I originally posted this on my blog 2 years ago. Seems even more relevent today. Raped at the gas pump, again So, you haven't had enough yet? Fill up you car now, you can almost feel a hand reaching for your wallet before you do. But you'll brush it off, because quite frankly, you haven't had enough yet. You can't rape the willing. The oil producers are only a part of the problem. The other half of the equation is something most people don't even consider. The stock market. As oil is a commodity, it is traded on the market in pursuit of the highest price. All this talk about supply and demand is is just a pill they hand you everytime they jack up the price at the pump. Follow the money. From us to them. Two kinds of people are milking you right now for your hard earned money. Those who trade in oil futures, and those who invest in oil companies. Both are so busy counting their profits, they have lost all contact with human decency. Money has corrupted them. You are nothing to these people. They don't care about what you spend at the pump as long as you spend as much as you can. They don't care about how food prices will go up because of their greed. They don't care about the hardships that the small business people are struggling with. All they care about is how much money can be made. If you own oil company stock, you are a part of this problem. Dump it, and find something else. Don't feed this beast. Don't you dare. While there are a number of reasons for the Iraq war, oil is certainly one of them. So, when you're standing there at the pump listening to the gasoline swirl down the nozzle into your tank, you better stop for a moment and think. There's another additive in that gasoline. Blood. x
Call the police, and go to the hospital BEFORE you take a shower, or wash the clothes you were wearing when this happened. Or you can call 1-800-656-HOPE
it's a rape joke, i think. but anyways, when you blame people who own stock in oil companies, you mitigate your own responsibility. it's you, the consumer, who ultimately puts the cash into their hands, not just the speculators.
It's $5.20 per gallon up in Central Canada. Roughly $1.31 per Litre. I think I will buy a diesel next time.
"Those who trade in oil futures, and those who invest in oil companies," are not any greedier than they were during the 1990's when gasoline was cheap. What is different now are the facts that millions of people in China and India are buying cars, and the world supply of petroleum is being depleted. The petroleum that remains is less accessible, and more expensive to drill. It is easy to demagog this issue. Liberals can blame the oil companies. Conservatives can blame environmental regulations. The truth is that America's dependence on automobile transportation is a national problem. We do not only need to develop alternatives to gasoline. We need to develop alternatives to automobile transportation, like public transportation, bicycle trails, and pedestrian means of access. Ending the gasoline tax is a terrible response. We should raise the tax and spend the money on funding alternatives to automobile transportation. Public transportation requires more subsidies, as in Europe. The free market will not finance bicycle trails and sidewalks. Also, Americans need to move back to cities. In a city it is easier to get along without a car.
Agreed on all points. Except for raising gas taxes. I'm not really sure on that issue because I know myself and my family and friends are already struggling w/ gas at the price it is now. Raising the gas taxes would force change to happen faster, because people would start demanding it and they would start making an effort as well when they saw it start to affect their own lives. But I'd like to think there is a less painful manner in which to make the changes necessary.
