Howdy y’all!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but gasoline prices are way way up, and people are not happy about it. Apparently, the prices are up because the Orange Doctor decided to give war criming a try. He was making mad bank off of his other grifts, corruption, criminal enterprises, so why not add war crimes to the portfolio? As a direct result, Gas prices have reached a four year high — and it ain’t the good kinda high neither — since Trump initiated his excursion into Iran. They’ve risen by about 50% to a national average of $4.50 per gallon. The only saving grace is that Christmas isn’t coming up, just the summer vacation travel season. So, we’re good, right?
Not only have I gotten real tired of seeing a higher price every time I pass our corner station, I’m real tired of listening to all the smug pontificating bastards pontificate about it and the lying Republicans lie about it on the TV. You know both groups are completely out of touch with what the average citizen is going through, though, especially the punditing pundits. All they can say is that gas prices are the one thing that no one can escape because they’re written in bright red letters six feet tall on every corner. And while that is true, that ain’t it.
The price of gas has such a huge political impact because we all gotta drive. While grocery prices are going up, we get to find cheaper alternatives. Maybe we switch from bottles to boxes of wine and lie to ourselves about how you can’t tell the difference, especially after the first glass, ha ha, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. But what are you gonna do for gas? Go from unleaded to leaded, oh wait, we don’t have leaded no more. From premium to regular? Drive less?
Gas is a product that economists call inelastic demand. You’re going to buy regardless of price because you don’t got no choice. We all gotta drive at least some of the time. The pundits do get that part right, but the nerdy part of me feels cheated when they don’t take a moment to explain that it is inelastic demand. If the Trump years haven’t taught us anything, it is that we all need to be a little more educated about how the world we live in works. We all need to think about this a little more critically.
We are being held captive by the price of gas. It is the root of all of our fury. We got no choices, and good mental health is made up of choices. Okay, it isn’t quite true, is it? We do have some options. We could all go out and get an EV or hybrid, and sales, especially for used EVs, have jumped. But, does everyone have the $50,000 to plunk down on an EV? Electric bikes are great, but they leave you a little exposed and aren’t exactly family vehicles.
We have public transportation, right? RIGHT? RIIIGHT? In most municipalities, it isn’t a viable option. Buses run too infrequently, you spend a lot of time waiting for transfers, trains, like Alaskan bridges — you betcha! — often lead to no where you want to go. And, have you ever tried to do your groceries on the bus? You aren’t doing a week’s worth, so now you’re going to the grocery store much more frequently to buy less or spend more, pick your poison. Our public transportation system seems designed to punish people for being poor rather than help them live better lives.
That’s what is so infuriating about gas prices. You can’t escape them because we all have to drive. There are no good options. It’s enough to make you believe in conspiracy theories. Wait, I saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Maybe it is a conspiracy.
I can believe that oil companies, tire companies, and politicians colluded to force car dependency on us, why are pundits not talking about that? Why when we discuss higher gas prices aren’t we talking about public transportation on equal footing with EVs? Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving the whole being drug kicking and screaming to alternative energy sources vibe Trump has foisted on America — He is the man with the feculent touch, after all. Unintended consequences and everything. But, why aren’t buses and trains being promoted along with EV ownership, recharging stations — boy, that Biden infrastructure bill sure is looking better, isn’t it? Whatever happened to that plan to build recharging stations across the country? Generate more electricity from wind and solar?
So, why aren’t we talking about public transportation more? What would it actually take to push America into joining the rest of the world in having useable reliable convenient public transportation? Could it be that this is actually the Stupid Jenius’ actual legacy?
I’d love to hear what you think in the comments!
Blog On, Siblings!
Jack
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I will say that public transportation down here okay but needs work…..most of the buses are either hydro cell or electric….but the schedule is not reliable….I look for the Repubs to dial back any advancements as soon as they got the state arrtanged the way they want it. chuq
That is one good thing about public transportation, it frequently is LNG or electric nowadays as a way for government to support alternative energy. Given the complexity of urban geography and individual needs, you’ll probably never get routes that meets everyone’s needs, but I think we can do better.
I think you’re right about Republicans supporting fossil fuels by switching public transportation back to fossil fuels first chance they get.
Huzzah!
Jack
Well, according to this guy who is in a very good position to know the real state of the oil supply system, we have not seen the worst yet.
https://www.thestreet.com/economy/chevron-ceo-sends-blunt-message-on-oil-and-the-economy
Yes, back to the 70s, but bigger. Others in the know just say that even if the Straight went beck to like before tomorrow, we won’t see gas prices like before until 2028.
Yes, we’re stuck with needing gas, and diesel for all the trucks and trains and ships that bring us everything else.
As for Roger Rabbit, yes, I remember electric street cars and busses in Chicago, and convenient and efficient commuter rail. I’m sure the trains still run, but the street cars and electric busses disappeared when they started building the “expressways” (through the Black neighborhoods, of course), just like in the movie. Was there a plan? Maybe, maybe not. Just the combined incentives of the oil companies, the car companies, the construction companies, the real estate companies, and all their lobbyists were enough to get the system going in that direction.
And the lesson of the oil shocks of the 70s got lost in the dream of a Shining City on A Hill.
Howdy Bob!
In my cynical heart of hearts, I gotta believe that oil shocks were the dream of the Shining City on the Hill. The only point of the Republican Party has been to transfer the wealth of the middle class to the upper class. Looking back at it, that’s been the raison d’etre of the Republicans since Reagan.
Huzzah!
Jack
It isn’t just gasoline. Diesel fuel is up about 54% which is hammering farmers around here as well as the trucking industry. Fertilizer? Some of the fertilizers we need have gone up as much as 70%. Farm bankruptcies have already gone up almost 50% since he took office thanks to his totally fecking up our export markets. This is going to decimate farmers across the country. And it is going to eventually filter down to the consumer in the form of even higher food prices and even other consumer goods.
As for the claim you made that oil, car companies etc. colluded drive public transportation out of business, that is is absolutely true. A coalition of companies led by GM were actually convicted in 1949 of committing criminal conspiracy to work together to eliminate the electric street car systems that most cities had back before WWII.
Howdy Grouch!
I firmly believe that the point of all of this is to bankrupt as many small and medium sized farms as possible so they can be bought for cheap by corporations. They want to concentrate wealth, manufacturing, and services in as few and as big of corporations as possible.
And there is no way out of this. The damage has been done. The best we can hope for is that it doesn’t last for years and only months. So much damage has been done to the supply chain that we cannot mitigate it in the short term. There is only how long the long-term damage lasts.
Big oil, especially, has been screwing us from the beginning, since Rockefeller and Standard Oil and they keep finding ways to screw us. No matter what happens to the economy, big oil gets their profits. They are making tons of money right now with the price per oil up. If prices fall, they curtail production and protect their margins.
Trump’s legacy will be hastening the transition to EVs and renewables. That’s crazy.
Huzzah!
Jack
All of our public systems ARE designed to punish people for being poor.
Howdy Bruce!
As someone who has relied on public transportation in several American cities and around the world, the US system is punishment. There is no other way to see it. It is too consistent in its awfulness for it to be anything other than deliberate.
Huzzah!
Jack