Thursday, April 24, 2008

HOLY WTFERY. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MAD THIS MAKES ME....


WARNING: RANT AHEAD.

Okay, WTF is this????

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=7515797

And in case that link doesn't work:
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2421486

NBC.com posted this stupid piece of shit on Yahoo! reporting on how the rising prices of gasoline are affecting Americans' way of life...so much so, apparently, that NBC is reporting they are picking gas over food.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Now, I try not to stand on my soap box if I can help it, because, inevitably, someone will throw something at my head and call me a sanctimonious hypocrite since I live in North America (Canada) and must, therefore, somehow be living the same lifestyle I am criticizing. Let me go on to say I do not own a car; I also live in a big city, and bring my own reusable bags to the grocery store. I eat meat, and exhale carbon dioxide. And true, sometimes, I like to buy shoes I'll only wear twice...so maybe I'm not the paragon of virtue worthy of ranting....

But I digress. And this report still makes me mad.

Roughly, the story is this: coverage of rising gas prices has elicited e-mails from dumbshit viewers who are angry about the things they have to give up so they can fill their SUVs and pickup trucks.

"You can imagine the sacrifices Americans are having to make to afford gas at that price," says the reporter, who leads with an interview from November 2007 with one man who claims he has had to cut down on the number of times he takes his family to church services--at a church 35 to 40 miles away--because of the rise in fuel prices. The reporter's summation was that rising gas prices had affected his family's relationship with God.

Okay, 1) what the hell is he doing driving 40 miles to church? I am sure you can find a place of worship much closer. God won't punish you for it. And there is nothing wrong with taking the bus!

2) If your faith is being affected by something as worldly and mundane as gas prices, you need to revisit your religion and ask yourself what the real deal is, because as forgiving as deities are, I'm pretty sure "I'm too cheap to pray and believe at home" is not an excuse.

The most ironic things about this one interview? The man is driving an SUV.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

But the WTFery doesn't end there:

"I have had to cut back on after-school activities because I cannot afford to take them or pay for the activities anymore," writes V. Smith.


Now, this may not be a case of dumbshitedness on behalf of a viewer--I blame an utter lack of context for this quote if it has been misinterpreted by the reporter, who seemed to go out of her way to not ask any questions or do any interviews.

In fact, extracurricular activities do cost money sometimes...and time and gas, both of which are in short supply and high in cost for the modern American these days.

But doesn't that just point to the fact that the education system and the government is failing to provide enough funding and resources to schools so that children can expand their life experiences in simple things like soccer games, field trips, art classes and music lessons? What happened to giving our kids the best start in life?

The report gets even better...

"Some people even say that they are changing their diets, cutting down on costly prescription drugs, or walking instead of driving to their local grocery store. All in hopes of saving money on gasoline."


1) Changing their diets, huh? You mean, no more scarfing down Big Macs from the drive-thru every night? Dude, what does a change in diet even mean? Are they changing for the better? Eating more fruits and veggies, say? Or are they being forced to eat more fast food? Or are they eating their own kin now? This is just bad reporting--a non sequitur, at best.

2) Cutting down on prescription drugs: I'm sure someone more educated than I could go on about how a complete and utter lack of national health care has basically generated this problem. But I'm not that smart. I am, however, just perceptive enough to see gas prices are not the reason why prescription drugs are expensive: it's the pharmaceutical companies who make the prices for life-saving drugs stupidly high. I might also add that choosing to fill up your car's gas tank over, say, getting your next hit of insulin to control your diabetes...probably a bad choice to make.

3) Walking to your local grocery store? THE HORROR!!! How else will I get to show off my phallic status symbol, if not to the SUV-driving soccer moms who can barely afford to take their kids to practice?

But let's move on from this WTFery, shall we?

"It's a burden for many of families, but especially for the little ones...."


OH, WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!

"...As Barabara Hatfield writes: 'It's not fair to have to tell your children that we have to eat a much smaller meal this evening or skip breakfast because we had to buy gas.'"


ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
Seriously. SERIOUSLY???
"Sorry, Billy, no second helping for you--Mommy needs to drive to work."
Lady, your priorities are totally messed up. LET YOUR KIDS EAT. What does an apple cost these days? Certainly not $4.00 a gallon.

Okay, just to be fair and not some liberal elitist neophyte pundit who obviously doesn't know what she's talking about and knows nothing about the working class, maybe this woman is in dire straits: maybe she can't get to her job because she lives on the outskirts of town and makes less than minimum wage. Maybe she drives a cab for a living. Maybe public transit is so bad, only the truly desperate would use it. Maybe everyone she knows hates her and won't let her carpool. Maybe her bicycle got stolen. Maybe her EV1 was taken away. Who knows?

What I'm winding down to is that all of this is a part of a larger systemic problem rooted in the American standard-of-living mindset:

Big houses. Big cars. Sprawling suburban residential neighborhoods that are not pedestrian friendly, include no local small businesses to supplement regular household necessities, thus making a car not a luxury, but a necessity unto itself.

People, this is wrong.

It's not a crime to not own a car, or live in denser cities, or have jobs and places of recreation you can walk to. It's not a crime to want to have a lifestyle that doesn't include driving everywhere you go; or even driving a smaller, more efficient and, dare I say, eco-friendly alternative energy vehicles.

What is a crime is thinking we have some god-given right to have everything we have without sacrificing something. And I'm not just talking about the out-of-pocket costs that make us decide to buy KD for dinner instead of fresh vegetables to make a salad because KD fills you up better and is a cheaper deal than perishable foods. There are economic, political and environmental costs. Costs that, though they may not seem evident at first, will come to kick you hard in the ass, and even harder in the wallet at a later date.

Now ask yourself: What are the REAL sacrifices Americans are making so they can afford gas?


Disclaimer: this is not a reflection of my views on all Americans--just the stupid ones. I might add there are plenty of equally stupid Canadians and others around the world.

2 comments:

celestialspeedster said...

I totally agree with you. My only consolation is that these idiots will either be forced to isolate themselves at home or they will die off due to starvation. A far fetched third option is that they will grow a brain and try something new. All options are positive in my view.

Flocons said...

I agree with all your points, Vicki. I've got a rant of my own, which ironically puts me into the pro-car camp:

TTC go screw yourselves