Posted on 05/19/2008 11:43:15 AM PDT by shrinkermd
No amount of hectoring and guilt tripping of Americans is going to change that reality. The danger is real, it's not some perception caused by ignorance. And that aside, many productive citizens don't want to put up with the degradation and filth of urban living.
It's somewhat different. I'm trying to get into traditional retail banking and I can't necessarily pick the branch they want me at. I'm not going to work at Best Buy just for a shorter commute. There are banks 1 mile away and 30 miles away...gotta take the one that hires me, since so far, I have yet to even get a phone call.
How magnanimous.
The arrogance of the liberal elites never ceases to entertain.
Does anybody believe for a moment that Paul Krugman would entertain for even a millisecond the thought of Krugman himself or any of his cronies actually living in such a "pleasant, middle-class neighborhood consisting mainly of four- or five-story apartment buildings, with easy access to public transit and plenty of local shopping"?
Busybodies and harpies such as Krugman are constantly telling everybody else where to live and how to manage their pathetic and miserable little lives - but, strangely, they never seem to take their own advice...
And once drilled, it will be sold to which country?
No such neighborhood is pleasant to me.
Krugman can't come up with an original line to save his worthless life....
L
Easy to say, Paul. But Europe is a much smaller place than the US, so of course it's easier for Europeans to avoid driving.
I have Dutch friends who used to lecture me about how Americans needed to start biking to and from work. I invited them to try it. They all tried it once and found that the hills, extremes of weather, and long distances made commuting or errand-running by bike impossible.
I assume you mean they tried it here in the US?
Where specifically, if I may ask? I agree, but am just curious.
I’m from Atlanta and Krugman wouldn’t last 5 minutes on MARTA!
In the Westchester suburbs of New York City and in the suburbs of Washington DC.
Heh heh, you should have seen them dying on the hills of Westchester. It's fun to talk about taking a little 25-mile ride in Holland, something quite different in a place where there are hills. And they fairly died in DC in summer. They don't have heat like that in Europe.
Next week I have to travel to northern Virginia. I'll get to experience the daily steaming pile that my co-workers enjoy. The commute from the hotel is 15 miles and takes an hour. When I get near the building, I'll have to park in a building that is 8 blocks from the office, then cart my laptop on foot to the office. That was lots of fun last time on the ice and snow covered sidewalks. Working until at least 7 PM is a necessity to avoid just sitting in traffic for another hour. Some of my co-workers endure 3 to 4 hour commutes each way plus the crappy parking. Once at the office, the world becomes "cubicles" with inconsiderates A*holes conducting phone conversations with the speaker phone at max volume so everyone in an 80 ft radius has to hear both sides of the conversation. That's a far cry from working at my house. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to find a vacant conference room with a network connection. The only "perk" to this trip is access to a fully stocked Borders bookstore.
Hi,
Seeing as I live in Ireland, I feel somewhat qualified to give a picture of how things work over here. Cars are a vital tranport option, but many, many people commute via public transport such as trams, buses, and trains. Petrol prices are higher here as they are very heavily taxed. I live in suburbia, I am 26 and own my own home. In Ireland, there is a huge ideological belief in favour of home ownership; the vast majority of young people will live at home and save to buy a home rather than move out and rent a flat or apartment. And in Ireland, we are PRAYING for global warming to hit us-last summer it rained EVERY DAY from June 1st to August 30st. So please send your unwanted, beautiful American weather our way and we’ll be eternally grateful!!
There’s only one aspect of European life I wouldn’t mind seeing adopted here: greater acceptance of motorcycles.
I sometimes think that these socialists’ plans might not be all bad if it tricks the yuppies into abandoning their push into the countryside so that those of us who appreciate it can enjoy the place without their interference.
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How magnanimous.
The arrogance of the liberal elites never ceases to entertain.
And the truth behind the whole thing is that what the liberals really love is the idea of a $6 a gallon tax on gasoline that they can spend and redistribute as they see fit.
That is finally my current situation since I "retired". I run a small business and much of my other consulting for former employers is telecommuted. The work I do is proposal writing and patent applications and responses to office actions, so it would be outright stupid for me to drive 45 miles, sit down and write, then drive home, when the job can be squirted back and forth at 3-6 Megabaud.
My only fear is how long it takes 90/10 gas/ethanol to go stale in the tank. If it hits $5.00 a gallon, it would have wrecked me 18 months ago, but now...shrug..
Had telecommuting come in earlier maybe I would have had a different attitude about the career I left in disgust.
Be careful what you wish for. Summer days here are usually in the high nineties with nearly 100% humidity. That is June through August but can start earlier and extend later. Honestly, no one really enjoys that. Winters can be nasty, comparable to European winters but with more ice storms.
Friends who have immigrated from Europe and the UK really suffer from the endless winters of New York and New England, or alternately from the beastly heat and humidity of Washington.
It's nice to bike for recreation, as I do myself. But try commuting to work by bicycle in 97-degree heat, up and down hills. You'll be drenched, exhausted, and stinking by the time you get to the office. And in winter, with ice-covered roads, driving winds, frozen rain, and snow? Um, no.
Nothing is more tiresome than a pretentious US urban liberal expounding on the glories of European life to us hicks. I just so wish they’d go live there and shut up.
Visiting Berlin. I bet this a-hole doesn't live in a "four- or five-story apartment building" in a "pleasant middle class neghborhood" himself.
Liberal dipshit hypocrite.
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