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255 comments on Wed Open Thread (and the XOM boycott)

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HKThom on April 19, 2006 - 5:36pm Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
You know, with all this chatter from every news outlet and every grandstanding politician and every gumpy guy in line at the grocery store about "Big Oil" and price gouging, I find I simply can't understand how people ignore what appears to me an obvious logical problem that pretty much ends the argument.

If it is so easy for "Big Oil" to drive the prices up and land huge profits, why did they wait until now to do it?

I mean, they could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they did it in the late 90's when they were hemorrhaging cash. Or at any other point in the last 50 years for that matter. Were they just being nice by selling to us at a cheaper price than they could have? That was sure kind of them.

I have a hard time thinking a "Big Oil" CEO would say, "You know, we could sell this at $2.50, but we're going to let you have it for 89 cents. What the heck, it's just money."

Just had to get that off my chest.

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skylar on April 19, 2006 - 6:36pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Excellent. This is so transparent.

I wish every American would consider this syllogism to its proper conclusion

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TenPin on April 20, 2006 - 1:02am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
So who's to blame for the high gas prices?

That's the wrong question. The questions is:

Why do I care about the gas price being this high?

And the answer is:

I care because I take full responsibilty for making the choice to live a life almost completely dependant on the availability of cheap gas. I have greatly enjoyed the         convenience and luxury this choice has afforded me in the past but now that it is becoming less viable I am free to choose not to live this lifestyle.

Unfortunately the pervasive mindset of the average American is that:

"The American way of life is non-negotiable" - George Bush Senior 1992

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TJ on April 20, 2006 - 11:46am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
To be a little fair to the average consumer, my theory is that there was an unspoken deal.  Income disparity has increased to levels not seen since the 20's here; the median wage has been flat or falling for 3 decades.  The unspoken deal was that it was OK if incomes stayed flat if the necessities like food and fuel also stayed flat.  For something the average American considers a necessity (and it may very well be for some) prices rocketing up in such a short time frame is gouging.
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Twilight on April 20, 2006 - 12:29pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Except that there was no deal (deal implies an agreement).  It's just the hand that was dealt.  The average consumer is ignorant of the problems, and has been fed so much BS precisely to keep them consuming.  What happens to them after they have fulfilled their consuming role is unimportant to those who benefit.  They didn't agree to flat wages in the hopes of stable fuel and food costs; they're just dealing with what comes as best they can.

Yes, I would love if my fellow citizens kept up on these issues, and therefore could not be so easily fooled, but let's be realistic.  With the volume of disinformation, and the general lack of information, what else should be expected?

How many of us who are now aware of the energy depletion issues got here from a series of random discoveries?  One cannot be an expert in all fields - I might be a genius in some particular technical area (not saying I am), but never happened to look into PO.  Better to ask why hasn't my society been informing of these problems for years?

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255 comments on Wed Open Thread (and the XOM boycott)

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