Protest Gas Prices

[transformer_99]

I just wonder when the house of cards will fail. It is built on the backs of the middle class and those of lower status. Imagine trying to pay your monthly expenses if you are making minimum wage. With the distances people in rural areas have to drive in order to get to work or shop for food etc. these gas prices coupled with the rising prices in every oil related product, as well as food and utilities, how can the average consumer continue to survive. I suppose many of them are using credit cards more and more and as their personal debt rises they will each reach a personal financial breaking point. I think the snowball is rolling downhill and growing quickly. When the american consumers feel pain the whole world is affected. I suppose as the recession/depression strikes and the american consumer stops buying the products of expanding China and India, then their economies will fail and they will no longer be buying all these new cars. Surely then the price of oil will fall. I just fear the repercussions of this global economic crash. Already there are riots in some countries because the prices of food have increased beyond the ability of people to pay. I truly hope these dire predictions are wrong, but the signs make me somewhat pessimistic of a turn-around in the near future.

A lot of what you allude/indicate to in your post, I already have my own economic embargoes in effect and in place. Al Qaeda isn't America's biggest threat, it's the individuals hiding behind incorporation and a lot of them call themselves our neighbors.

 

[D_Martin van Burden]

I just remember hearing one representative of a big oil company getting all pissed because people (mistakenly?) believe that the companies are reaping in all of the profits. He alleged that the oil company itself only controls a small part of the gas production costs, the bulk of it going into refinement. And yet, we're to suck up some CEOs raking in billions in quarter profits.

Fuck them all. I already have a Honda Civic. Don't make me go fuel cell.

 

[Reallyonlyme]

I'm about sick of this ignorant bullshit. I don't really fucking care what you pay for it where you are...it doesn't invalidate the enormous economic pressure being put on people here by the hyperinflation of prices in the USA.

So with all due respect, take your self-righteous drivel and bugger off.

Sorry, you seem to be under the impression that over this side of the pond £1.17 a litre (that's > $2.30) isn't a big deal... We've had hyperinflated prices for years.

This isn't a US only problem, it's just that you're just starting to notice it at last. OPEC is a world wide monopoly, they fix production, they fix the prices, they get very rich, and we all get screwed.

So make a note, don't vote Oil men into power, assuming you have a choice of course.

 

[BiItalianBro]

Having a Tres Sec and Fed Reserve Chair who are pumping the economy with cheap credit is not helping matters. Brazil and Argentina tried it in the 1980's and 90's and see how well that worked out for them.
I think that the problem is that the "bubble" from the 90's .com boom never was allowed to pop. It moved from telecom/internet to real estate and now to commodities (oil being the key here). It has to deflate sooner or later and the longer we put it off, the more painful it will be.

 

[HazelGod]

This isn't a US only problem, it's just that you're just starting to notice it at last. OPEC is a world wide monopoly, they fix production, they fix the prices, they get very rich, and we all get screwed.

I understand this, and never said it was a US only problem.

You might want to have a chat with your fuckstick countryman back there about the concept, though. He seems to think that because he's paid comparatively high fuel prices, he holds some exclusive monopoly on valid complaints about same. I was responding to his asshat assertion that our concerns are immaterial because they aren't ours alone.

 

[B_Marius567]

why not just buy a small car to save gas?

 

[yurkon]

Sorry, you seem to be under the impression that over this side of the pond £1.17 a litre (that's > $2.30) isn't a big deal... We've had hyperinflated prices for years.

This isn't a US only problem, it's just that you're just starting to notice it at last. OPEC is a world wide monopoly, they fix production, they fix the prices, they get very rich, and we all get screwed.

So make a note, don't vote Oil men into power, assuming you have a choice of course.

It's classic. I hope you aren't offended. Most Americans just like to complain and point fingers. In my mind, I don't blame OPEC or the CEOs. America and maybe the UK choose to get screwed. There are all kinds of alternatives which we ignore because they weren't profitable enough (kinda).

Exxon/Mobile makes 9-10%, which really isn't much.

I don't see gas prices being reduced by anything significant in the near term. The reason is very simple for the increase, same supply and a bigger demand. Every day China and India prosper and expand. In doing so more and more people are driving.

For every 1000 eligible drivers:
In America there are 1032 cars.
In China there are 9 cars.
In India there are 7 cars.
Sorry, could find numbers on Europe.

China and India account for 1/3 of the worlds population.
Look at the upward potential for demand as those countries continue to grow.

Check this link out, it comments on Europe, America, China, India.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/business/worldbusiness/09oil.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

To me what is frustrating is that America chooses to ignore the option of an electric car and solar power. Both of those would solve a lot of our problems but aren't supported because in a vacuum, they don't seem economically feasible. The lower 1/3 of the US could use solar exclusively at current usage rates. Above that, a combination of solar and nuclear could be used. Americans are afraid of nuclear power and the payback for solar power is 12 years which seems too long to most people. However, the payback period until profits are realized for a our current system is also 12 years. The difference is that after 12 years, solar has minimal maintenance, thus they are used on satellites where we'll never maintain them.

I'm not sure how the environmental concerns compare. Solar power and electric power seem cleaner, but eventually the batteries need to be replaced and hopefully recycled.

It could just be we're going to feel some pain no matter what happens because the world population continues to grow and consequently we'll use up more of the resources. In the very long term, solar has to be a component of Americas energy production. If you read the link above, the forecast looks sketchy.