Somebody please explain to me why I listen to NPR.
Friday afternoon listening to “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday” hosted by Ira Flatow. Talking with writer Chris Steiner author of $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Price of Gasoline Will Change our Lives for the Better. The title is more or less self-explanatory.
Steiner laments the comparatively low gasoline taxes – which if higher would help fund our transportation infrastructure. Fair enough I suppose. But he has much more to say. How super expensive gasoline would force Americans (who live in the suburbs or the country and commute to jobs in the cities) to start moving and living closer to where they work. In other words force them to move into the cities. It would also force many airlines out of business and make air travel an expensive luxury. America would be forced to significantly expand and develop public transportation.
If you’re anything like me, you consider distance before getting in your car for a joyride, and hold your breath when it’s time to fill up. For many, there is a brace yourself moment of fear that the price of gas will mirror the four dollars a gallon horror we had to live through last summer. But according to author Chris Steiner, our lives would be a lot happier if gas rose to even the double digits. Seriously. We’ll give Steiner room to explain himself, and the title of his book: “$20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better”.
Listen to Talk of the Nation: Science Friday July 16 2009.
My reactions to this are not entirely negative. Of course the United States needs to develop a better public transportation system. In fact conservatives should support this because conservatives want to see people get out and work and support themselves right? But for the working poor transportation is a major problem. They may not be able to afford new cars that are reliable. And if they (a) do not have a car or (b) have an old car in poor condition that is not reliable it becomes difficult to find and keep a job. The working poor need a public transportation system that is (1) fast (2) not expensive and (3) reliable. In fact not just the poor could use such a system and the result is less traffic less time wasted in traffic and less use of fuel. I would like to think political conservatives resonate with such goals.
It would also help foster the creation of community. People who live near each other and know each other. And give new life to downtown commerce – small businesses and shops which would provide goods and services to this growing urban population. When I talk with my Chinese friends most of whom are from cities they explain how cities are organized much differently in China. To a large extent people in China live near their places of work. And often within walking distance of the shops and businesses they use.
And Steiner also notes this will encourage Americans to use their bodies more to get from place to place. Walking and bicycling. He cites one researcher who argues there is a correlation between low gasoline prices and increased obesity. Again – fair enough.
What troubled me about Chris Steiner was how glad he seemed about the prospect of $20 gasoline and the changes it would force upon many Americans.
Let me share an obvious secret about expensive gasoline. It hurts poor people the most.
If you make $100k per year drive a large car and gas goes up to $5 per gallon – that is a nuisance. It probably means less money you are able to save for retirement or travel or college for your kids.
If you make minimum wage drive an old car and gas goes up to $5 per gallon – that is a disaster.
There is a reason – a good reason – why there are such things as income tax deductions. There are certain minimum unavoidable expenses involved in living in America. If it costs a minimum of $15k to live (housing food clothing and transportation to work) and you make $15k per year – then any increase in any necessary expense (gasoline) is a disaster you cannot absorb. Persons with higher incomes are in a better position to absorb increases in certain expenses.
So I do not quite understand why political liberals who supposedly care so much about the poor can without apparent hesitation advocate higher taxes for certain things like gasoline. “It will force Americans to buy more fuel efficient cars and drive less”. Well that is fine – if you are a middle or high income earner. You are in a better position to make those changes. It would hurt my family to buy a new car right now – but we could do it.
But the poor are much less able to make those adjustments. More expensive gasoline could mean not being able to make ends meet. They cannot afford to run out and buy a Toyota Prius.
Also – there are at least two huge reasons why many Americans live in the country and work in the city.
First – the cost of housing. There is a reason my family did not purchase a home closer to Louisiana State University. We cannot afford it. We can afford a home around $150k. Most small homes around the university or around the church campus run $250k and up. I cannot afford to live within walking distance of my work. Period. That simple.
(Now granted I would like to ride my bike – but Baton Rouge is one of the most bicycle-hostile cities I have ever lived in. Most roads and streets have no shoulders let alone no sidewalks. There is an ongoing campaign to push the city to make it more bicycle friendly and apparently they are getting results.)
People often live in the boonies or the suburbs because it is the only way they can raise a family in something other than a cramped one or two bedroom studio apartment.
In a bad neighborhood.
Which is another reason why people often live away from cities. To get away from the crime and violence. No not every part of every city is riddled with violent crime and other social pathologies. There is a reason why my family moved from Richmond to nearby Mechanicsville when I was in seminary. We did not enjoy beer bottles smashing through our bedroom window at night. Or being afraid to go for a walk in the evening.
So I am troubled by the apparent enthusiasm Chris Stein exhibits for watching millions of Americans being forced to move into cities. Ira Flatow read one email from a listener who said “I live in the country and commute 45 miles to work – what am I supposed to do?” Stein said (paraphrasing slightly) that “Americans have had the luxury of being able to choose to live in the country and work in the city – then you will not be able to make that choice and will have to live in the city”. It is easier for the relatively affluent – like the researcher that Steiner quotes – to move into decent homes in decent neighborhoods in the city. But not everyone can afford even an “attached townhome in central Greensboro”.
And while we are at it what about schools.
The forced hyper-urbanization of America.
In one sense I welcome this. One could argue that is how it should be – people live close to work. Cities should be beautiful dynamic places of culture and community.
But until we have a better handle on urban planning and urban life – and education and crime and housing and all the rest – do we really want to force Americans to live in tiny apartments in dangerous neighborhoods?
And elsewhere I have addressed that America is becoming increasingly divided along rural-urban lines. I take it NPR thinks it would be just grand to watch the further destruction of rural America and the growth of urban America – along with the growth of urban culture and urban sensibilities.
The more expensive it becomes to travel – the less free we become as a people. Deeply troubling.
Addendum: I searched the internet for any conservative critiques of Chris Steiner and his book. Most hits were at public radio websites – and most of those were pretty much the same text reproduced. I was not able to find much at all about Steiner and his book outside public radio websites. Very strange.
