[Mr 5 0]

Originally Posted by 82 GT

Your're forgetting that high gas prices affect everything else.
No, just the fact that gas is $3.50/gallon won't cause riots but factor in the the higher cost to heat homes, prices for goods bought in stores because companys charge more to to ship it there so the store raises their prices to offset the difference.
You're not seeing the whole picture.

Oh, I see the 'Big Picture' quite clearly. That's why I said that the government will not allow gas prices to rise to obscene levels. You are not the only one to realize that would have a very negative impact on our entire economy. Even now, the feds are dicusssing a moratorium on the federal gas tax and my state's governor is talking about suspending the state gas tax. Together, those taxes add about 55 cents to every gallon of gas. Dropping htem will make a big difference.

Higher gas prices cause a domino effect on the economy which will cause the stealing, siphoning and crime that I talked about earlier. Just remember, $3+/gallon might still be affordable to most upper class and middle class people but the people who really suffer are the lower class and poor.

Yes, just as higher food or clothing prices and an increase in cable rates will always affect the poor a lot more than the middle and upper economic classes. This is a fact of economic life. If you are 'poor' (a relative term, in America) and especially on a 'fixed income', any rise in retail prices will be noticed and you may 'suffer', another relative term in America, where 'poor' means having a car, two color TV sets and air conditioning. Not quite the same as being 'poor' in, say, the Sudan or even Afghanistan. But I digress.

Maybe the Mad Max syndrome might be a little far fetched but a more realistic prediction would be that someday there won't be a "middle class". You will either be rich or poor. No more "in the middle". The rich continue to get richer and the poor get poorer.

Not quite so. Generally, household incomes have been rising steadily for many years in the U.S.A. Most of America falls into the 'middle class' of the economic strata. There is 'lower'-middle class, 'midddle'-middle-class and 'upper'-middle class but the general 'class' comprises probably well over 2/3rds of the nations population - and drives the economy. Rich people - by themselves - don't make the economy run, the 'middle class' - average Americans - do. We are not about to disappear just because gas prices go up, I assure you.

[QUOTE]I consider myself middle class and I'll be the first to admit that I'm "feeling" these high gas prices.[/QUOTE}

Everyone does. You are not unique.

I guess if you're wealthy, judging from your attitude and "matter of fact" responses, you have nothing to worry about.

I wish. I simply am not about to get hysterical because gas prices took a big jump in a week due to situations that will eventually change.

So I guess the people that complain about the current fuel prices are just peons in your eyes...huh?
You're probably one of those guys that owns a Hummer and spends $75-$100 a week on fuel and thinks nothing of it.
When you pump $25 worth of fuel and only get 7 gallons of gas, that's bullcrap and you know it!

You're personal attacks here are unwarranted - and wrong.

I am not rich and I don't own a Hummer', either. I simply do not share your fears and frustrations because I can figuratively see past the next 24 hours and realize that gas prices are important but that they will not remain where they are and that we are not all going to end up as beggers on the street because gas went up in price.

Complaining about the price of gas is a national pasttime and hardly qualifies as something significent that will change America and destroy our way of life, as you seem to think. That is irrational and if you wish to state such things here, expect to be contradicted.