Enough Is Enough!!!!!!!!!!
I know we have had discussions on the gas prices before, but this is getting WAY OUT OF HAND!
I’m seeing $4.00 + Diesel and $3.40+ gasoline down here in the south and in the Midwest. Now I know those of you in the great NW have been fighting these prices for some times and are probably saying “Welcome to our world Finally” But lets not argue about this that way, lets just say that we are all feeling the same pain. The point of my post is that these prices are not in keeping with the wages that are paid in this part of the country. In 1990 the average wage paid in OK was $10.00 per hour. In 2008 the wage has only been raised to $12.00 per Hr. In 1990 gas on OK was an average of $1.00.9 per Gal. today it is $3.35.9 per Gal. Now please excuse my math but that looks like to me an increase of 200.25% against a wage increase of 2%. Now all of you who in the past have discussed with me the economics of supply and demand and why the oil companies have to charge these prices, please take a step back and take all those formulas out of the discussion. Look at it from the average persons perspective, We can’t afford this much longer. What happens when you can’t afford to Buy Gas to go to work to buy gas? Now I know we need to cut our dependence on Foreign Oil, and our dependence on Fossil Fuels, I totally agree that in the long run that is the perfect course of action, but we need a short term solution to the immediate problem at hand before we look toward the prize of a Oil Free society.
Now I don’t know if it is OPEC, the Oil Companies, or the friends that they both have in Government but something needs to be done RIGHT NOW Our society cannot sustain this price gouging much longer before it collapses and the free enterprise system falls apart. Do the CEO’s of all the companies not realise that the more we spend on gas, the less we have to spend on other goods, that have to cost more because of fuel costs, Where does the cycle end?
April 24th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
According to some, the price of oil should be $55 a barrel and the rest of the price is caused by speculators. …..The commodities market run amok.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:31 am
Quiz time: How many stadiums does decent public transportation equal?
April 25th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Yeah, I’m thinking of making a flower pot out of my Raider….. I sure as hell can’t afford to drive it very much with fuel costs this high….. It was bad enough when it ran right, but, the electronic overdrive quit working, and it’s developed some other fuel problem that makes it consume LARGE amounts of fuel over short distances….
Believe me, Jek, if we had decent public transportation in OKC (actually any public trans to speak of at all), I would gladly use it…… Your quiz passed me in both lanes – right over my head….. Want to give us Peanuts any clues?…..
…..And J.J., sorry for leaving you out on the Posting I mentioned in Anon’s “Did You Know” Post….. Your Post’s are always welcome (Most of the time, anyway – Ha!)…..
April 25th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Stadiums full of people I guess. How many buses?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Yeah Jek, What were you going for? I’m assuming that you mean we should be using Public transportation more?. As I said that is part of the big picture and the “Prize” but I’m looking for answers for Now. Also with fuel prises as they are, the cost of public transportation has to go up also. (Unless the municipalities have locked in lower prices, and then how come they can do that and not the general public?) So that does not answer my questions. Also as MR stated it would be different if we had a decent PT system here in Okla City.That would be an option. Also as I stated How do people think that goods get from the manufacturer to the retail outlet/consumer? Do people think that stuff just materializes at the corner store? People like me have to deliver it there and it takes fuel to do that. and right now that is crippling our industry and causing Owner Operators to park their trucks and drive Company trucks( maybe that is what they want but thats another post). [MR you did not leave me out, I haven’t been posting a lot lately]
April 26th, 2008 at 8:10 am
A few thoughts….
Scooters!
Yes, rah rah, public transit is good and should probably be considered part of the urban infrastructure. It’s really good in places like Seattle, NYC, Boston, etc., where sufficient population density is able to make efficient use of it. But compare the two population densities:
Jek’s town: 6901/(sq. mi.)
MR’s town: 871.5/(sq. mi.)
My nice college town: 3153/(sq. mi.)
Except for the urban core, traditional mass transit (bus, rail) is just not appropriate for many medium size cities. There are some creative solutions that people have come up with, but I’m not sure they’ve ever been implemented on a grand scale.
As far as the price of gas/diesel, a big part of that is the devaluation of the dollar (No, not “The pound is sinking…”).
Of course, none if these really address JJ’s pain.
April 26th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Oh, and Jek: Taking the bus is the best way to get to and from the Mariners games! 😉
April 27th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Doesn’t the cycle end when demand comes down?
While I understand the pain, I don’t understand what can be done “right now” other than driving less, or trading in the car for one that uses less gas.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 am
I guess what I was looking for was something akin to the scene in Network everybody yelling at the top of their lungs “I’m as mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” Meaning the practical implementation of this is to vote out ALL of the sitting lawmakers in Washington and getting people in there who do not answer to Big Oil/Business. And telling OPEC to stick it up their ass. and start uncapping and using domestic wells. I know that’s not much of an answer, I know that it is a mixture of Supply/Demand and Market speculation But when the oil companies are reporting Record Profits and the CEO stands before Congress and tells us Tuff Sh*t There is a big problem. Also are they telling us that the demand has increased this much in the last 2 years? It would have had to to use the Supply/Demand theory. As for Zook’s last comment, I don’t know how it is going outside of the central part of the country But the people round here don’t seem to be affected by the problem, I was driving home this afternoon doing 55 mph on the freeway and was almost run over several times. I agree that we need to do our part to drop our oil consumption but the idiots I have seen the last few weeks do not seem to care. Going back to what the CEO said the people are gonna do what they want and just bitch but when it comes to being proactive just rolling over and saying “Oh well that’s just the way it Is”