The worst part of the tone deafness of the surly snob bootstrappy "Shut up and Drive Less" is ignoring the fact that is the first thing any non-privileged economic actor does. Again I'll repeat, do you think I'm jumping in a v8 gas guzzler and just driving with the windows down to relax or think deep thoughts or mull over my psychological or philosophical problems for fun?
This isn't the 1950's where freedom is characterized by the open road; driving is a nightmare, roads and traffic and other drivesr are hellscapes and nobody wants to do it unless we absolutely, 100% HAVE to.
So yes, just by virtue of gas prices being high, I drive less. My wife drives less. Everyone I know who isn't Surly 1% is driving less. Even then, the rich are driving less "a 10% jump in gas prices typically leads to a 2%–3% decline in gas consumption, UC Berkeley economist Lucas Davis told the WSJ"
So we all agree everyone is driving less, now what? We should just shut up and not be vocal that inflation and rising prices outpacing wage growth and our ability to have a quality of life because it's grating on the finely evolved ear hammer and anvils of the rich.