A lesson from the Romans

The entitlement mentality in this country has to stop.

Now, its energy. We are entitled to cheap gas. Politicians are pandering to the people to win votes. And we encourage them.

There was a pretty big backlash to big government's response to the mortgage "crisis" - no bailouts for the irresponsible. That stopped the bailout talk. I don't hear the same about gas prices. We need to have the same "let capitalism do its job" mantra that applied in the mortgage crisis.

Gas is $4+ a gallon. So what. You can be part of the solution. Reduce your gas usage. Support alternative energies. The higher gas goes the bigger ROI that alternative energy companies will reap, encouraging them to invest more aggressively. Or mass transportation options become more available. Microsoft operates its own bus system in the Seattle area. Great idea, capitalism at its best, employees win, the environment wins, and citizens win.

The loser will be OPEC in the next decade when enough smart entrepreneurs figure out how to bring solar, wind, and battery power to vehicles. Big Oil had better figure out how to be big energy, else they will fall the way Kodak did when Kodak failed to realize it wasn't in the film business it was in the photo business.

We survived the 70s gas crisis. We will survive this one. If government doesn't screw it up.