There's No Addiction to Oil, Just High Speed

The term "addicted to oil", as coined by our president of the United States, is very misleading. It avoids confronting the real problem the world, the automotive world, faces.

Ever see an addict get "stuff", be it nicotine, alcohol, heroin? There is joy and relief. I don't know about everyone, but my own personal experience is avoiding "filling up" as much as I can, and grimacing through the whole purchase. Is that an "addiction"???

In reality our addiction is for speed and convenience. If we can get to work, fifteen mile away, in eighteen minutes.... we love it! We attempt to re-create it again and again. And if it means getting only 18 miles to the gallon of gasoline, instead of getting 25 miles to the gallon by driving at a more sedate pace..."Who CARES??!!" Rich man, poor man, we all ONLY GET 23 hours and 56 minutes of time each day, and if we can cram more stuff into those hours... fantastic!

That is the reality. Speed. We love to experience it, we love to watch it. Motor racing is the most popular sport in the world, as a spectator sport. Motorcycles, drag racers, Formula One, NASCAR.. Does anyone "relish" finding out how many barrels of oil were consumed at these events? Absolutely not.

We the world, I repeat, are not "addicted to oil". We have an addiction to "speed" and the extra time it buys us, every day.

Hey, I have it, a very very few don't. But with six BILLION people on the planet now, it is time to re-shuffle our deck. I don't think it's necessary to absolutely stop people from going fast, but, for individuals, speed will have to be "recreation" and not an everyday option.