What's with the complaint over gas prizes?

[KDLarsen]

Last week, I filled my dad's car with 20 litres of gas, which cost me 180 DKK. So that's 9 DKK pr litre.

A bit of calculation:

1 US gallon (liquid) = 3.7854118 litres

So, that's roughly 34 DKK for a gallon of gas. And according to the UCC (Universal Currency Calculator):

1 USD = 6.20500 DKK

So, weend up at result that had me paying

5.47945 USD for 1 gallon of regular gas, non-leaded (95 octane).

Of course, my dad's car (a 1994 Ford Escort) has a ok mileage (30 city, 38 highway), so he only has to fill it up once pr week, even though he drives around 50 miles to & from work every day. And you guys whine because you have to pay around 2 dollars? :silly: - and the worst thing about this whole ordeal, is that the gas companies in Denmark have declared a prize war, so once that ends, it'll probably go up to around 6-6½ dollars pr. gallon :scared:

EDIT: Removed "whine" - it was a completely inappropriate word.

[dolo amber]

1. But...a large portion of that price

is taxes...which go to pay for things like national healthcare, public transportation (which I will guess if far better than anything we have here) schools, roads, etc. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what my European friends tell me is the cause of the great divide in prices vs. here. :hi:

[TheMightyFavog]

2. self deleted.

[greatauntoftriplets]

10. Ummm, please note that the original poster

lives in Denmark.

[TheMightyFavog]

12. Sorry about that.

didn't look your first post over.

[TheFarseer]

3. Sorry

but we just don't care about other people and what they are paying. Gas was $0.90 not long before 9/11 and $2 pisses us off.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

5. speak for yourself

I care about other people and what they are paying. Of course, some people don't - because some people lack perspective.

[Kimber Scott]

4. Here's why the whining...

First and formost - European mass transit systems far surpass American public transportation systems. Especially those in the southwest, which are basically, non-existant. We are forced to drive, sometimes very long distances, just to get to work. Secondly, I haven't lived in Europe in over 14 years, but I bet your gas prices haven't skyrocketed practically overnight. Thirdly, IMOP, the high gas prices are Bush's way of blackmailing the American people into approving his "energy plan" which seems to do nothing more than benefit his energy mogul friends. Lastly, this is not Europe and we can whine about our gas prices, if we want.

[Guy Fawkes]

6. You forgot to mention...

The gas prices will go way down come election-time... just to make GWB look good.

Second: gas may be $2.05 a gallon (it is here) or much more, but what people don't know is theres a better, cheaper gas. Go get a diesel engine, then use vegatable oil. Cheap, easy, almost no polutants...

[KDLarsen]

7. Actually, it has skyrocketed..

.. A year ago, it costed around 2/3's of what it does now.

But I'll agree on the Mass transit being much more developed in Europe (and in Denmark in particular - there's 3 busses pr. hour from where I live to the town center, starting at 7 AM and ending at 7 PM (when it goes down to just 2 pr hour).

Also, the tax revenue generated, is mainly spent on enviromental issues, since the Mass transit generates a profit on their own.

But, I do apologize for using the word whine. It was inappropriate - I'll edit it straight away.

[greatauntoftriplets]

11. I live in Chicago and we actually have better mass transit service...

than you describe. But, people here tend to drive.

I've been to Roskilde. Denmark is a beautiful country.

[Kimber Scott]

15. Our closest bus is over a mile away.

In the summer it can reach 115 - 120 degrees fahrenheit outside. It makes for a very long walk, and wait, for the bus to come twice an hour. It takes the bus two hours to reach a destination in which it would take 20 minutes to drive. Gas is $2.15 USD here today.

I don't mind the word "whine." I'll whine all the way to the ballot box. Hopefully, I won't be too broke to buy gas to get there by then!

[Deja Q]

9. Excellent points, and all accurate...

Couldn't have said it better myself. And I didn't.)

[Deja Q]

8. Well, we have a right to complain.

Not everybody has 30/38mpg cars like you. (SUV/Hummer owners can go bankrupt 50 times over for all I care, but those of us with 26/30mpg cars are being hit.)

We in America typically drive greater distances as well.

We in America suffice with 87 octane cars. 95 octane naturally costs more because it's more refined and much more fun to burn...

We in America also don't have the luxuries of a sane health care system like you have. You guys get taxed more, but then again you get a lot of good for the tax money collected. We on the other hand need every frigging penny so we don't go bankrupt from a bunch of medical bills trumped up by half-assed quacks. (There's no way America's health care system is the best. People can't afford it and quite a few of the doctors are, nonchalant if not incompetent I regret to say.) Or much of any system for that matter.

Sorry, but we have a right - especially when the "T" word comes into play. You get taxed but you get great services. America is a land of profits for elite profiteers; everyone else is just a tool to be exploited.

[TheMightyFavog]

13. It all boils down to one thing.

People in America are afriad of paying taxes, no matter what essential services the tax money pays for.

[KDLarsen]

14. A few comments..

.. I don't have a 38 mpg - it's my dads :) But I see your point

Why are you still stuck with 87 octane cars? Is it the industry that won't move along - or has it always been that way?

As for a sane health system - you got a point on that, but I can tell you that does not come from revenue based on gas tax. I work in a low income job as a warehouse substitute (ie. I get called out to various warehouses that need a extra hand for a day or two) and I get taxed around 40% (rough figure). I have no deductions whatsoever. My dad worked as a IT boss a few years ago, and he made around 10K USD pr. month, and he was taxed around 70%.

With that being said, more and more people are signing up for health care packages that will send them to a private hospital, because the waiting list for the public hospitals have grown insane (last I bothered to check, it was 4 months for hip surgery). I've been in & out of the hospital for a while (owing to a hearing disorder), and over the past few years, the service has slowly gone from good to ok to bad. I was once told that if I was going to be scheduled to go through surgery (which I wasn't in the end), the waiting list would be around 10 months.

The only thing I think is still working a-ok, is the educational system, which grants you free education all the way through college. That, and the social security (though it's flawed like hell - the new government tried to fix the flaws, but were flamed by the workers who abused the flaws and their unions).

Again, sorry if I offended anyone, I'd just like to know how it works "over there".

[Kimber Scott]

16. I don't know too many of us who would be happy with 70% taxes.

I'd rather have my money. I believe in free-enterprise with a social safety net. Nobody should ever be denied medical care for want of money, but also nobody should be forced to wait months and months for medical care because it's free. There has to be a compromise.

On edit: P.S. Considering $340,000.00 USD per month, our tax dollars, were going to pay Chalabi for his lies that gave the neo-cons their excuse for rushing into war, is another reason not to trust the government with, up to 70% of my paycheck. Again, I'd rather have my money.