I also wonder who is forcing him to buy gas. Some consider it a need, but in reality, it is a luxury. Unless you drive 30 minutes or more to work, you could ride a bike. if it is 10m, or less, you could walk.
People survived for the vast majority of human history without gas, why is it necessary to have it now?
I agree - one doesn't absolutely NEED to buy gas to survive, but they do need to buy it if they wish to maintain the lifestyle that they now enjoy.
Some consider it a need, but in reality, it is a luxury. Unless you drive 30 minutes or more to work, you could ride a bike. if it is 10m, or less, you could walk.
I'm not sure that luxury is the right description today, given the distances one must travel to work, school, shopping, and all. We have essentially built our cities based on the freedom of movement brought about by the automobile. The car has allowed us to move out of crime-ridden neighborhoods to the sanctity of the suburbs. It has allowed us to have a reasonably large yard. It has allowed us to get our children out of dysfunctional city schools (and arguably into dysfunctional suburban schools in some cases). It has given us our own space, away from the closeness of the city, while still allowing commuting into and out of the city.
In my own situation, I drive about 17 miles to work - the trip is about 20 minutes. There are no busses, especially considering the hours I work (24/7 operation). Walking is out of the question, given the distance and time constraints. Likewise, bicycling is a bit dodgy given that there is quite a bit of big elevation change on the way downtown each day. That, and I'd need a good hot shower when I got to work. I average nearly 60 mph on my trip to work including parking time - cycling, assuming I were in excellent shape and a bit younger, would put me at about a 10 mph average, given the hilly/mountainous terrain.
Of course, one could move back into the inner city and that would alleviate the need for daily commuting to work. Shopping might be another situation depending on the city. There's not a great abundance of low-priced stores in the downtown area here. There's a lot of other things people can do to reduce the need for gas, and I would hope that prices would guide people in their driving decisions.