If anybody caught CSpan you couldn't have missed Micheal Greenberger. He is set to testify next week about the manipulation of the market - speculation and his (and the majority of other economists) belief that it is the reason for about 30% of the rising prices. At the very least. There is no regulation of the market - that was dismantled so that people like the guys in Enron can find a way to kill the average consumer and make a lot of money for the bosses at the top. As Greenberger mentioned - those guys who were the crooks hiding behind the deregulation - were in high demand and are being used in some of these companies. If as some believe that speculation is not the reason, then it's pretty simple - call in the justice department or else pass laws regulating commodies again and let's see where it heads. Blame Bush? Why not - the majority of deregulation has come about in his administration and we've seen a lot of the fallout in the financial industry aka mortgage mess and now we are seeing it in commodities. sammieswife.
Self -Employed or Otherwise Gainfully Employed - Gas Prices Eating You Up?
by flipper 115 Replies latest jw friends
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Octarine Prince
I am eagerly anticipating the testimony.
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PrimateDave
Please, Mr. Flipper, and others, take some time to read up on the concept of Peak Oil. It is not a conspiracy, and I am no fan of Alex Jones, that great purveyor of One World Government conspiracy theories. It is not the fault of American Big Oil Companies. The oil majors are at a historic low in percentage of overall global petroleum production. Oil is traded on the international markets. While market manipulation does occur, the fact is that global demand now equals or surpasses global supply. In fact many developing nations are now essentially priced out of the oil market. For them the age of oil is over.
There will be no way to fix this problem. The government cannot manage this aside from imposing greater controls on citizens. There are no alternatives to petroleum that will allow humanity to run civilization the way it currently exists. Surely, there are alternatives to petroleum, but they are not scalable. Not everyone can run their vehicle on used French fry oil. There is not enough arable land on the planet to feed a billion motor vehicles along with an increasing human population. Besides, any alternative that becomes profitable also needs to be affordable. There are solutions, but they aren't being talked about because they go too far outside our dominant cultural narratives. Instead, we get "news" about the soap opera of presidential election politics. Forget politics! Either we learn to live within the limits of the natural system we are a part of, or we eat the planet and then each other.
What woke me up to Peak Oil?
Watch the first 10 minutes of The End of Suburbia.
Want an even deeper look?
An interview with the makers of the documentary What a Way to Go, Life at the End of Empire.
Have a nice day!
Dave -
SnakesInTheTower
Flipper...gas prices are a bummer...but as others have said..it could be worse....and I fully expect to see $5/gal by the end of the year in the US... I filled up Sat in Iowa for $3.79 (and in Missouri for $3.75)....Illinois side of the river is $3.98 now...
I use my car for work..and I am not reimbursed.....I drive a 6 yr old fuel efficient car..on the interstate I get as high as 41 mpg (gas not diesel engine).... and about 30-35 average city and highway.... during a work day, I may start and stop my car 50 or more times as I hit customers houses....my gas mileage dropped like a rock and it was wearing out my starter....so I started leaving my engine run with the doors locked...since I am usually only at each home 5 minutes max.... and I still get 24 mpg....
In 2007 I spent $3,296.20 in gas for 12 months...through the first 4 months of 2008 (I havent figured in May yet), I am at $1,059.43...at this rate I will spend about the same....unless gas goes up even more...how did I end up spending the same with gas prices up 70cents/gal over last year? I have changed the way I work...since I have to drive about 20 miles from my house to get to the start of my route ...I have started working less days....I use software to map out the most optimal route based on the addresses I am going to that day...instead of hitting certain work orders (based on how much I make), I hit them all geographically....and I am making more money....
I think at $5/gal I will have reached the tipping point, and unless the company I work for negotiates an increase from our client company, I will have to quit and find something else
Snakes ()
PS...here is my political statement for the day: THE TERRORIST HAVE WON. If they can cripple the US economy by interfering with gas supplies, they have truly won. How much oil is in Iraq that the US cant get to because gas pipelines keep getting attacked...and yet the US is paying to rebuild them over and over...and Iraq is not footing the bill for the war out of oil revenue...the US is.... 100 year war...no matter who is in office....
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WTWizard
I just pedal right past the high gas prices. Hey, that is one way I am helping keep them from going up even faster--every bicycle on the road is one less car burning gas, one less customer for the big oil companies, and that much less gas that just sits there in storage.
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RubaDub
Wow ...
Gas finally hit $4.00 per gallon here in Miami ... actually just filled up our diesel car and paid $4.52 per gallon.
So goes life.
Rub a Dub
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Dorktacular
Why does everybody think George Bush has any damned thing to do with the price of gas? Ever hear of an organization named OPEC? How about the fact that China and India are starting to use just as much oil as we are, increasing demand and, therefore, prices? How about the fact that the US Dollar has steadily declined in value for quite some time, too. Hell, if the dollar were worth as much as it was last summer, we'd probably be paying close to the prices we paid last summer!
