Ok, I admit it, I am a metric kinda guy. I don’t do gallons or inches, cups (at least when I am cooking) and Fahrenheit means nothing to me.

 I was raised in Europe and I’m proud of it, but that is besides the point here. I will attempt to convert the above price to roughly US $2.10 per litre of gas. Still lower than in most European countries by the way.

So here I am reading through the daily concerns of the masses on the Internet and I came across a fantastic post by a writer over at the LA Times who took the time to find the positive sides of ‘high’ gas prices. His name is Joel Stein and the complete article can be found here http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-stein11-2008jul11,0,258677.column

So what could possibly be good about a high gas price that would prompt me to write this post for you today? Well, I can think of a few things…

In society change usually happens slowly and from the grassroots level up. Once the desire of the masses reaches a tipping point, extraordinary things are possible. Think for example of the French Revolution, where the people tumbled an empire to found a Republic which served as an exemplary democracy in Europe at the time.

Or take the Decleration of Independence in the US history and its three most quoted principles of:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

 But since then a lot has happened as well that may not be written in a historic document or carved in stone but be just as important for mankind. Change often happens when somebody is slightly out of their comfort zone and the options to adjust to this change are streching our imagination. Luckily, high gas prices are not usually a life or death type of scenario, but are mote subtle in nature because they affect the majority of things that we enjoy in life - at the status quo!

Now what if, just for the sake of argument we envisoned a life that was not so relient on fossil fuels and more focused on the human factor. That, my friends might look something like this:

You get up in the morning and in your Pjs you make some coffee before you go to your office. That office is a laptop on top of your desk in your home office overlooking the yard where your children are playing. It won’t be a very busy day, and that meeting you have scheduled in the afternoon will only require a phone line and some of your great ideas.

Your kids grab their backpacks and walk out the door, but instead of you having to drive them to school in your SUV, they can walk the 3 blocks and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine on their way there.

As your workday winds down, you feel like you need to do some shopping for dinner and maybe have a little workout to keep you in shape. So why not combine the two and get your bike which allows you to reach the neigherborhood store in about 10 easy minutes. You want to make a healthy dinner and visit a few stores which are all side by side on the same street and cater nothing but the feshest local ingredients.

You won’t need a car for this because likely you will be back the next day to pick up the stuff you need for the following days.

As you come home you cook dinner and after your spouse and kids have eaten with you, maybe it’s time for a game or a movie. Whatever it maybe, most likely you can enjoy it from your own livingroom, and chances are the kids in the row behind you won’t throw popcorn at you either.

The weekend arrives and you feel like going out of town. No problem, you load up your Hybrid car and take the family to a destination in the countryside. Quaint, close and most likely a hidden secret which is why you are getting the B&B at a very lovely price.

I’m not trying to recruit for Greenpeace here, because I enjoy the comforts of modern civilization as much as you do, but I am fully convinced that more good will come out of this current trend than bad.

Here is another point you can’t dismiss. Who is most affected by the current rise in prices? The poor and the middle class, right? Mortgage foreclosed, SUV sold, inflation is rising and nowhere to go…

I beg to differ on this one. It may have occurred to you that the rich will always be fine, no matter what the economy is doing and no matter who runs the country. Isn’t that alone an incentive to get marvelously wealthy and simply not worry about gas prices and all the other hype that is surrounding us? All you need is to adopt the thinking and the ways of the rich and you can be on your way.

Lastly, let me conclude with this. The sheer flood of innovation in new greener technology and adapted living for modern societies such as ours will far outweigh the current tipping point of whatever it may be that’s on the news. It’s time to realize that out potential as human beings is truly endless, only curtailed by what our ego tells us we cannot do. But no true leader is going to let that stop him. 

Remember, the leaders will always be fine soaring above the crowd, while the masses will always be complaying like lame ducks that are looking for someone to do it for them. Exercise your divine right to be a leader. Let me welcome you to it…

All the best

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