The Price of Gas is Going up: A Rant...
Frankly, I don't understand why there's any debate or argument over the price of gasoline, ever. Why do people get all up-in-arms about the price of a gallon of gas? Yes, of course I understand why...because we need it to get to work, get to school, drive to see our neighbors that live three blocks away. I get it. But why do people feel like they have some Constitutional right to low gas prices?
Here's an idea: Oil is a finite resource. It costs a lot to get it out of the ground. It costs a lot to refine it. It costs a lot to ship it. The more of it we use, the harder it becomes to get it out of the ground and the less of it remains in the ground. My point is: when there's an abundance of something, it's generally cheap. The less there is the more it's gonna cost. That's Economics that even a child can understand.
So why all the fuss over gas prices? This is the Free Market. Those that hold the strings--in this case, the commodity--have the right to raise the price if they have something people want. Right? Or am I off base here?
People, and especially Conservatives, like to wax loud and long about the "free market" and "small government," and other things about which they don't really understand. But then they want to promise people they're going to deliver low gas prices? Bullshit.
Libertarians also love to toot the "small government" horn. According to them, if people don't like high gas prices they can just stop buying gas, bicycle to work, or--and this is the best one--just organize other Libertarians together and create THEIR OWN public transportation system! Again...bullshit.
What we need to do is recognize that oil is a diminishing resource and either A.) Get serious about developing and using other power sources for our cars, B.) Get serious about developing alternate sources of public transportation, or C.) Change our methods of city-planning so that people can (gasp) walk to the places they need to go.
I don't expect any of this is going to happen until it absolutely has to, that is, until gas prices approach, say, $10 per gallon. Not until then do I think we'll really get serious about changing our habits so that we can live a more sustainable and less gasoline-dependent life. But...expect to hear a lot of undue bellyaching between now and then. If there's one thing most people hate it's Discomfort. Right behind that is Sacrifice.
Here's an idea: Oil is a finite resource. It costs a lot to get it out of the ground. It costs a lot to refine it. It costs a lot to ship it. The more of it we use, the harder it becomes to get it out of the ground and the less of it remains in the ground. My point is: when there's an abundance of something, it's generally cheap. The less there is the more it's gonna cost. That's Economics that even a child can understand.
So why all the fuss over gas prices? This is the Free Market. Those that hold the strings--in this case, the commodity--have the right to raise the price if they have something people want. Right? Or am I off base here?
People, and especially Conservatives, like to wax loud and long about the "free market" and "small government," and other things about which they don't really understand. But then they want to promise people they're going to deliver low gas prices? Bullshit.
Libertarians also love to toot the "small government" horn. According to them, if people don't like high gas prices they can just stop buying gas, bicycle to work, or--and this is the best one--just organize other Libertarians together and create THEIR OWN public transportation system! Again...bullshit.
What we need to do is recognize that oil is a diminishing resource and either A.) Get serious about developing and using other power sources for our cars, B.) Get serious about developing alternate sources of public transportation, or C.) Change our methods of city-planning so that people can (gasp) walk to the places they need to go.
I don't expect any of this is going to happen until it absolutely has to, that is, until gas prices approach, say, $10 per gallon. Not until then do I think we'll really get serious about changing our habits so that we can live a more sustainable and less gasoline-dependent life. But...expect to hear a lot of undue bellyaching between now and then. If there's one thing most people hate it's Discomfort. Right behind that is Sacrifice.
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