Monday, June 02, 2008

The Push for Poverty

Recently, there has been an increasing push to impoverish Americans. This has occurred under the guise of conservation.

The term 'conservation' is used in more than one way. If is means reducing waste, it is laudable. But people hardly need to be harangued to do this, since eliminating waste means saving money.

The other meaning of 'conservation' is using less. It's fine if people voluntarily chose to do this. But they should not be forced or guilt-tripped into doing so. This is exactly what is occurring in the name of protecting the environment, fighting global warming, and saving energy.

How dare you have an SUV? You should drive a tiny compact car! How dare you drive by yourself? You should carpool! How dare you have your own car? You should ride public transportation! Or bike! Or walk!

A recent 'public service' advertisement suggested that listeners "just turn out the lights". Do you have any idea how much toil and tribulation it took for mankind to turn on the lights? What a monumental achievement it was?

Now we're being told that "we'll never have two-dollar gas again". Why not? The historical trend has been for prices of goods and services to decline due to increases in productivity and new supplies. Why should energy be different?

If prices are increasing, there's a good chance that government is to blame. And so it is. We can have cheap energy again.

We're not running out of oil. Malthus and Ehrlich were wrong. The prices of resources decline over time due to new discoveries.

Whenever Congress discusses energy these days, its goal is to stop people from using it, rather than produce more.

Why? It's the influence of environmentalists. Their goal isn't to 'save the Earth', it's to impoverish, eliminate, or even kill as many people as possible. (Please read the linked quotes!)

The environmentalists should be rejected. There's nothing wrong with wanting to drive a big car, have lights in your house, and have whatever conveniences you can afford to buy. The price system rations people's desires.

Reject the push for poverty. Don't turn out the lights.

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