut because they are "bad", but with the concept of cutting any programme to save taxes. Many of us believe that taxes are a responsibility not an imposition. When we look at the US we do not see a land we would like to live in because of a low tax regime, we see a country which is the wealthiest on Earth but which has more social problems than anyone else, because of the inherently selfish nature of the society.

I don't mean to imply that all Americans are selfish, I know they are not, but generally speaking, the primacy given in the US to the rights of the individual over that of society has led to a failure to recognise that rights can only exist in conjunction with responsibilities.

Pete M

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 01:42 AM

We started this nation of ours because we protested taxes, on a modest scale compared to today. Why do we pay taxes? Well, obviously it should be for a common defense, and since the advent of automobiles and airplanes for interstate transportation. On a local level for sewage, police and fire protection and admittedly for a few other things. What it is not supposed to cover is cradle to grave welfare and make work programs for idolent people. Pete, et al, we are taxed to death. I don't mind a fair share, but come on! Almost half my income for taxes? Oh, by the way I am not a "rich" republican. My total income is around $21,000, before TAXES, I hate to fathom what they are after them.

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: MudGuard
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 04:31 AM

I don't think that the USA are the wealthiest country on Earth, my guess would be one of the emirates in the arabian area - one of those with lots of oil (petrol or however that stuff is called) where they have lots of income and relatively few people to divide it.
But this is just one more minor proof of my theory that for US citizens the USA come first in everything.... ;-)
Andreas

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 05:23 PM

Folks, I don't mind contraversary but I opened a can of worms here. A friend of mine sent me the proposed gas boycott and I passed it along after seeing mention of it here in Mudcat. All in All, it's trivial to me. I am much more concerned about my country at war and of outbreaks of mental illness such as Columbine in Colorodo. sometimes I like to stir the pooppot just for discussion, but for now Kosovo and Colorodo are legitimate concerns and I regret bringing up gas prices. Please allow me to drop this for now. It's a no winner anyway

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 22 Apr 99 - 05:52 PM

Hi Tucker. Good luck trying to drop a thread. I've tried after putting both feet in my mouth a couple of times and the darn things just keep coming back like bad pennies. (probably cause jerks like me keep adding things..like now!!) Sorry.

rick

Subject: RE: gas boycott
From: Tucker
Date: 23 Apr 99 - 12:37 AM

Kewl Rick,funny how this thing got off gas.....but maybe thats what it is, LMAO