Scottish rant from someone named Damian Beagan

[underpants]

Found on Facebook


Sorry, USA, but I'm going to have to rant my ass off at you (not anyone I know personally, but just in general). There's a lunatic in the Kremlin threatening a global thermonuclear war and yet 95% of posts from the US today are bitching about the price of gasoline. Would it be too much to ask of you lot to look beyond the end of your own street for five minutes and acquire even a miniscule sense of perspective?

I've had the calculator out, and you lot don't know when you're well off. The average US gasoline price today is $4.06 per gallon. Boo frickin' hoo. What a hell of a lot of you don't realise is that $4.06 per gallon is substantially less than almost every country in the world payed for gasoline / petrol BEFORE Putin invaded Ukraine. US gasoline is dirt cheap because you pay virtually no tax on it. The same gallon of gasoline would cost you $8.69 at a petrol station in Scotland today, but we're not moaning about it because we kinda figure that the survival of global democracy is slightly more important right now. By the way, buckle up, bitches, because you're going to be seeing prices like that (and worse) before we're anywhere near the end of this little excursion to the foothills of World War III.

And another thing. It's not "all Joe Biden's fault". You really want to know why even a slight increase in the price of gas has you hurting so badly? Maybe it might have something to do with the USA having monetised every single activity necessary for human survival short of breathing, and I'm sure at least one corporate laboratory has been working on a way to make that happen for years. If you weren't screwed to the wall on a daily basis by a combination of peasant wages and rampant consumer greed, you might have the necessary financial resources to absorb sudden monetary shocks like this, but 42 years of unrestrained capitalism has strip-mined every last cent from the US working class and handed it to billionaires. To make matters worse, your refusal to pay taxes in order to invest in services like public transportation, universal health-care and a workable welfare system means that even the slightest increase in prices creates an unsurvivable financial crisis for those least able to afford it. Maybe if you hadn't spent half a century or more believing that paying taxes for public infrastructure is socialism, you wouldn't be hurting so badly when a few cents goes on a gallon of gas.

I'm sorry, USA. I love you dearly, but you have to stop watching Tucker Carlson, pull your heads out of your collective assholes and look at the bigger picture for once. Sorry / not sorry.

[unweird]

1. Spot on, I am so stealing this

This helps me articulate my exasperation with all those gas price hike, sky is falling worrywarts.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. That rant paints with an extremely broad brush.

[PatrickforB]

12. But this paragraph is right on.

You really want to know why even a slight increase in the price of gas has you hurting so badly? Maybe it might have something to do with the USA having monetised every single activity necessary for human survival short of breathing, and I'm sure at least one corporate laboratory has been working on a way to make that happen for years. If you weren't screwed to the wall on a daily basis by a combination of peasant wages and rampant consumer greed, you might have the necessary financial resources to absorb sudden monetary shocks like this, but 42 years of unrestrained capitalism has strip-mined every last cent from the US working class and handed it to billionaires. To make matters worse, your refusal to pay taxes in order to invest in services like public transportation, universal health-care and a workable welfare system means that even the slightest increase in prices creates an unsurvivable financial crisis for those least able to afford it. Maybe if you hadn't spent half a century or more believing that paying taxes for public infrastructure is socialism, you wouldn't be hurting so badly when a few cents goes on a gallon of gas.

I have done everything right, according to what they told me when I was a kid. I finished college, then grad school, then got a good job and grew in that job. Even though I have employer provided health insurance, more and more of the cost has been passed on to me these last decades, until I am forced to say, as I have here many times, that I have crummy, rationed healthcare with financially crippling copays.

Now, for the first time EVER, I have had to arrange financing for a couple of procedures. 'Murika is the ONLY country in the industrialized world that cares so little about its people and so MUCH about profits that we have healthcare DEBT and healthcare BANKRUPTCIES.

Seriously. It is so HARD to live middle class. And I have it good. But it is still hard. And do you know, thanks to the GOP in 1984, we have to pay TAXES on our Social Security? Did you know? And Medicare is so confusing I'm going to have to buy 'Medicare for Dummies' just to understand how to make sure I have what I need.

WHY? Are shareholder profits so goddamned important? Why can we squander trillions on stupid, ill-advised tax cuts and forever wars, but our infrastructure is crumbling? Why do we not bat an eye to pass a whopping $770 billion war bill this year, but have to have a Congressional investigation on how much the BBB bill will cost? Where is our healthcare? Where is our dental care? Where are the subsidies for childcare that will allow nearly 2 million women back into the labor force? Where is the affordable, debt-free college for our children and grandchildren?

