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The Poor Get Poorer Still
June 9th, 2008
Last month I asked the question, Is It Depression Yet? and linked quite a few opinions of economic pundits about when the recession no one in DC cares to admit we’re in will turn into a full-fledged depression.
In going down the list of ominous signs that we’re going down for the third time, the key ingredient apart from a burst credit bubble was rising oil prices. Well, this last weekend gasoline went over $4 a gallon, and diesel was pushing $5. So while families and workers in cities can start taking mass transit to work and school and just stay home this summer instead of driving to the Grand Canyon, the price of diesel - which runs all our shipping fleets, trucks and trains - is going to cause swift inflation in the price of food as well as everything else that is transported from here to there. It is no longer a wild conspiracy theory that oil will go to $200 a barrel, now projected by the end of this year and possibly right around election time. It could hit $150 this month and no one will be shocked.
Thus I read with interest an article in the June 9 New York Times entitled Rural U.S. Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4 Average. A survey by the Oil Price Information Service did a survey which showed that the price of gasoline has its biggest impact on rural areas, particularly in the Southeast, and that for the people euphemistically called the “working poor” the cost of just getting to work and to the store is quickly eating as much of their income as food and housing. Since their incomes are not rising and aren’t likely to rise, the situation for people in rural areas of the south, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas will soon become a choice between food and transportation.
In that previous post asking what signs will tell us we’re in a depression (since our dear leaders in Washington will never admit it), the moment that transportation becomes effectively unaffordable for people who have no other transport options, depression is upon us. Now, the millions of rural or suburban Americans who have to quit their jobs because they can no longer afford to get to work will not show up in the unemployment figures the government releases each month. Because if you quit your job rather than getting laid off, you won’t be getting any unemployment insurance payments. So the government figures - always low by a large factor due to not counting anyone not receiving benefits, will be low by much larger factors. When we can safely multiply the government figures by tens (where 300,000 lost jobs really means more like 3 million jobs lost), denial among the political class won’t be fooling anybody in the real world.
Mine is a rural family. Worse, we live in the hard-hit Southeast. Even worse than that, we live in Appalachia, which is and has always been an official “economically depressed region.” Jobs are scarce and getting scarcer, and commutes can be long. Outside actual cities of 100,000 or more mass transit is nonexistent. I work from home (which is nice), but daughter works in retail, grandson will be starting college this fall (and must drive unless he can share an apartment with a friend close to campus), and hubby’s job involves considerable travel in the region. The boss tells him that if gas goes to $5 a gallon he’ll have to simply close it down.
So what I’ve been doing is looking at some possible alternatives that don’t involve selling the property at cut-rate price and moving to some dingy city we’ll hate. My ‘vintage’ diesel Mercedes has been parked for months now, is probably going to be the first vehicle to go. Daughter’s will be second. We have to keep the pickup truck because this is a rural homestead and we need it. We’ll just have to keep it parked most of the time.
I’m thinking our best bet is some motorcycle type of thing. Because while a bicycle would be a healthful alternative, this is the mountains. No one in their right mind wants to bike 15 miles to work on steep mountain roads (where you’d end up walking it instead of riding it). So it looks to be your basic Barley Harley scooter or glorified Moped that gets about 100 miles per gallon. With that sort of mileage you can put up with some rain and wind, and spend a bit more time getting to and from (can’t use the interstate!). Turns out that you can buy a used scooter for a few hundred dollars, but it may need repair and that’s usually a few hundred dollars too. Yet fairly reliable transportation for under a thousand dollars is a pretty good deal, and the cost of running it saves a lot on gasoline. There are also brand new scooters for under a thousand dollars, which might be a wiser investment.
I’ve discovered that you can also buy saddlebags, trunks and baskets that would allow me to use the scooter to do minor grocery shopping or carry some things while traveling. This is quite a plus. A good ski outfit and well-styled rain gear will get me through rough weather, but do they make any helmets with windshield wipers?
