In robust economic times, or even normal times, the average person views their expenses to be things like excess food they might enjoy, or a vacation.

Basic necessities needed to live aren't considered your expenses in times of economic output and low inflation.

However, in lean times, when inflation starts making a huge difference to your life, you start to view every single meal as an expense, and it leaves you questioning whether it's an expense that's worth it.

The middle-class has been basically eroded since 2020, with over 70% of the former middle-class demographic now either brushing up against the poverty line or sitting below it.

This has little to do with them making less money; it's all to do with the fact that 7% inflation in America is really mathematically 40% inflation in America, and so for every $100 you make, it only has the buying power of $60.

Take away 40% of anyone's income and unless they were already rich, it stings. What makes matters worse is that politicians aren't really trying to correct the issue. Instead, they just send out paid shills telling you to stop burning fuel.

Psaki, Biden's Press Secretary, along with a lot of other knuckleheads from MSNBC, and paid shills at the New York Times and Washington Post, all have some sound (condescending) advice for the average men and women in America: Stop driving and you won't have to complain about fuel prices.

Oh, and the added bonus: This is just the start of higher fuel prices.

Once America goes to war with Russia, one of the top oil producers on the planet, gas is expected to go up to over $6 per gallon nationwide.

There have been literally hundreds of politicians and war-mongering pundits on TV laughing and celebrating the fact that Americans are about to have to sacrifice even more, only this time for a lot less.

So, the message is clear, if you're an America. Be quiet and stop driving if you care so much about fuel costs.
 

One Expense That's Needed to Afford the Others

The irony people are having trouble wrapping their head around here is the fact that they need their automobiles to get to work in order to make the money that covers the rest of their expenses.

It's not like people can just walk those miles to work, nor can they take a cab and end up spending exponentially more money on travel.

Most people don't live in the Urbanite paradise of the DC Metro-to-NYC pipeline, so they can't just take a quick AmTrak and be at work.

And NYC's subway system is only in NYC; the rest of the nation doesn't have that option.

So, to be told that one should just stop driving is a very insulting barb thrown at people who are already struggling enough and don't need ridicule from the elites packed into their pods who can afford an Uber to go everywhere, thanks to the taxpayers' sweat and labor.

Fuel is an expense that has to be paid to drive, and also add in the fact that it's currently the middle of winter in the US, and people need their heat to not freeze to death.
 

There Are Ways to Cut

There are ways that people can cut their costs while traveling. However, instead of offering people practical advice, the politicians and the other elite class of Americans offer nothing but scorn and condescension for people who are actually struggling.

Car-pooling is a tried and true way to save money. If you reach out and speak to people with whom you work, you should be able to work out a schedule of car-pooling that allows people to pool their fuel money together in order to travel a lot cheaper.

Then there are things like grocery deliveries that you can get for free by signing up with a membership at places like Walmart and perhaps your local grocery store. It's worth it insofar as you're not burning fuel running around, and so you're not spending as much money to fill up your tank.

So, yes there are ways by which you can cut costs. It would be nice for the American elite intelligentsia to offer that advice instead of mocking people.

Nobody in America should be dealing with this situation that they did not create. The government constantly calls on the American people to sacrifice, but for what? There's never a return on that sacrifice. The people are only taken from, and now America is reaching a point where many won't be able to afford fuel at all.