Oh, I seem to remember when Nancy Pulosi and The Democrats took over congress... Didn't they promise that one of the first things they were going to do was fix gas prices?? The gas prices have gone up 60% since they made that promise. The Democrats can't do any more about the price of gas than the Republicans can. This goes beyond politics-as-usual. The increased demand for oil isn't going to go away unless there's a MUCH bigger earthquake in China. We made China the monster that it is by buying all of our crap from them for years, so they had to build the industrial infrastructure to keep up with America's demand for cheap, disposable crap to buy at Wal-Mart.
Nobody wants to hear it, but we need to 1) Drill more oil wells. If China has no problem with drilling off the coast of Florida (They are doing this, folk. Research it), then neither should we. (2 Build more nuclear power plants to lessen the use of fossil fuels for the purposes of generating electricity. This accomplishes two things. First, we eliminate a lot of polution from our air and second, we have more gas, coal and oil for use in other areas as needed. 3) Build more refineries. They haven't built a new refinery since I was born! Hello.....! Idiots!!! Demand has gone up exponentially, but the production capability hasn't! Business 101, people! THIS IS A PROBLEM!!! 4) Make Detroit get off their fat asses and make an affordable, reliable hybrid that actually works for AMERICANS!! We can't cart our families around in a Prius! It doesn't work. We need hybrid vehicles that will accomodate the American lifestyle. We need to be able to go to work, the store, soccer practice, our bookie, therapist and drug dealer all in one day without having to stop and recharge.
I want to drive my 1967 Plymouth GTX to work every day at 6 miles per gallon. But, since the price of gas is too high, I drive my Toyota Corolla to work every day because it gets 38 miles to the gallon. Driving a Toyota is truly an emasculating experience, but it beats driving my truck or my other cars that have much bigger balls. Less consumption is only a short term solution, however. I'm using less gas; everybody I know is driving less, or at least not driving unless it's necessary, but the price of gas keeps going up. We need alternative fuels to solve the problem. Me? I'm going to start brewing Ethanol (moon shine) in the garage! I'll get a full tank and get tanked all at the same time. Hee Hee.
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sammielee24
Either we learn to live within the limits of the natural system we are a part of, or we eat the planet and then each other.
What woke me up to Peak Oil?
Watch the first 10 minutes of The End of Suburbia.
Want an even deeper look?
An interview with the makers of the documentary What a Way to Go, Life at the End of Empire.
Have a nice day!
DaveDave, while I'm not a huge conspiracy nut, I do read Alex Jones and have watched some of his documentaries. It can get overwhelming though and downright depressing ...but I have to agree that we are out of control as a species. I believe that too many people exist now and that culling will have to take place by either a war or starvation in order for humans to survive - both of which I believe will happen. I'll have to check out those documentaries....sammieswife.
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Indo_Dude
We need alternative fuels to solve the problem.
Nah. Alternative transportation methods perhaps, you know, walking, mass transit, more fuel efficient vehicles. The current model of transportation simply isn't sustainable. Time to change your behavior, not expect a miracle, cure all, fuel invention.
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PrimateDave
Thanks for the reply, Sammieswife. I have read Alex Jones and watched a couple of his documentaries, too. Now, the impression that I get is that in his mind these NWO types are all powerful evil people that must be stopped somehow. I tend to disagree. They are not all powerful, and they are only human. Even the best laid plans of mice and men, well, you know.
Also, Alex Jones believes that Peak Oil theory is part of an elite conspiracy. Now, I have read enough about Peak Oil and its consequences to know that the leaders of the industrial world are/or should be scared shitless over the prospect of it occurring anytime soon. In fact right now they (the Fed and others) are bending over backwards to maintain stability in the economic system.
After all, no one wants to see economic collapse, and the only way to mitigate collapse at this point is to sharply devalue the dollar. Everything in our economic system is geared toward constant growth. Trillions of dollars have been bet on future economic growth in the global financial markets. It's a house of cards, and no one wants to see it collapse.
The average "Joe" doesn't have a clue what is going on. He just sees his paycheck buying less as each year passes while his debts continue to mount. The politicians promise a better tomorrow, so "Joe" buys today on credit hoping to pay it back "when things somehow get better". I've been down that road myself. No one has ever been guaranteed a perfect life, and there's going to be a lot of pain in the future for many of us, myself included. I simply have got to make better living and working arrangements, and I'll probably feel better for it.
I am cautiously optimistic for the future because one way or another the human race will survive and will learn to live sustainably, whether by voluntary means or by environmentally imposed "negative growth".
Dave (of the rather underemployed class)