I'm thinking its a little deeper than supply and demand or price wars. Many things would quickly bring down gas prices, but they will never happen until we actually get some leverage against it. To start its the only product or service that I know of that always adds a point 9 to the price. Oil companies are intentionally ripping us a new one on every 9 tenths of a cent for what possible reason? I would rather round up the tenth. Second rip-off that we get is from Uncle Sam. Does anyone know the exact figure on what percent tax that we pay per gallon? Its like 25-30%. As gas prices are inflating by supposed foreign factors, why wouldn't our government put a flat tax on fuel? That is to say 25 cents per gallon even if it goes to 10 bucks a gallon. Simple, because they are benefiting as much as anyone from inflating prices. Also, our free market system plays a role. What do you think happens at the stock markets as a crisis hits the news over and over? Pretty soon some savvy investors see that profits keep going up and up, then its a good place to buy stocks to get in on those hefty margins. Next thing you know stocks go up and up, which drives prices up too. My opinion, and thats all it is, is that we are just going to keep eating dirt, shoveled into our mouths by Opec and Exxon and every other Gas station in the country until we can formulate some
real leverage.
When I say "leverage", I don't mean strikes or boycotts. I mean a real desire from our technological part of our society getting their heads together and producing some alternative fuels, our car and truck manufacturers to foget about flat screens and DVD players and start working on effecient cars, our government to help instead of helping theirselves to their own unrealistic profits, and tapping into our own resources.
You know we all should think about the trillions of dollars we spend, every year on foreign countries, who hate our guts. 50 million in aid to this country, another hundred million to this one, forget that crap. The reason people hate us, is because, we are not a third world country, and we live like we all are from Hollywood. Well, that was all fine in the 80's, I guess, but now the 90's have passed and we're in the 00's. Its time to stop living like we have a Platinum Credit card and announce to the world "We are flat busted. " We want all the neighbors to think we are still rolling in money, when we are borrowing billions from China. We still have a duty to the world, as a Super power, to help where we can, but did you know Iraq's goverment is showing surpluses as we go broke spending our money on their infrastructure? That goes beyond fixing what we destroyed. We are fixing up the whole d**n country. They charge our military twice as much for fuel as their citizens pay!!!!! Why do we have to pay for anything in other countries, at all? We are there mostly to serve their people's interests. Now they are in congress trying to get money to pay soldiers salaries?
Seems to me someone at the Treasurey or in Accounts receivables forgot how to bill out for services rendered. I say spend our money here. Their money when we are there. We can put people on the moon and send rovers to mars, by God we can make fuel from Corn, Peanuts, Grass clipings, Trash, Water, Electric, something. The problem is, noone who has the capability can profit from what we need to do. Its the same problem throughout our society. Gm will buy a patent on 100 mpg Carbs and never put them on a car. Good Year will buy a Patent on a Tire Compound that will last forever and put that on a shelf.
The only solution, is for some small out fit to get it together and produce some fuels without the consent of goverment. They would put so many restrictions on it that it would shut down production before it would get started. Seems easy enough to come up with synthetic oil additives and Transmission additives. Where's the synth-gas? (They are still working on something that you can't make.) Or for a motorcycle company to start producing one seater, and two seater, fiber-glass mini-cars with bike motors. We still desire the big Hummer with the thumpin system, but what we need is the 3 cylinder Double-G (Grocery Getter), but by the time we really need to minimize every luxury, will any manufacturer respond quick enough? I think there is a real market for little kit-car type cars that resemble the Lamborgini's and Ferrari's, but with minimal power. Possibly interchangeable bodies. Incorporating some luxuries into smaller compartments would be far easier now, too. Maybe a guy would be able to change the oil and plugs without extra college degree on them.
Well, I will give back the podium to whoever's next, I just wanted to check in on my thread about my spark test....
