It's unsustainable to be a liberal in the US
As far as my political inclinations are concerned, I always thought that I belonged on the liberal end of the political spectrum. I identify with several of the key liberal viewpoints on the environment, working conditions, tax policy, employee benefits/treatment and community based economics.
However, I believe that its unsustainable to be a liberal in the US. Let me explain ...
1. Pollution
Liberals hate SUV's for being gas guzzling monsters. And so they buy small cars, fuel efficient cars, like a Beetle. Which is great because it consumes about 1/3rd the gas that an SUV does. But the problem is the number of miles driven ! If you really want to save the world from global warming, you have to reduce the total number of gallons of gas consumed.
For example, the average American car was driven 12,100 miles. In France, it was 7,200 miles. So, even the US Beetle driver used 68% more gas than the average French driver. And the US SUV driver - 366% !!
The way things are structured in the US - Huge highways, suburbia, lack of public transportation make it impossible for an American to drive less than they do currently.
2. Public Transportation
There is immense clamour among Liberals for enhanced public transportation and that does seem to make sense given the gas problems that the country faces ...
I live in Raleigh, North Carolina and we do have a public bus system with about 24 routes. I used this system quite a bit when I didnt have a car, but I always found it amazing that we never had more than 3-4 people on the bus - Which makes it worse than a car !
Of course there are cities with great public transportation - NYC, Chicago (to an extent), SFO, Seattle ... But for a large majority of smaller cities, public transportation is going to be a tough sell.
3. Respect for other nations
And if you are of the belief that war is something that should be a last resort, if you think that you should have the utmost respect for other nations in the world, being in the US definitely makes it difficult for you to reconcile the country's actions with your beliefs
4. Sweatshops
As a liberal, you dont want to purchase stuff thats made in third world sweatshops ... However, theres hardly anything that you can purchase in the US that doesnt come from a sweatshop ...
5. Employee benefits
If you believe that companies should respect their employees, especially those that have stuck around for a long time, you were probably shocked by the recent declaration by United Airlines that they are not going to be able to meet their pension obligations ....
Liberals in the US practice "liberalism" in many ways - Buying organic food, buying goods with "no child labor" component, driving smaller cars. These are all good things, but in the overall scheme of their life, this is irrelevant and serves more to make them feel better. There are probably more, I'll write them in as I think of them.
However, I believe that its unsustainable to be a liberal in the US. Let me explain ...
1. Pollution
Liberals hate SUV's for being gas guzzling monsters. And so they buy small cars, fuel efficient cars, like a Beetle. Which is great because it consumes about 1/3rd the gas that an SUV does. But the problem is the number of miles driven ! If you really want to save the world from global warming, you have to reduce the total number of gallons of gas consumed.
For example, the average American car was driven 12,100 miles. In France, it was 7,200 miles. So, even the US Beetle driver used 68% more gas than the average French driver. And the US SUV driver - 366% !!
The way things are structured in the US - Huge highways, suburbia, lack of public transportation make it impossible for an American to drive less than they do currently.
2. Public Transportation
There is immense clamour among Liberals for enhanced public transportation and that does seem to make sense given the gas problems that the country faces ...
I live in Raleigh, North Carolina and we do have a public bus system with about 24 routes. I used this system quite a bit when I didnt have a car, but I always found it amazing that we never had more than 3-4 people on the bus - Which makes it worse than a car !
Of course there are cities with great public transportation - NYC, Chicago (to an extent), SFO, Seattle ... But for a large majority of smaller cities, public transportation is going to be a tough sell.
3. Respect for other nations
And if you are of the belief that war is something that should be a last resort, if you think that you should have the utmost respect for other nations in the world, being in the US definitely makes it difficult for you to reconcile the country's actions with your beliefs
4. Sweatshops
As a liberal, you dont want to purchase stuff thats made in third world sweatshops ... However, theres hardly anything that you can purchase in the US that doesnt come from a sweatshop ...
5. Employee benefits
If you believe that companies should respect their employees, especially those that have stuck around for a long time, you were probably shocked by the recent declaration by United Airlines that they are not going to be able to meet their pension obligations ....
Liberals in the US practice "liberalism" in many ways - Buying organic food, buying goods with "no child labor" component, driving smaller cars. These are all good things, but in the overall scheme of their life, this is irrelevant and serves more to make them feel better. There are probably more, I'll write them in as I think of them.
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