I've been wasting my time parrying with a high school acquaintance on Facebook the past couple of days, after he posted something about how stupid it is that bankrupt companies will be forced to make small, unsafe (but high-mileage) cars that nobody wants.

Nobody wants? Have you seen all the Priuses out there? Finally given the opportunity to buy a high-mileage (but not small, and not unsafe) car, they have flown out of showrooms. I don't say Priuses are the perfect car, but they are proof that a sizable market segment wants that kind of car. Compare that to Buicks, or the Ford Five Hundred. American car makers have fought for decades against higher efficiency standards, and now they're failing.

When I pointed this out, his reply was to ask me when I became such a hard-core socialist. I'm trying to reason with this guy,  and he's calling me frickin' names!

We have so much work to do.