Have We Come to the End of the Road?

Have we come to the end of the road? Yes and No

Have rich folks come to the end of the road? No

Have middle class folks come to the end of the road? Maybe

The issue I have is that some rich folks will always consume because they have the money. No one will ever say anything to them about it (except on a South-Park episode). What’s sad is that it’s the middle class that’s allways asked to consume less during hard times. The rich folks get a free ride. Even In the article the author is talking about himself not being able to take long trips anymore. He never mentions the fact that rich people need to consume less as well during these times, or do they?.

Why is it that in America the Rich Folks are allowed to consume and destroy the planet while the normal folks have to “consume less” during economic hard times?

There’s a serious double standard in America when it comes to the Rich and Poor.

I completely agree, even though i almost never agree with anything you say!

Let me play devil's advocate again... since that's what I am good at. But rich people are the movers and shakers of society, they are the ones with the drive and determination to start businesses, take on responsibility and strive for more then just a 9-5 job. Are you saying that these people who are the backbone of this country should watch what they do the unmotivated masses don't feel bad about themselves?

so the unmotivated...*

“Are you saying that these people who are the backbone of this country should watch
what they do so the unmotivated masses don't feel bad about themselves?”

- Yes and no. The Rich people are the folks who started this mess in the first place. So in order to look responsible they should watch what they do, or at least set an example. It really doesn’t have anything to do with the “unmotivated masses” IMO.

Explain to me how they started it?

Wall St

So every rich person in the USA is rich because they speculate things on wall street?

"So every rich person in the USA is rich because they speculate things on wall street?"

- No. And I didn't even come close to implying that? It's the rich folks on Wall St that put us into this position along with corporate excess and greed. You know who runs the corporations? Rich People. I’m not saying that all rich people are responsible. If you read my post I said “some” rich people.

Ok, then why are you classifying all rich people into one group and saying "Why is it that in America the Rich Folks are allowed to consume and destroy the planet" when clearly it is a very small minority of them who according to you destroyed the economy.

I'm not categorizing all rich folks. I find it hard to believe that someone reading my post would think that I meant every single rich person in America. Whatever... The fact still remains that rich folks destoyed america. Only a person looking to start an argument would try to imply that i meant every single rich person in America. Give me a break.

Sorry but it really does sound like you are categorizing a majority for the actions of a minority. "The Rich people are the folks who started this mess in the first place."

LexSucks, ask your mom or dad for 8 bucks and go see Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism. By the end of the movie you'll be ready to go Columbine on all those rich folks you envy, I mean hate.

Welcome the New Feudalism. It has been in the works for decades (if not longer). We are free like dogs in a dog park are free, but the real masters are fully in control of the gates they built.

Michael Moore is the last person to look for facts. His movies are riddled with manipulated content. A very small amount of what Moore shows is factual. I dont understand the arguement of the rich have it all and the middleman pays for it. The same rules apply for the middleman as the rich. The middleman has the same playing field as the rich man. Believe me I am NOT rich but I don't look at the rich and complain. If anything I admire the determination and perserverience and the risk taking the rich endure. Isn't that why we send our chrildren to school for a good education in order to have a good lifestyle. Then when it pays off they are to feel guilty. The more unnecessary regulation from bigger Government [does not mean I am opposed to regulation in general I said 'unecessary"] The tuffer it for the middleman to strive. I also understand the Greed thing and believe me it's definately there but Greed is a human trate and it will never go away. The vast majority of who we call rich do a lot of good with there rewards.

Unfortunately, if anyone were to blame for this situation it's the system that brought us to this dead end, and that is being questioned and shaken to crumbs today. Or maybe is it ourselves that we have to blame for literally buying into the consumerist urge that was, and sadly still is, both cleverly and ruthlessly marketed to us.
I don't see why one couldn't take his children around the country in a lean clean car. Or maybe the point of the author is nostalgia, then it's completely lost on me. One should only be melancholic towards the good parts of the past, and only carry these through to the future. In this case, while loving your country and bequeathing that love to the next generation is praiseworthy; doing so in a car that consumes oil fields whole much less so. My point here is obviously not solely to focus on mpg ratings and emissions; far from it. I think that the cars of the past belong in the past, as does every technology that has been superseded by what's proven to be better. People who desire to live in the past, or worse, be frozen in the present should not try, or be allowed to drag others with them.
As for the cap and trade, well let's just say that in a democratic country, the people have the power, hence the word. The power to steer the trade, from one of money to one, simply of emissions; the cap being necessary and the terms of the trade to be left to the imagination of the exact same generation whose right to travel by car the author seems to be defending.

No. It takes 60,000 Tons of Fuel to propell 1 warship across the ocean. The ship I was on was very small, it drank 6,000 Gallons over the course of 10 days.

And we are worried about what a car consumes?

