The Oil Drum

61 comments on Oil Fuel pipeline explosion outside Lagos

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westexas on May 12, 2006 - 10:26am

Food & Energy Riots

I wonder if food and energy riots are going to be increasingly common events. Somehow I doubt that the have-nots, unable to buy food and energy, are going to complacently stand by while the haves continue to buy food and energy.

I am also beginning to wonder if perhaps the Energy Tax/Abolish the Payroll Tax idea might be a really good idea, from the point of view of social stability. In addition, it would be a concrete effort toward reducing our energy consumption.

If you think that the US is disliked now, just wait until it becomes ever more apparent to legions of poor people around the world that we are outbidding them for food and energy supplies. Of course, we may also be rapidly approaching the point at which we have convert dollars into something else in order to buy imported food and energy.

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Leanan on May 12, 2006 - 10:38am

I am also beginning to wonder if perhaps the Energy Tax/Abolish the Payroll Tax idea might be a really good idea, from the point of view of social stability.

Only if people have jobs. I could envision a future where the employed are the privileged, and a tax break for workers would be seen as "tax breaks for the wealthy."

This article is about inflation in Zimbabwe;

They're millionaires, but a piece of beef can cost a million
...Inflation, which clocked a record 1,042.9 percent on Friday, is a stark reminder of the southern African nation's eight-year recession that has sparked shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food while three quarters of workers are jobless.
Some landlords now raise the price of rent every month while real estate agents have a three-month rent review cycle. As the crisis deepens and the cost of gas soars, some workers have turned to pedal power, cycling to work, while hundreds others have formed walking groups.
Analysts say most Zimbabweans are just surviving, after cutting down on many basic necessities, with some families living on a single meal a day.

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bradshaw on May 12, 2006 - 1:28pm

Does it seem strange that the oil pipeline explosion did not affect the market at all, but news of 1 person being shot or 3 people being kidnapped sends oil skyrocketing 2-3 dollars a barrel?

One would think that a pipeline supplying fuel exploding would raise more ruckus...

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tate423 on May 12, 2006 - 2:10pm

Someone asked a few threads ago about who owns the FED since it's a private for profit bank. There is 117 pages (it was a published book), and in the 4th paragraph it gets into WHO really OWNS the bank. It's worth a read since through history this book was burned and most every copy was destroyed!

http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm