Tuesday, April 26, 2011

The Money Tree

The price at the pump is going right out the top.  It is costing more to drive and who is to blame.  A finger points that way, another points over there but no one takes responsibility.  It is the great blame game….. hmm… maybe a new reality TV show, blame the politicians, blame the big corps, blame everybody but yourself.

It is real easy to blame others rather then take responsibility for our own actions.  As the price keeps gong up there are all types of stories that point fingers at suspects except the consumer.

Look at the type of cars on the road, great big pickups, SUV’s, full size sedans, monster trucks, bigger then 18 wheels and then there are the RV’s.  All these consume great amounts of gas and many drive these big beasts for status.  I see big pickups going to work during the commute, no tools in them.  Monster semi’s so they can drive faster.  Longer, larger RV’s with cars or big pickups along for the ride.  All these consume large amounts of gas and as they drive more miles, more gas is used. 

This is just a small part of why oil prices are going ballistic.

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Look at all of the other things oil is used for.  Plastics are an oil based compound.  those friendly little plastic shopping bags use volumes of oil.  All the plastic drink bottles, barrels of oil go into their manufacture.  The electronic devices are plastic components, stereos, mp3, cell phones, note pads and this thing….. the computer.  Plastic manufacture takes barrels and barrels of oil to produce.

Look at the other chemical products from oil.  There are fertilizers, oil is an organic compound and when processed makes a good fertilizer.  Petroleum products are also used in the production of insecticides, herbicides and similar products. 

Oil is used for so many things besides gasoline.  It is no wonder prices go up.  As our appetite for products grow, the price of oil grows.

Look at all the things we have in our houses that require energy of some sort.  Getting that energy to our home requires and expenditure of more energy.  Even the so called green energies are outrageously expensive.  The renewables are probably the most expensive.

So as we consume all these different energy gobbling gadgets the price goes up.  We go crying to the politicians for a solution.  So what do they do, pass more laws in hopes of artificially keeping prices low.  Is that a successful strategy…. very seldom.  Oh, this is where the cry, nanny state comes in.  If we can not take care of ourselves, Big brother will step up and take care of us.

As fingers are pointed, I should go look in the mirror and see who they are really being pointed at.  consumers have a big influence on the market, but they do not exercise their decisions judiciously.

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Very informative blog. Sure made me think about a few things. In Hawaii there are no plastic bags.
Thats the first I have seen .
I love the Tree. Beautiful mood

Joe said...

I have to say I believe the FED is one of the biggest culprits. I think that as much as anything we are witnessing inflation in the price of oil. Since the dollar is the standard for oil and it's lost much of its value the prices naturally rise...interesting that Obama is "investigating" this when he knows the cause as well as anyone. Couple this with the refusal to drill and letting south America drill in the Gulf and tell them we'll be there best customer and it becomes obvious why the prices are doing what they're doing. BTW at this point they say around twenty percent of the US income is from the government entitlement programs...what an accomplishment! So...this is what change looks like.

Ramblingon said...

Unfortunately, the average person has no control over all of that. It will be done regardless of my protests and yes, I have done that, protested. But "they" the corporate entities and the government keep on rollin'.