So if rising prices are cutting deeply into your way of life, you might want to check around your area and some of the information and supplies sources listed below to see if there’s a good alternative for personal transportation in your future. Or, I suppose, we could spend the money on a horse and convert the little Honda into a carriage. How about a donkey and cart? I figure that if America wants to be a Third World country (parts of it already qualify), we might as well look like one.
Links:
Rural U.S. Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4 Average
Go Motor Scooter Blog
Motoscooter Muse
The Advantages of Scooters
Motorscooter Economy
8 Responses to “The Poor Get Poorer Still”
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One of the things that really bug me about this article (and about these kind of narrative articles about economic impact on rural areas) is often that the author does not present the situation as a lifestyle choice they are actively making. For example, in the article alternatives available in cities are mentioned as well as a statement of:
“..some dingy city we’ll hate”
While I understand that when gas was $1/gallon living out in the country far from work was a viable proposition for almost everyone, it was one that was never sustainable. You see that throughout the history of the U.S.A. people that lived far in the country away from cities were small self contained communities, the wealthy and agricultural ventures (which were either self supporting or had cash flow to support their distance from resources).
As a city dweller I have come to realize that it is a luxury to live in the country. The sooner I think people remember that fact the sooner people can make a more informed choice on their lifestyle and if their income can support it.
Excellent! You state so clearly what I know to be true. We are rural, 70 miles to the grocery store and doctors. Thanks for a great, informative read.
Hi, Dylan. Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I agree wholeheartedly that living in the country is a lifestyle choice. I live 5 miles from the nearest town, very much on purpose. And it’s a constant work in progress to make the trade-offs the choice requires.
On the other hand, if things get really rough, it’s the rural dwellers who will more easily survive. We’ll just travel slower than we used to, and less often. We can still walk, ride a bike, hop a train, get a mule or ride a horse. There was a world before “addiction to oil,” there will be one when oil becomes unaffordable. Understanding the issues and examining alternatives is a good idea, whether you’re in the city or the country.
Hi, Catherine! For medical transportation there are the County Vans, so people out here can get to doctors’ appointments and scheduled tests or treatments. Grocery store, not so much. I’ve found that my neighbors can be handy for that, if you get together and plan for the weekly trip and split the fuel cost, everybody wins!
[…] there doesn’t look to be any break in the recession cloud this year, with indicators that it may well descend all the way into depression by election day in […]
“How about a donkey and cart? I figure that if America wants to be a Third World country (parts of it already qualify), we might as well look like one.”
This line is priceless!
I have family in rural Indiana and Nebraska - what do they drive? A F150 and Suburban respectively. Not only that but they’re older vehicles from the mid 90’s so they can’t be gas efficient. I once asked why don’t they get a Honda, they’re response - people out here don’t drive Hondas. Ironic but most third world countries in Asia are sprawling with Honda.
Hi, Scooter, thanks for the comment! I hear you - my Mother-In-Law (love her very much) till drives her big Mercury 3 blocks to the Senior Center for lunch every day. Which would be okay (she’s 85) except that she’s going blind and shouldn’t be driving at all. Why, back in the ’70s she’d drive the single across-the-street and 1 parking lot to my Bro-In-Law’s shop!
It’s a dinky rural town with not a single traffic light and she lives a block off Main. Drives to church too, though it’s just across the back yard not a whole block away. That always seemed incredibly weird to me, but then, I’d always rather walk than drive if I can, and that can work out to miles where I live. Also have 19 holes of “challenging” mountain disc golf right here on the property, play daily, no gasoline 4-wheeler carts, either!
It’s a mindset, conditioned by history and a bad attitude toward physical fitness. She owns oil and gas wells, I can remember when gasoline was 17.9 cents a gallon in Oklahoma. Now it’s $4+, owning the well doesn’t make it cheaper. Very weird.
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