The truth of the matter is that Americans are by and large a bunch of exceptionalist imperialist cry-babys. Four dollar gas couldn't have happened to a nicer group of people, and I hope it goes to $6 a gallon. Maybe that'll learn 'em. Maybe once Americans get out of their big fat cars and bike, walk, or take public transportation, I'd have more sympathy.

The tragic thing is that Americans aren't bitching where they really are getting screwed--by the medical (mal)practice of private insurance monopoly. Every other developed nation and quite a few developing nations assume as a right what Americans take as a privilege: the right to basic medical care when sick. Cheap gas, like cheap credit, has led too many Americans to make unwise choices about where to live and work. One can only hope the Americans wise up before they go bankrupt.