Drive whatever you want but the sooner I can do it on battery power and do it with the sunlight reaching my roof, the happier I’ll be. There are current tech EVs that meet the needs of both of our vehicles.

I have nothing against your right to drive whatever you want but don’t like seeing the spikes in prices that I pay due to the demand caused by high consumption here or there or in China.

Once upon a time when prices were stable I did not worry about the price of gas too much but things are far too sensitive now. Now it is easier to see how what we share the road with influences the prices I pay.

Shaved head and attacking an SUV? Well… I’m sorry, but I can’t promise I won’t laugh.

Sounds a bit like it’s boring you with going over the news. Maybe the podcasts should take a different routine, going over things not already covered?

I do like the take you guys have on most subjects, but maybe I’m missing something – RF, you’re having fun with it, and it really comes across in the audio (by the way, how’s it being recorded – Justin’s audio is usually distant/faint/too quiet). Justin, I think I like it more when you’re riled up over a particular subject (i.e. pissed off at stupid decisions by the 2.8 or somewhat).

(I totally did not envision this as being a widespread commentary/criticism on all podcasts so far when I first started writing it.)

Is it me or does Justin seem chronically disinteresed and somewhat miffed about doing these podcasts.\

If THAT doesn’t kick his ass, NOTHING will.

And yes, gas needs to be taxed so that the pollution is not externalized.

Still, here is my counter to the whole “it’s too wide for real off road use” argument. Isn’t that true because most of the trails have been forged by Jeeps? Wouldn’t the trails be wider had the guys who forged it been forced to find/make a path wide enough for a Hummer instead? Trust me, if this argument was really a good one, the US Army would not have bought the Hummer in the first place.

Also, if the Hummer is too wide, then why isn’t the jeep? Isn’t it wider than a quad trac, which is wider than a motorcycle or horse, which can’t go down a goat path like a guy on boots anyway?

While I prefer my ‘crusher, I can tell you that the trade offs in the H2 over the Hummer aren’t all that bad. It is a worthwhile offroader.

You stole the words out of my mouth. This applys mainly to GM, however IMO.

GM has been a deeply troubled company since Roger Smith screwed them up really good in the 1980s. All throughout the 90s GM still faced the problems that were their inability to keep all of their brands at the forefront to the industry due to there being too many mouths to feed, rampant costcutting, the fact that all of their brands were diluted and competed with each other, and the rampant badge engineering. These are problems that still face The General today, and they all stemmed from Smith.

GM simply used the SUVs and their massive profits to cover up the serious issues that were plaguing the company. They had us all fooled, and we thought that GM was again a profitable and prosperous company, despite the fact that it was all a fluke. The massive profits just covered up the company’s problems, and they didn’t really sell any of these SUVs, they just leased them. That is the main reason why now, GM is losing money, is in a straightjacket that is its Smith era commitments, and is taking hits of all the used SUVs being turned in off of leases. GM’s crash is like the Great Depression: All of the prosperity was just a fluke, and there was never any REAL money there in the first place. And Rick Wagoner was left holding the bag.

As far as I’m concerned, there’s one limit to individual freedom: other peoples’ freedom and well-being.
Which is why taxes on pollution and carbon emissions should be implemented. Otherwise, pollution is nothing else than an externality. If you’re free to fart all over other people without having to pay for it, that is a problem.

But I’ll say it again. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should do it.

Or, to put a finer point on it, just because you can buy a gas-guzzling, road-hogging, resource-wasting, ego-massaging, ill-handling, safety equipment and fuel consumption standards-exempt, truck-based, excessively-depreciating piece of s**t, doesn’t mean you should buy it.

Unless, of course, you really need it.