We've been at this for 40 years

[darksumomo]

Short version:

Comments

[gwendally]

Thanks for bringing this essay to my attention. It's really interesting. I'd never used the word "rationing" before. I was thinking more in terms of taxing it do death. But taxing it to death would increase inequities between poor and rich (essentially a regressive tax) so that really *is* a bad idea.

But rationing... interesting.

I wonder how household versus business use would get worked out.

[theheretic]

The USA has rationed gasoline twice in my lifetime. Once in 1973-74 during one of those wars with Israel, and again when Iran got all crazy in 1979. At that time they used the license plate number, the last one, to determine Odd-Even buying days, but I don't recall if they really limited how much fuel you could buy. It was also rationed during WW2 and people had to give out ration book coupons to be authorized to buy gasoline, sugar, flour, meat, etc. A modern rationing system would probably be a credit card that issues fuel every week but doesn't accumulate more than the max ration, so use it or lose it, no matter what the price is. Rations can also change, larger or smaller and they will probably shrink over time, squeezing out people or forcing them to combine rations and carpool, which is sort of the whole point. Its an economic incentive to carpool, go fuel efficient vehicle, or alt-fuel vehicle since leaving certain fuels unrationed is a good way to trick the public into conversion. Like a vehicle converted to run Natural Gas or

Throttling Etc.

[theheretic]

It worked. And when people today say "Oh, they won't ever ration gasoline" I say "Bullshit. They've done it three times in this country in the last 65 years. Of COURSE they'll do rationing again." People today are asinine morons who pretend that since things have been relatively stable since the Post-War period it will continue to be. Asinine pollyanna twits