Hmmm lets analyze that... that works out to about 15,000,000 gallons of fuel... assuming an average fuel economy of 25mpg... and you get about the fuel required to drive all the cars in a city with 1,000,000 people for about 10 days :P

The new Lincoln MKt is an awesome vehicle,
But they missed the boat

I'd rather have a well & holder for a full-size spare than the useless 3rd row seats. The MKt is marketed as a vacation vehicle for long range touring, but no-full size spare?

Audi just releases thier Diesel Option on the Q7 wagon. How will the MKt compete against the more logical Diesel choice? (The New York times proclaimed the MKt to be better than the Audi Q7)

Lincolns new vehicle is great, but it just falls short in some key areas.

One would think at a $50K sticker, The big three could give consumers more choices, insted we get marketing ploys and CAFE standards shoved in our face.

There was a time when the customer could order the car they wanted, now we get what is being pushed in a TV commercial.

"End of the Road?" Hardly. A speed bump?, perhaps. But, at least it keeps autojournalists who get paid by the word some much needed income writing drivel like this article.

The U.S. will do what the U.S. always does (and better than any other county) - innovate and adapt. And BTW, it's all those "rich folks" who are the engine for this innovation. What Wall Street does is provide the "fuel" for innovation.

I'm one of those "rich guys" you rail against. I employ 50 people at my company and make advanced technology for homeland defense that is used to keep the next 9/11 from happening. If it wasn't for "Wall Steet" I wouldn't have had the funding to begin or grow this company.

And I love cars, and I'm not afraid of the future.

Bravo! And keep doing what you're doing.
Most of the money invested in Wall St. comes from the middle class in the form of 401k, IRA's, etc.--not the just the rich. This constant railing on "rich" people and Wall St. is a function of Hollywood feeding America a continual stream of anti-business/anti-establishment ideology. The irony is that Hollywood is big business and the establishment. They want us to turn a blind eye to that.
Profit makes the world go 'round, it's the fuel the keeps the engines of America running. When this country can no longer produce wealth it will become a vast third-world country of poor wondering where their government is to feed and clothe them. Wake up you knuckleheads and quit quoting the party line about the rich in business and be grateful there are ambitious, motivated people to create jobs for all you sad sacks.
My wife owns a thriving company of 140 people who, from all accounts, wouldn't know the first step in creating their own wealth, but do a terrific job of working for a company that will pay them for their skill and hard work. It's a symbiotic relationship that works for everyone as long as the worker bees don't bite the hand that feeds them.
As for global warming. Temperatures have stayed the same or slightly falling for the past decade, and there is new evidence that we are entering a cycle of cooling. Global warming is far from a foregone conclusion in the scientific community.
Okay, I'm off my soapbox.
Oh, and my wife and I don't drive on trips, we fly to our destination and rent cars as needed.

while the article seems too negatively hesitant about changes, the current form of cap and trade seems very small-country euro-centric. it's legislation that needs to take account of US living standards. that's the job of our leaders, so I hope they have a healthy debate.

Also, the euro countries are not as diverse or tolerant as America. Ask any immigrant if they want to live in Germany or France.

We might get screwed but we'll survive, god bless the USA!

YAWN....typical sour grapes article by sour grapes old people who feel threatened because the world is changing. It always is changing, and there is nothing wrong with that. We're adapting to a new century and a new world, it is not 1950 anymore.

Grow up.

DiamondR....You are right " nothing wrong with Change" unless the change is wrong. You keep talking about these NEW Century Ideals. These so called new changes have been around for centuries [ Nothing New] and never worked then. What makes you think they will work now. Whoever is responsible for teaching you this crap should be ashamed. Take some time and do some research. More and more of YOUR freedoms and Liberties are being taken from you everyday. My friend,,, You need to Grow Up

We all live in cages we have built for ourselves.

There is truth to this article, I am forced to drive a civic, I would much rather be in a 2010 F150 Rapture, unfortunately with my commute I have to drive an economical civic. And maybe this is north Americas way of cutting down on traffic? Just the rich will be able to drive, the rest of us will be forced to live in condos and take transit.I have to become one of the rich ones,lol

There's being rich and then there's having an oligarchy. We're on a way towards the latter right now. The rich are given the benefit and privilege to succeed, and they are backstopped by the government when they fail. That's very un-american. Rewards for failure.

And, I don't care what the experts or talking heads say, it's simply unsustainable for very long. Time will prove this out.

So yeah, it looks like the younger generation will shape their lives around the hardships and difficulties we face as a nation over the next decade.

But longer out, people also need to recognize our society is in transformation. The world, the economy, the technology, and the political landscape of 2020 will be much different than it is today. America will, once it confronts these structural changes in our way of life, re-emerge in a much better position. Much different than say the world in 2010 vs the world in 2000.

JMHO.