Answer me this: If this is truly a government of, by and for the people, why is it that the tax money that we pay in (individual taxpayers like us pay in 86% of the government's tax revenue while corporations only pay in 6.8%) to our government cannot be used for just a FEW things that materially benefit we and our families? Like healthcare.

Sorry for my own rant, but the Scotsman is correct here.

[sarchasm]

24. Spot on ...

… but this is the icing of truth that explains what is so wrong with the American way.

Maybe it might have something to do with the USA having monetised every single activity necessary for human survival short of breathing …

[Farmer-Rick]

51. Yup, that's kind of the whole goal of capitalism

Unrestrained capitalism is what we got and it hurts most of us.

[not fooled]

25. And record profits for the oil companies

It frosts me when cable teevee shows have panels on discussing the cost of gas, and no one brings up the fact that there is no shortage of oil and gas but the oil companies are making record profits, which they are using for stock buybacks and high dividends. They are gouging us, but media doesn't bring that up. I guess "unlimited profits if you can get 'em" is entrenched canon these days, even if the so-called "free market" is obviously not free and failing to counterbalance the actions of the oil oligarchy.

[Justice matters.]

46. Don't pass on the billions in subsidies these fat cats

receive from the taxpayers (thanks to fossil-fuel lobbyist and their bought-up lawmakers) all the while paying zero taxes on record profits year after year!

[not fooled]

49. Yep, good point

"Free Market" my ass. That's a fairy tale for the rubes.

[brush]

3. Good rant. As you say, there's no tax on gas. It's a wonder that hasn't...

happened yet, or on breathing for that matter because if they could, the would.

Yep, the war in Ukraine is a tad bit more important than gas going up a few cents.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. I think our aggregate demand from low MPG fleet is the problem

[underpants]

5. 3 years

When I was in Germany I didn’t have a car for 3 years. Didn’t need one. Taxis and trains - free ride if you get on the opposite end of the conductor.

Our usage is through the roof compared to urban areas in Europe or even here.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. And every time I'm driving a 3.5 ton pickup or SUV passes me haulin' A

And vehicle prices go up faster to support the technology that seeks to tweak more turbo performance and lower emissions. It is to the point where the extra tech costs more than extra MPG over the life of the vehicle. Not to mention maintenance and repair. 1990 - one oxygen sensor. Today? 5,6,7 of them.

[Maraya1969]

11. Really? Is it legal to go on the back and not pay?

[underpants]

15. I was young

We did get busted in a long train to the French border. We all used the same Europass to get a discount. The conductor demanded full payment on the spot.

[róisín_dubh]

28. It's a hefty fine if you get caught. Not worth it

It's not burdensomely expensive to just top up your card each month. I used to get controlled on the regular during my commutes in Frankfurt.
But there are no gates to go through to swipe your card or anything. Only the international trains have ticket checkers before boarding and that's not even for all of them.

[TygrBright]

6. Can't argue with any of this, actually.... n/t

[Aaeia]

7. YEEAASSS!!

What he said.. uh huh, uh huh!

[niyad]

8. Spot on. A truly righteous commentary.

[Eyeball_Kid]

10. I like this guy. I suspect that he's not Scottish, however.

His writing style is more American. But he's on the mark regardless.


NOPE! I visited his FB site. He's Scottish.

[FoxNewsSucks]

13. That's so true

and it's not just gas prices or prices in general that are gonna get worse.

[momta]

14. I don't go on facebook much these days, but I happened over there yesterday

I grew up in East Texas (Louie Gohmert's district) and a lot of my friends from high school still live in that area. The ONLY thing they were posting on FB about was the goddamn gas prices, and how it's all Biden's fault. I was truly amazed at the victimhood coming from all of those rwnj's, many of whom I actually used to LIKE!

Meanwhile, there was NO mention at all of the nuclear-armed madman holding the world hostage while he murders pregnant women and cancer patients. NOT. ONE. WORD.

The narcissistic navel-gazing of my erstwhile friends was astonishing.

[underpants]

18. I have a few from high school that way

Their media is going in several directions on Ukraine. Years of Putin worship got turned on it’s head and they aren’t sure what to do now. Ignoring it in many cases.

[Dustlawyer]

20. Same here in S.E. Texas by the coast. I have no shortage of people to engage with.

If it wasn’t so sad it would be funny how they try to defend the indefensible. I usually end with confirmation bias and how they should just admit to being racist and anti-democratic.

[momta]

33. Good for you.

I've lived in Colorado for about 25 years now, but my whole family is still in Texas. My brothers and their families are all lefty types, fighting the good fight from the inside, like you.

It would drive me crazy. My little CO town is about as liberal as they come.

