Posted on 08/20/2002 10:37:27 AM PDT by Ahura Mazda
I will accept only argument from someone who can refute Hayek and Friedman. Fire away.
I don't dispute the data from either source, nor do I think the data is contradictory.
My belief is that you have difficulty understanding the data.
It is true that BOTH mass-transportation AND private vehicle usage has increased.
That is because the nation's population itself has increased over the time period mentioned.
Furthermore, the article that you posted states that "car pooling" is the mode of transportation that declined in usage. This decline is what contributes to the increased use of BOTH mass-transportation and individual vehicles.
Construction of mass-transit systems has not kept pace with population growth.
And as population density increases in various regions and urban centers of our nation, it becomes a more cost-effective alternative.
Do you believe that Columbia is being fought over oil rather than communism, cocaine, and terrorism?
Do you think that oil supply from this region isn't jeopardized by communist insurgency and drug-related terrorist activity?
The point being made was that military involvement was becoming increasingly necessary to secure foreign supply of oil.
That point has been proven.
B.S. Show me the historic pattern. You've got one disputable data point only: Kuwait.
I'll show you a history of "Military Involvement":
Afghanistan: No oil.
Somalia: No oil.
Balkans: No oil.
Haiti: No oil.
Panama: No oil.
Grenada: No oil.
Viet Nam: No oil.
Korea: No oil.
Europe II: No oil.
Japan: No oil.
Europe I: No oil.
Spanish American War: No oil.
Mexican American War: Guess what: No oil back then. Texas did turn out to have oil, but who knew?
You remain uqualifiedly full of it.
Yes, and so is FREEDOM. We tend to fight for freedom, and occassionally it involves places with oil, at other times it involves places with vineyards, factories, or bi-lingual puple people.
The fact that a bunch of commie totalitarian drug runners may end up with the oil is no reason to consign the Columbian people the fate of North Korea. Which, I suppose is your objection. "If there's oil there, let the flipping commies take over and ride the bus." I get you loud and clear.
And thank goodness for that. The light rail in Seattle is going to cost over $45,000 per rider. We could buy them Lexi instead, or pay them to stay home. It would be cheaper.
I was assaulted on a bus, and pardon me if I don't want to ride with the strung out riff raff.
Actually, the conflicts in Vietnam/Southeast Asia, including the period of French Colonialism and Japanese WWII Imperialism, are inextricably rooted in a struggle for control of the region's natural resources just as much as in differing political philosophies.
It would make for an interesting discussion if you weren't so obviously intellectually challenged.
I have better things to do than play around with someone hellbent on displaying intentional ignorance.
IQ: 140
Cum Laude, Economics, Claremont McKenna College
Unrefuted by Willie the Green on this thread
O.K., Willie. Lose all the arguments, call me names, and take your marbles home and sulk. See ya.
Yes, our oil consumption has approximately doubled, but our population has only increased roughly 58% in the same time period.
1960 -- 178,554,916 2000 -- 281,421,906Technological progress has certainly made improvements in efficiency, but social/lifestyle changes have led us to dramaticly increase our individual consumption.
In particular, we've become a much more "mobile" society.
We use vastly greater quantities of petroleum for transportation despite getting more miles per gallon.
We simply have more people traveling farther and more frequently.
IQ: 140
Cum Laude, Economics, Claremont McKenna College
Unrefuted by Willie the Green on this thread
Willie can't win an argument, calls people names, takes his marbles and goes home to sulk. See ya!
LOL!!!
Yeah, it is kind of funny!
I was searching for that recent thread where there was a link to an IQ test on the Net.
I scored something like a 144 or 146, on that thing, which is a tad lower than the more formal test I took many moons ago when I was in school.
(140 is pretty dang good, but not intimidating!)
It would be nice if Brad put his intelligence to good use in constructive dialog.
The little "spin game" he's trying to play regarding military involvement in securing our oil supply is getting childishly boring.
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