The Oil Wars!
If this country has been winning wars in super oil-producing countries, why are we paying outrageous prices? Kuwait wouldn’t be a nation if it wasn’t for the effort and efficiency of our young men and women in the military. It would be Iraq’s colony. Iraq would be in the hands of Saddam Hussein and his sons- just take a look at “I was Saddam’s Son” or” Saddam’s Reign of Terror”, or better yet read Kanan Makiya’s work and see how this monster had his people under his boot, violating human rights in the face of the inefficient United Nations, until the United States came into the picture. It’s beginning to look like we put the blood, and the Arabs raise the price. Citgo, at the hands of dictator/comedian Hugo Chavez would do anything to stifle the American people because, don’t be fooled, when they talk about “the empire”, that’s you and me, we are all in one big bag (melting pot?) with Bush. They hate America. They hate America and everything it stands for, including our drive to work hard and go forward. If they could they would wipe us out in a minute. Israel is our only authentic ally in the oil region. The rest is about interests, about using our might and power to protect the dynasties of Saudi Arabia from the enemies within: the radical Muslims and their own interpretation of the Qur’an.
We must ask ourselves: who are the bad guys? Surely the terrorists who murdered 5,000 in one day in the Twin Towers. Other economic terrorists are draining our wallets as hard-working Americans. As they get millions in bonuses, you and me, the common hard working American, have to think if we’ll be able to pay the next gas bill, never mind the fishing trips next Summer, because oil companies have raised the prices so much that we have to start counting our pennies at the mercy of these multimillionaire tycoons.
We support the troops all the way. It’s a fact that the sons and daughters of these oil millionaires aren’t the ones that are fighting America’s new war. Most likely their siblings are working in their companies, making salaries the average American could only dream of while our soldiers’ sacrifice keep their interests safe and secure.
It’s time to send these guys a message: use as little gas as you can. Let’s see what they do when people stop consuming and start defending their own interests. Unfortunately this is unlikely to happen. America is addicted to spending. The Oil Tycoons are betting on that. They’ll continue to raise the prices until hell breaks loose, or they create a serious depression. Congress is not doing enough because politicians need to raise money for their campaigns. They are also addicted to the power, the status, the “respect”, the $4,000 suits, the trips abroad. According to Reuters, “Congress grills oil execs on pump prices”. Let’s see how much is true. Barack Obama is right: Washington doesn’t work. It’s time for CHANGE. Change we can believe in? Why don’t we start with passing some regulatory measures? Why don’t we start passing some benefits on to the American people? After all, without American soldiers, there wouldn’t be any Exxon, at least operating in the Middle East.
Rafael,
I think your channeling your anger in the wrong direction. The price of oil is regulated by supply and demand. You know the same thing that governs the price of every other commodity we use. The world used more oil each day than it did the day before. That’s because underdeveloped countries like China and India are developing rapidly and consuming more. In order to keep prices stable and low more oil would have to be produced. But the problem is that much of the world’s oil supply is generated by countries that collude in a cartel to keep production down to boost the price they get. The U.S. doesn’t help matters by refusing to explore in areas domestically where we know there is oil like Alaska and the Gulf Coast.
The oil companies mainly refine and re-sell the oil they buy at market prices. Imagine that they are bakers. They don’t grow the wheat or the flour or yeast. They buy it all and mix it up and bake it. They then charge a mark-up and re-sell it. If the price of flour goes up, then they will raise the price of bread. That’s because they want to make money. If bread gets too expensive people will stop buying it and switch to something else. But with gasoline there are very few alternatives that everyone can switch to in the short run. In the long run people will start buying smaller and hybrid cars or maybe start riding scooters and motorcycles or public transport. That’s the market working as it should. For more than 20 years the price of retail gasoline remained remarkably stable (under $2.00) while real incomes rose. That’s when we saw the rise in SUV sales and performance cars with huge engines. Milk costs more than $4.00 a gallon today. The rise of the price of milk in 20 years is roughly comparable to the rise of gasoline during that time. The big difference is that milk prices have risen gradually. Gas prices were flat for most of that time and then jolted up about 2 years ago.
The oil companies average about a 10% profit margin which is very nice. They make record profits each quarter because each quarter they sell more volume than the previous quarter (remember demand is increasing).
Here’s a suggestion. If you can’t beat ‘em join em. This is America and these “evil” companies are public companies. You can become a shareholder and enjoy the benefits of all these “excess” profits in the form of dividends. Or if you are really altruistic you can go to the shareholder meetings and rally the rest of the individuals and institutions that own shares to vote for a Chairman that promises to LOWER profit margins. See how far that gets you.
There’s a lot of demagoguery out there about the oil companies and they are an easy target because they do a terrible job of explaining their situation to the American people but we as educated consumers should dig deeper before jumping to conclusions.
Very good points Henry, thanks for reading and for the interesting comment.