[paleotn]

16. Hey, Haggis head....

It's Fucker Carlson. Get it right!

[GB_RN]

17. Hammer - Nail - Head

Spot fucking on.

[SergeStorms]

19. Viewing something from a distance....

is often the best way to judge a situation, rather than being in the middle of it.

This is one of those situations.

Americans are far too parochial in their world view and miss the big picture. We're a nation of selfish children.

[some_of_us_are_sane]

21. Indeed!

"We're a nation of selfish children." I couldn't agree more. Ashamed to say it.

[CommonHumanity]

29. No we are not. We are a nation with minority rule. The RWNJ are not the largest % of us.

I admit we have a large chunk of them, but their voices are amplified beyond their numbers by complicit politicians, media and Russian-backed enablers.

What we are is this: People who should be doing a better job vanquishing minority rule. Minority rule that the right has spent decades solidifying. More recently with the help of Putin. Biden was elected by a majority. He wanted to expand the social safety net and decrease reliance on fossil fuels. Not to the extent I'd like, was nonetheless his clear and stated intent, and that agenda is being blocked by a Republican party bought and financed by Putin and corporations (and 2 bought-out Dems).

Yes, there are angry citizens that hate for anyone to have any tax-supported benefits that other western nations enjoy. Benefits that OUR tax dollars could be supporting. Instead, it is largely every citizen for themself in a cut-throat system stacked against them.

Too many Americans have fallen for the biggest con ever.

The answer, or at least the first step, is defeating minority rule. I know, easier said than done, but let us at least name that as the problem. The minority rulers just love it when we turn against each other instead of them.

[stopdiggin]

31. "Too many Americans have fallen for the biggest con ever."

Yep. And, I for one, am kind of done with making excuses for them. Sooner or later, the American people kind of have to own up to what they have done. And the minority rule thing (while true) is also wearing out it's welcome. 75 million Americans voted for a pustulant sh*t stain - after 4 years of chaos and ample evidence of corruption and malfeasance. And that, my friend, is on them. And a miserable picture of American character.

[bringthePaine]

22. a fucking masterpiece!

[marieo1]

23. My Thoughts Completely

I know, what Damien Beagen says is sooooooooooooooooo true. I hear crying and complaining about gas prices constantly and oh, my gosh, the price of everything is increasing, never mind that we are trying to help another country keep their country free from a insane dictator (Putin) ............A lot the people in our country are whiners and crybabies, (and I have lived here all my life and love it completely). The Media (CNN, USA Today and all the rest) gives voice to these whiners. Most of the people in USA are tough human beings, we have lived through tough times and will defend and fight for our country and..........if we need to, we are kind enough to help other countries that need good help. We are proud of our country and would never run it down or bad mouth it.

[SheltieLover]

26. Kicking for visibility

[BlueKentuckyGirl]

27. Amen!

And a totally irrelevant comment: Wouldn't it be arseholes, not assholes?

[Tommymac]

30. Yes, US fuel is cheaper then the rest of the globe but our mass transit options are non-existent

We HAVE to drive everywhere in our country, unlike Europe with it's great public mass transit options. ( A few metro areas do have efficient public transit, but they are the exception not the rule.)

Most US citizens have NO CHOICE. They HAVE to drive cars to go to work, school, shopping, etc.

Reasons for the lack of mass transit are many, but mostly because since WW2 local communities did not provide funding to maintain mass transit lines, and when they did they used a 30 minute interval between rides instead of the 15 minute model Europe uses. This made mass transit way to inconvenient for people to use and so they bought cars, and funding for mass transit got even poorer.

Catch 22.

So comparing European gas usage/prices to US usage/prices is like comparing Apples to Oranges - not a valid comparison.

[underpants]

32. First day back from Germany

I knew I had to move into a city. Living in the burbs was torment after having been on foot for three years. Our barracks weren’t IN the city but it was just a short cheap taxi ride or bike ride away. I couldn’t stand having to get in the car to do everything. I’m back in the burbs now - the things you do for family.

[Collimator]

47. I did telephone pre-interviews for jobs. .

Where they made it clear that they would not give you an in-person interview--much less hire you--if you did not have your own transportation. Their reasoning was that they knew that public transportation did not bring people within a mile of the job site and they (understandably) wanted to ensure that their employees reported to work consistently and on time.

This was close to ten years ago. I don't know where those businesses stand now during these, "no one wants to work anymore" times.

(I also once had a great telephone interview with a young man who was impressed with my experience and my articulate phone manner. {It was for call center, customer service work.} His supervisor flat out refused to authorize an in-person interview with me because I had been out of work for an extended time. The fellow called me back to apologize and described to me how hard he tried to convince his boss that I was an excellent candidate, but the guy wouldn't budge. Rigidness and short-sightedness is endemic all around.)

