Jackassalope

Does This Make Me An Activist?

The top executives of the five major oil companies admitted to knowing that rising gas prices are causing a great deal of strain on the American public. Of course they ended their statements by deflecting any blame, citing that their profits of $123 billion last year were right in line with other industries.

It’s awesome to know that despite research showing that our supply of both gas and oil are adequate, the price per barrel and per gallon keep rising. All while the oil companies continue to profit. I understand that according to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, their profits are only a little higher that most companies on cents per dollar of sales. But my first question is “does this really take into account the sure volume of sales they make each year?” If I only earn 2 cents more on the dollar than you do, but have a billion more dollars in sales every year, still equates to a lot of cents.

I’m pretty sure Hitler used similar logic when trying to exterminate half of the world. It’s just more proof that you can look at any situation from a certain light to make it look favorable. Besides, the fact that other industries rake in similar profits doesn’t fly in my book. Other industries don’t twist our arms into using their products. Sure, you can argue that we don’t really need oil. Make that point, but then try living without it for one day. The alternatives are limited at best. Even when we didn’t have computers, TVs, the Internet, and cell phones, we still depended on oil. You can argue that oil has been the one constant thorn in our dependency’s side since the industrial age.

I’m not going to finger paint a sign that says “Honk for no more oil” and stand on a bridge, but we do need to figure out a solution. The more we let any industry rake us over the coals, the less control we’ll have in the end. We need competitive alternatives and true free market competition. Not these perceived scenarios pushed on us by Hitler and his crew.