You know whose hurt by high prices? Poor people. Guess whose not hurt by them? Rich people.
this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2026
77 points (84.7% liked)
Unpopular Opinion
8984 readers
1 users here now
Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!
How voting works:
Vote the opposite of the norm.
If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.
Guidelines:
Tag your post, if possible (not required)
- If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
- If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].
Rules:
1. NO POLITICS
Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.
2. Be civil.
Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...
Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.
5. No trolling.
This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.
6. Defend your opinion
This is a bit of a mix of rules 4 and 5 to help foster higher quality posts. You are expected to defend your unpopular opinion in the post body. We don't expect a whole manifesto (please, no manifestos), but you should at least provide some details as to why you hold the position you do.
Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Exactly. Based on this, and based on OP's other responses, OP is basically saying "I want poor people to suffer so rich people can make more money" (off of new car sales with more efficient engines, or electric).
So my question for them is: is the income divide not great enough? If not, when will it be?
That's mainly a problem for car-brained people. There are other modes of transportation, you know.
No, there aren't.
Plenty of places have no other option.
have no other option yet
Yea, because alternate options just pop up over night.
People like you remind me of evangelical Christians.
You are all perfectly content to have other people suffer in hopes that a wonderful future will emerge.
If you want to suffer, go right ahead. Don't expect other people to be miserable so you can feel superior.
yeah, let's keep things just the way they are and stop hoping that societal changes can be a motor for improvement
all I'm saying is there aren't alternatives YET, but situations like this could create a positive change in mindset and eventually infrastructure as well. fine by me if you want to be a glass-half-empty kind of person
So when people can't afford basic life necessities today so poor people starve and go homeless, but that pressure has some unrealized future benefit the current generation likely won't live to see, that's glass half-full for you?
I'm hopeful for better too, but I'm not going to be happy about human suffering.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
People in dense cities who only drive are car brained. People who live where there are zero other options are simply getting to the store or to work the only way they can.
load more comments
(23 replies)
Its true! I strongly believe in public transport. Particularly the transport that is also dependent on oil... Where I live though, if I wanted to get to work without my car it would change my trip time from 45m - 1.5h to about 2h-3h. Each way. I don't feel like spending 6h travelling so it's not really a choice for many of us.
At least you have an option. If I wanted to get to work without owning a car I'd have to call an Uber or a friend with a car.
load more comments
(2 replies)
There are many regions where alternative forms of transport aren't very viable. Nearly non-existent public transit and bike infrastructure because everything was designed from the beginning with cars in mind. Zoning requirements that mean everything is spread out and impossible to walk between. Possibly even combined with terrible weather for much of the year.
Places where making changes to fix those issues, increase public options, etc. are met with stiff political backlash, not necessarily from the car people, but just simple conservatives or regressives that don't think any money should be spent on that infrastructure, often simply because it's not something they'd use.
but, and I realise this might be a bit utopian, the more people (have to) use alternative modes of transportation, the more the need for better infrastructure will grow. domino effect and all that
load more comments
(8 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
Are car brained people going to be the only ones affected by rising food prices due to an increase in transportation costs? How about those that don't have any other means but to drive to work to make a living because public transportation isn't available and buying an EV isn't an option?
It's not just an issue for car brained people, it's also an issue for narrow minded people, such as yourself.
load more comments
(3 replies)
Yeah, in a major metropolitan area.
Trains are cool! There's like two train tracks that go through town and they only carry freight. There are no passenger trains anywhere around here.
We also have buses. They don't come within 5 miles of me. Also a non-starter.
I guess it's cool to hate cars if you live with your parents, but for those of us with bills to pay, we gotta go get that bread. But uh, have fun with your online gaming or whatever. It's just not sustainable for most of us.
load more comments
(3 replies)
That’s mainly a problem for (poor) car-brained people.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(5 replies)
I'm hoping some of the poor people start to realize how dependent they are on gas though. They've been too comfortable with subsidized gas for too long, with us taxpayers all paying to lower gas prices artificially. It's time they notice and start thinking that maybe it's time to think about carpooling or buying smaller cars.
A lot of people in the US still have states that don't allow mail-in voting, and can't get off work to vote. Those people are poor.
A lot of poor people voted against this. Didn't matter- they still got it.
They're going to suffer heavily. We can all try to do what we can to reduce the use of fossil fuels, but consumers have not had enough power to do anything meaningful at any point in my lifetime.
Rich people will still technically be affected, but yeah they aren't going to go hungry.
load more comments
(2 replies)
I think people moving to EVs is great, but if you absolutely need to get a car, the more economical and environmentally friendly option is to purchase a second hand vehicle regardless if it's electric or petrol based. Everyone suddenly switching to an EV would cause a catastrophic amount of waste to accrue. Second hand evs are also more expensive than second hand petrol cars AND are more likely to have problems. EV adoption will be gradual, but punishing the struggling working class for daring to use what they can afford AND not throwing working vehicles into the trash is pretty ignorant in my opinion.
Have any data to back up second hand EVs being less reliable than second hand gas cars? Everything I’ve personally experienced is that as long as the battery is liquid cooled, they’re practically maintenance free.
load more comments
(4 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Bring it, my preferred ride is a bicycle. I am bummed when I have to drive.
load more comments
(1 replies)
oil prices effect food prices, prices anything made with petroleum like soap, nylon, plastics, fertilizer, anything that has to travel from point a to point b uses petroleum.
but i get it. some people don't have any skin in any game at all.
to them this is funny
load more comments
(4 replies)
I agree. We need every bit of war against fossil fuels, even if we burn with them!
load more comments
(2 replies)
Why?
Because of climate change and my hatred of breathing in diesel fumes when a truck passes by. I want to see more efficient electric vehicles. With gas prices high the alternative becomes more viable, and it exposes how volatile fossil fuels are.
I agree, but expecting change in the next 6 months, maybe up to five years, is unrealistic, particularly under a government that actively encourages the use of fossil fuels.
But it can be a waking call for many people that didn't though about changing to EV and solar panels.
load more comments
(20 replies)
Its not just america paying more for oil. Countries world wide will experience this and future volatility. It could be a tipping point for some to take alternative energy and transportation more seriously.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(5 replies)
Oil is one of those “have to have” things for most people. Fixed demand + reduced supply = pure profit for those who sell it, and that’s about it. And not even a productive kind; it’s kinda a wealth transfer without any actual change in what’s being traded.
Pretty stupid take really.
Fuel isn't just for people to put in their cars and drive to the shops.
load more comments
(1 replies)
"... When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money." -The Guy, who OP obviously is.
Agree with this one! More people being thoughtful about their mode of transportation is a positive aspect
load more comments
(2 replies)
I'm with you. We must switch away from fossil fuels, it's more important than anything. Every little bit helps. If we don't, we're boiling ourselves alive on the only planet we have. Think about agriculture fucked up globally, climate shocks, extreme weather, the cost of that is orders of magnitude higher
load more comments
(1 replies)
The problem is Oil is bad but just you start using EV cause all other essential things come via transport methods which use Oil, so the price there increases a hell lot which affects everyone.
load more comments
(1 replies)
this has a very bad side effect, as trump just removed oil sanctions from RUSSIA, now they are selling oil at a HIGH price to refund thier WAR EFFORT, which is bad news for ukraine. now they can afford to purchase more materials for drones, and missiles to use against ukraine.
view more: next ›