Sorry if that last bit seems off-topic, but in a way it speaks to the blind, self-sabotaging thinking that plagues many people who can't look at the bigger picture.

[BaronChocula]

34. Dear Troubled Scot,

Unfortunately in the mid-20th century, American manufacturers discovered the endorphin rush experienced by consumers when they bought something new. To profit off of this, they embarked on a series of strategies to profit off of this physiological event. Consumerism was seen as patriotic according to historian Lizabeth Cohen. Fashion was pushed on the average consumer so now many Americans could be relied upon to buy a new wardrobe each year. When a neighbor bought a new-fangled gadget, everyone else wanted to "keep up with the Joneses." This led to an epidemic of gratificationosis. Everybody wanted it and they wanted it now. The long term result was the good 'ol Murican sense of entitlement. As a result our citizenry spends more time at Walmart or on Amazon than they do consuming legitimate news. Not only that, their sense of entitlement has supplanted any logical process of cause-and-effect reasoning. This is a country where white nationalists (we call them Republicans) have been brainwashed into thinking that freedom means that (only) they can say and do whatever they want without any consequences. So, they can even violently attack our capitol in an act of civil war with minimal consequence because there aren't enough of us still capable of analyzing actual threats to our livelihood.

So sorry if not enough people here give a shit about Putin. Their asses are so strung out on consumerism and false priorities that we can't get anything straight in our own house. You might have a better chance complaining to China. Good luck!

[RipVanWinkle]

35. Is there a link

to this?

[underpants]

37. No other than a Facebook link

People who aren’t on Facebook wouldn’t be able to open it.

[ShazzieB]

38. Still, why not provide the FB link for those of us who might want to make use of it?

Besides which, maybe it's the ex-librarian in me (or the ex-editorial assistant, or the former grad student, lol), but is a general rule I think it's always worthwhile to cite sources, whether everyone can actually access them or not.

[EarnestPutz]

36. Great commentary, but wrong on taxes. Federal gas tax is 18.3 cents and average State is 31 cents.

Way, way too low and congress can't get the courage to raise it. Heck, with prices going up, there is even talk of eliminating the federal tax to "help" consumers deal with high prices.

[soldierant]

39. If it's any consolation,

there are many Americans who are posting crap on social media because they simply do not use social media, haveing a little respect for personal privacy.

And we are not complaining abu the price of gas

[Grokenstein]

40. I kept this cartoon when it was first published way back in 2007

Last edited Sun Mar 13, 2022, 10:57 PM - Edit history (1)

because I knew it would be relevant again on a regular basis. It's as true today as it was back then (aside from the prices).



link

[hatrack]

41. Buy the ticket, take the ride (in your Testosterone Shitwagon) . . .

I was heading on the interstate from Nevada into Utah on a trip out west in January. I was driving about 70-75 in a desperate attempt to not get rear-ended and about every 45 seconds some guy in a Ford F-250 or Dodge Ram would blow by doing 85 or more.

Gas mileage in any car goes to hell once you get past about 60 so all these owners of F-250s and Dodge Rams can cry me a fucking river. Were they operating on the wishful thinking that gas would always be $2.15 when they bought their trucks?

[nightwing1240]

42. That man gets it

Bravo!

[Joinfortmill]

43. Amen

[ymetca]

44. In two words

"planned obsolescence"

At some point we'll be "offboarded".

Depending upon where you live, you'll suddenly find yourself a resident of either Nuevo Mexico, or New Canada.

Eventually all the rest of the world will remember about us will be jazz music.

[Ruby the Liberal]

45. That was exquisite

[Bear Creek]

48. They pay more

Because of taxes. So quit with they pay $8. If you think we should pay $8 I want the universal health care and transportation services that is there that is paid for by those taxes. People here in the USA are already having trouble making ends meet. Some now can't afford the gas to get to work. The prices in the stores are going up. Russian gas ban is nothing since only 3.3% of our gas is imported from there. Half of what was produced here was exported. Bush Administration changed the laws on oil trade.

[Ziggysmom]

50. We need campaign finance reform. Enough of Citizens United BS. No more PACs and dark

money. Let government be for and by the people. Also take the burden of voter registration off the backs of citizens. In other countries like Sweden, the government registers people. Add to that, make voting day on the WEEKEND! The Tuesday election was designed back in the 19th century to allow voters who relied on horse and buggy rides to get back from the polls before market day on Wednesday FFS!

So many things wrong in America