My grandfather's pride and joy; a red Volkswagon Beetle convertible. He loved it. To him, it was more than a car, it was a symbol of his freedom. He'd laugh, 'I had a Volkswagen in the sixties and now I have a Volkswagen in my sixties!"

He said, "For Americans, cars are freedom personified. Go where you want to, when you want to, without asking permission or showing your ID or waiting in a terminal. With him, "top down gettin' round" was his way of showing the world his free spirit. But, he also loved that big motorhome. He called it his "condo on wheels". He and my grandmother camped in national and state parks, RV parks, even vineyards where they could overnight for free when buying wine = "what a life!"

Streets are essentially vacant now. Not many people going to shop. Not much on the shelves now that the use of trucks is so limited. No fresh meat. Without fossil fuels for power to produce and distribute, very little is being produced or stocked. Unemployed, few people have much money to spend, anyway.

Since there is no fuel for cars, almost nobody travels, so hotels and motels across America have become public housing for indigent and immigrants. At least the flow of immigrants has nearly stopped as things are no better here than where they are.

My grandfather warned us of what was to come - twenty years ago! He warned us that "the cancer of liberalism is metastasizing in America. Only the elites will live well. The rest of us will all be equal, at the bottom." We were too busy with our toys, our computers, our immediate gratification and our willingness to let government take care of our every need - as they defined them." We lost freedom.