Almostgotit.com

Ann at Compensation Force mentions a number of articles today that highlight the impact of rising fuel prices on employment relations, with particular focus on how much employers can do, or should do, to mitigate the effect of these costs for their employees.  The most provocative question these days seems to be, ‘What happens when gasoline reaches $7 per gallon?’

Answer:  we’ll deal with it.  Both because we can, and because we’ll have to.   Ultimately, though, we can’t just leave matters to our employers, or to the government either. 

Nor will it hurt nearly as much as we think.

Eventually, we each have to come to terms with our own appetites, or learn how to change them.  One has only to live for a while in any country but ours to see the changes that very high fuel prices have already wrought.   We were amazed at how quickly we adapted in both England and Canada – two countries very like our own, but which have been living with high fuel costs for years.

Revelations: Everyone, even old ladies, can ride bicycles!  Bicycles work with dresses, and even when it rains (fenders, plastic bags, and general good cheer are the secret)!  Buses aren’t just for poor or crazy people!  Finding a parking place can take just as long as walking to a bus stop! Life without a car payment (or insurance payments, or repair bills, or gas charges either) is quite a marvelous thing!  Walking to and from a job is a wonderful way to clear the head, think things through,  and watch the seasons change!  Commuting without also having to drive is a great time to read, catch up on work, or just people watch!

Ours is a country built for the automobile, with subdivisions to go along with our SUV’s.  We need to build more livable cities so people will choose to live in them.  More of us should try to live where we work.  It’s good to live where we shop, too.  We need to build sidewalks again. 

Public transport must be part of the solution, of course, and yes it usually requires public subsidies.  However,  many Americans don’t realize we’ve already been subsidizing private and commercial transport for years – massive amounts of public funds have built and maintained our highways rather than our buses and trains, though the latter are a much more efficient way of transporting both goods and people.  And of course we have enjoyed artificially-low gasoline costs for years as well, also thanks to heavy subsidies.  A ready supply of cheap fuel has contributed to our preference for ever-larger vehicles, a preference which has persisted thus far even in the face of rising fuel costs.  (read this!)

Sigh.  We are yet a young and stubborn people.  

Fortunately, we are also a resilient people.  We will manage higher fuel costs, and we will manage even better if each of us carries our own bit of the load. 

Creative Commons image by iirraa