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| No | 38% | 83 votes | Total: 218 votes | |
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Add to FavoritesWhy blame the oil companies? After all, the oil companies are not the blame for infrastructure failures of America. Another reality Americans may not care to hear running rampant among our citizens is a mentality of bigger is better.
Parked in a large number of American driveways are three to four vehicles, one for every family member. We live in sprawling suburbs with three car garages, and nine times out of ten, the three gas-guzzling vehicles (consisting of pick-up trucks and SUVs) are an unnecessary convenience. What we call a garage designed to house automobiles is now filled to the ceiling with useless junk. Sometimes, we must drive five miles just to pick up a gallon of milk while navigating a maze of housing complexes, driving non-essential SUVs (no markets within walking distance in a massive composite of structures, we call homes) - Go Figure!
While builders and developers continue building huge and obnoxious housing and office compounds keeping us more and more dependent on the last remaining oil reserves, and all without any consideration for conservation of energy, and the human condition, of any kind. Let me be clear, I do not blame the builders and developers; they base their decisions on supply and demand. Americans want it because gas and oil is cheap; why not drive to the market for a gallon of milk when there seems to be a limitless and cheap supply of oil and gas.
The nuclear family of today, on average, comprised of three, lives in structures entirely too large for this size family (it is absurd)! What is wrong with this picture? How are we going to heat these huge structures when the oil runs out - wood? How long would this "natural resource" last, think again?
The timing is right for Americans to get a very hefty and prickly wake up call. From the looks of our current economic situation and newfound spending habits, the high price of gas and oil was just the "stimulus package" needed to begin a major overhaul of American infrastructure, and redefine America's relationships with the rest of whom we share residency on planet earth. I say, "Hooray for higher gas prices, it's about time we joined the rest of the human race"!
The American people created their own nemesis by this tenacious feeding of the ego without forethought of the human condition and quality of life (just big) - this is a sad truth. Bigger is better mentality. Look around! We allow builders to bulldoze entire orchards on a daily basis to make way for our insatiable desire for tract castles, and wonder why the price of eggs is so high.
Continuing on this contemptible path of building monstrosities, we call progress, is ludicrous. Americans are the fattest people on earth, literally, and in the recent past, figuratively. We actually drive to another horrendous structure called a gym to workout for one hour per week and then quit, of course this is an exaggeration, but you get the picture (another inconvenient truth based on an infrastructure dependent upon oil and gas).
One of life's greatest human pleasures, people watching, and strolling through a crowded bizarre of fresh flowers and produce handed down from generations of small farmers, in its place, we run aimlessly down a boring concrete sidewalk. Stopping only long enough to adjust the microphone glued to our ear, all the while tuning out the world where hardly anyone strolls, except on rare occasions. Taking in the essence of earth's gifts gets lost in a haze of unrelenting pollution.
And, there is a thing called Globalization, and "Guess Who?" created this new reality of economic power in India and China. You guest it, America played a huge part in the creation of, and continuing economic growth in India and China, who are now embracing consumerism, and buying, of all things, more automobiles, "almost" rivaling America's passion for consumer goods. You will not believe this but it is a fact, the only market keeping General Motors afloat is China - take at look-see! This small inconvenient truth put Americans in direct competition with these countries for the last remaining surplus of the world's natural resource - Oil!
This is a prediction, not a fact, but based on the current economic climate, I believe, India and China will be the next world economic powers. Which brings me to the next question, how much oil does the earth have left to spread around in this new global community? Oil is a finite resource consisting mainly of compressed dead plants and animals, and taking hundreds of millions of years to form (in other words, oil has an end).
In 1956, M., King Hubbard a senior research geophysicist presented the idea of "peak oil" to the American Petroleum Institute in San Antonio, Texas. He predicted that petroleum would peak in the United States between 1960 and 1970. His prognosis reared its ugly head in the United States for the first time in 1970. Since Hubbard's initial forecast, scientists unanimously agree that at some point oil will peak and run out; they differ on the when part. Some in the scientific community suggest that peak oil already happened in 2005, and others say the depletion of gas and oil will materialize as early as 2018 or as late as 2030, but rest assured, it will happen.
Circumventing the inevitable means taking drastic measures now in the hope we never have to find out the hard way, but of course, this is much like expecting a child to follow inconsistent rules.
My point is, the oil companies are not necessarily the blame, the people of The United States of America must consider their part in creating the oil crisis, and work to change what is not working in this country. We are a new country and based most of our infrastructure on the assumption of an endless oil supply. We "must", "can", and "should" begin reversing this trend in our own backyards. We can start by demanding better public transportation and workable communities in contrast to unsustainable suburbs.
As I see it, the high gas prices are just a conduit for us Americans to re-think our position in a global economy, and adjust accordingly so all of "humankind" is rewarded not just a select few.
