Look At What They Think Of You

High gas prices are good for you--because so many of the hillbillies won't be able to afford anything!

What if gas hit $5 a gallon? Here are some benefits (and we're serious about most of them):

Fewer people would die on the road...
(No driving at all would solve that. Why not advocate for that?)

Demand for high-mileage cars could grow...
(Why is this automatically a good thing?)

Shorter security lines. Airlines fares are extremely fuel-price reactive. Soon, hardly anyone will be able to afford to fly willy-nilly around the country or globe. You will breeze through the maze of airport checkpoints.
(Don't you love the condescension in that one?)

Less pollution...
(Lots of things would lead to less pollution, but...you get the point.)

Less congestion. Ever notice how well rush-hour freeway traffic flows on the minor holidays when most of the rest of us are working? A 2% drop in miles driven can make a big difference, allowing you to drive faster, although you now won't want to...
(Only important people will be able to afford to drive?)

High prices lead to lower prices. Mackubin Thomas Owens, a professor of national-security affairs at the Naval War College and the editor of Orbis, the journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, theorizes that if gas prices rise enough, the government will open up areas now closed to oil production and oil companies will be able to invest in more-expensive methods of extracting oil. Soon we will be drowning in the stuff, and prices will drop again.
(Why not just open those areas now, then?)

More exercise. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that by 2020, three out of four Americans will be categorized as overweight or obese. So, it can't hurt to walk the three blocks to the grocery or bike to school or work...
(People can do that now, if they wanted to. You'd rather compel them?)

End of wars.
(There were no wars before oil. And how much oil is in Afghanistan?)

Local businesses could profit. If you can't afford to drive out to Wal-Mart or Home Depot, you may be buying instead at the local supermarket or neighborhood hardware store...
(Where you would pay more than at Wal-Mart.)

It's all about democracy.
(That's a classic.)

Should driving be one of those things reserved only for people who can afford to pay a lot for it? Something for the "haves" only? This was clearly written by someone who looks down on the "common", working American. It was probably not written by a political conservative.