Unfortunately, the situation in which we find ourselves these days is no laughing matter to many of us. I think it’s way beyond time for the tide to be turning. Friday night, as I drifted off to sleep with my television on, I saw a replay of Keith Olbermann’s impassioned commentary on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I had pretty much not watched any television or surfed the internet all week, as I was busy doing other things, so I was a few days late on this one. Saturday evening, I watched it again online and checked out several blogs about it -- some were full of praise, others rebuked his comments. I don’t know the specific politics of why the hole in the ground that was WTC remains as it is, but I wholeheartedly agree that it represents an open wound to this country, and that it’s especially shameful for the president and those around him to continue to attempt manipulate our collective memory of the events of 9/11 for political gain (some of the blogs I read seem to have missed this, the other point that Olbermann was making). I was moved by Olbermann’s remarks, thought he maintained professionalism in their delivery, and applaud his courage for speaking out. The whole thing made me wonder yet again why we aren’t all out in the streets making noise.
I have dreamed about making noise, which brings me to the Great Vehicular Domicile Tour 2006. This year, as spring approached and my End of Oil obsession subsided, I began to think “road trip” as I do every year around that time. Prior to the 2004 election, I had fantasized about somehow coming into a large enough sum of money (perhaps by winning the lottery -- the other American dream) which would allow me to quit my job and travel the country in a minivan equipped with a loudspeaker system, so that I could cruise down every Main Street in America spewing my thoughts about GWB. I was sure that my doing so would sway the opinion of anyone who had been previously inclined to vote for him and that my grand plan would help save the nation from those “four more years” we were so fervently being promised. Needless to say, the official results of the election that year did nothing to bring me any peace of mind (or peace to the world, but I’ll leave that subject for perhaps another day).
I don’t own a car. I hesitate to buy one because I live and work in a small town, and it seems ridiculous to me at this point to have one. In the winter, it would take me longer to dig out of the snow than it would to simply trudge to work. Walking to work is actually about the only exercise I get. I don’t object to driving. I can borrow a car if I need to, and if I really want to make a long trip by car, I can rent one. Not owning a car is sometimes inconvenient but for me, the cost of a car payment, insurance, and gas could easily work out to the absolutely silly amount of over five dollars per mile for my actual travel needs. While I occasionally enjoy being quite silly, and I’m all for stimulating the economy, anyone with as little as half of W’s brain should still be able to wrap it all the way around what I'm saying. Cars serve (in part) to stimulate overconsumption, not only of fossil fuels, but of every other product in the world. One possible equation (true in my case) is something like this:
Advertising + Time + Mobility/Accessibility = Excessive Consumer Spending
These days, I’m making somewhat of an attempt to be about downsizing in my life. I’m far from perfect about it, but I’m working at it. And I’m better off not being able to shop as easily.
Now, back to the tour. This year, the combination of spring road trip fever and coming down from my End of Oil craze had me thinking that for me to consume my personal share of whatever fossil fuels remain on this planet for one last glorious overpriced oil-fed road trip extravaganza (my right to that excessive share having been granted to me, an American citizen, by W himself, I think) would not necessarily be wrong, as long as it was done for good reason. Thus, the Great Vehicular Domicile Tour 2006 was conceived. I dreamed of buying a minivan, maybe the used one I saw for sale every day as I walked to work (so as not to boost the profits of any automaker), and hitting the road. I’d bring along a dog for companionship, live in the van (get it?) and carpet bomb the country with flyers (what's a little wasted paper?) telling people to wake up and smell the four dollar cup of coffee (fair trade, if at all possible) about what is going on in the world beyond the WalMart at the edge of town. I would roll across America blasting the word from my bullhorn. Everyone whose path I crossed would see the light. The tour would be well-publicized, of course. I’d have a blog about it, an entire web site dedicated to video clips of and testimony by all the converts I’d created -- ordinary Americans who would pledge to vote to roll back those tantalizing tax cuts in the future (the ones they were tricked into believing made a real difference in the quality of their lives), all for the cause! To top it all off, I'd work in some way to help homelesss people (there's the domicile tie-in again) and I’d spread the message of Peak Oil. No matter that the van would surely get lousy gas mileage and I’d be hastening the demise of the planet, it was a recycled vehicle, and I would be on the fantasy mission of a lifetime.
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Many years ago I owned a 1979 Honda Civic which I drove all over the country. I seem to recall that it got around 40 MPG/highway, actual gas mileage, air conditioning and all. It’s been awhile, but I don’t believe I’m making that up. Really, can anyone tell me what all of those engineers have been doing for the past quarter of a century or so?
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Now is as good a time as any to mention my hood latch compulsion. About twenty years ago, after picking my car up from a repair shop, my hood flew all the way open in some fairly heavy traffic when I reached a speed of 45 mph or so because it hadn't been closed properly. It was a very frightening experience. For what I'm guessing was at least ten years after that I would frequently feel the urge to check the security of my car's hood, while I was driving and by pulling on the interior hood release! I'm happy to report that I'm over that one.
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