Our very constitution is based on the idea that all men are equal. Our constitution broke down class barriers that were so prevalent in other countries of the time (monarchies, the aristocracy, religions). One had to be born with the proper lineage for any chance of success in the pursuit of life, liberty, and justice. Lets not screw it up by creating the very things we abhor in others-voracious consumerism.
Therefor e, my answer to the question, "Should consumers boycott the big oil companies?" is unequivocally "NO". As the old adage goes, "Clean up your own backyard-first"!
Learn more about this author, Barbra Henry.
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Yes
With recent gas prices jumping to record highs not only across America, but completely across the globe, consumers are nearing a point of economic uncertainty which the majority of us have never seen. The rising gas prices have now influenced the cost of shipping and producing most of the products we require to survive. We are paying more for transportation, food, heating, cooking, and anything that requires fuel as a source for consumption or delivery to its final destination: the consumer. It has come to the point that we as a people must decide what we can do about it.
In order to decide what we can do we must first get to the root cause of the problem. It is obvious that with government officials being waist deep in the profit taking of the big oil companies that we should expect little help from them. The rising prices are a direct result from the laws of supply and demand. The demand is obvious; it is the supply which should be completely understood. If there is a shortage of crude oil then obviously the price for the product will increase. There is a shortage. It is the reason for the shortage that should outrage consumers' world wide. The product is there for the taking. The companies that produce the product have intentionally decreased the production so that supply would be limited thereby raising the demand and ultimately the prices. Without competition they will have no problem increasing their profits to record levels at the expense of the consumer.
Who competes with OPEC? The answer is nobody. This people, is called a monopoly and if it were an American company would be maliciously prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. It is not an American company. It is a global organization which has monopolized the production of crude oil world wide, and there is no governing body that can stop them. Therefore it is up to us, the consumers and the end users of their product which must take action! What action to take and when to take it are the only variables left to consider.
The big oil companies have hit the consumers where it hurts the most: their finances. The old adage goes "fight fire with fire". The only way to fight these companies is to hit them where it hurts the most: their bottom line. This requires a commitment and accumulative and simultaneous effort from consumers' world wide. We must boycott these companies and impact their profitability. This is not a new concept as it has been tried before. Consumers in America have united in the past with nation wide attempts to hurt the oil companies' profits. They have been ultimately unsuccessful however, and here is why.
Individual days in which consumers refuse to buy gas do not affect the companies' bottom lines. The increases in profit they are currently realizing far exceed the minimal loss they may see for that day. They also ultimately recovered those minor losses when consumers were forced to fill up eventually to return to work. Individual gas out days is not the answer.
Consumers require fuel for living. It has become a necessity. We have to fight these companies long term and still be able to obtain fuel in order to maintain a living in the process. So how do we accomplish a successful boycott and still be able to obtain fuel? We have to have the fuel but nobody governs who we have to buy it from. We will have to purchase the fuel from one of the companies we are up against. If we all ban together and commit to purchase our fuel from only one of them for an extended period of time the result will be two fold.
First, the company we choose to buy from will experience record volume and ultimately record profits. Good for them. What they will also find is that their limited supply will deplete itself much faster than they could have foreseen. In the meantime we collectively move to the next company on our list. We continue to fuel just as before while the first company is forced to lobby for increased production as they now have no product and are effectively out of business.
Secondly, the other companies which are not being patronized should now be feeling the economic impact of serious decreases in both volume and profitability. The big oil companies will not want to wait months at a time to receive their share of our business. This will force the big oil companies to lobby for the consumers business, increased production and ultimately lower fuel prices.
What we must do is boycott. The time is now. I am tired and broke, and I refuse to take it any longer. There is something that can be done and it will take all of us to do it. Here is my proposal. I will start immediately and hope that consumers across the globe unite with me. Together this will cause a major negative impact on these companies!
Below is a list of months and oil companies. Make a commitment that for the duration of each month you only purchase fuel from the company listed for that month. That way the majority of companies will be boycotted for an extended period of time. This will crush their revenue! Only vary from this if the company for a given month runs out of fuel, in which case proceed only to the next company in line for the next month. The other companies will be starved for business for literally months at a time. Eventually they will be forced to concede to the consumers' demands for lower fuel prices!
May - Shell
June - Chevron/Texaco
July - Conoco
August - Petro
September - BP
October - Exxon/Mobile
November - Shell
December - Chevron/Texaco
Januar y - Conoco
February - Petro
March - BP
April - Exxon/Mobile
There are only six companies on the list. These companies are the most popular and should be readily available across the country. All companies not on this list will be screaming the loudest because they will be completely out of business. The companies on the list will be finding themselves out of product one month and out of business for the next four to five months until their turn rolls back around. Eventually they will succumb to the reality that if they can join forces through OPEC to drive the prices up, we the consumers can join forces to bring them back to reality! I beg of you to do your part. Purchase your fuel only according to the list and send a copy of this to everyone you know, and ask them to do the same.
Learn more about this author, Jimmy Thiel.
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