Welcome to Thrustblog

Welcome to Thrustblog. This blog is new as of February, 2011. New posts will be added as they are completed. Our main author is Tom Rossi, but we will sometimes have guest posts and eventually maybe even another regular poster.

Comments will be moderated, mostly to prevent spam and threats of violence or anything just completely whacked-out. However, I will publish comments that strongly disagree with my posts. I believe in free speech and open discussion. Debate lies at the heart of civilization.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Gas Prices Set Off Record Levels of Whining.

I'm about to puke from all the whining about gasoline prices and oil company "price gouging".

America is apparently saying (in a most annoying voice) "Oh, mister oil company. Why, why are you giving us exactly what we asked for? Why are you giving us exactly what we voted for? Why?"

Well I'm here to tell all you whiners to shut up. You have voted, again and again, for "free enterprise"... for "market self regulation." That one always makes me laugh through my tears. Self regulation... good God. "Listen, all you bank robbers out there, could you just agree not to rob any banks or that, if you do rob one, you won't take too much money and won't hurt anyone? Thanks. We really appreciate your being reasonable about this."

So, here it is. This is the result of your (voters and people who COULD vote but don't) choices – or lack of will to make a choice at all. You want the government "off our backs?" You want "smaller government?" You want so-called "freedom?" You got it! Congratulations. Here's your prize: $4.00 per gallon OR MORE.


Meanwhile, the oil companies are raking in Billions with a capital B, and receiving billions more in subsidies from our tax dollars. That's freedom. God bless America.

Oh, and nice head-fake, too. For a while, I was almost convinced that the American people had sprouted brains where their giant egos once sat. After the last big gas-price hike, people started buying much more efficient cars and parking or selling their giant Tonka toys. But then, when prices started to settle a little and people got used to them, the SUVs started to re-appear.


Every time I see one of these I want to say to the driver, "Hey! Thanks! Thanks for using up twice as much gas as you need to and driving up the price for everybody. I hope you have room in there for your massive ego." It's interesting that driving one of these giant cinder-blocks is supposed to be a sign of success and supposed to make people look up to you. If someone in our house takes really long showers, leaving little hot water for anyone else, we call that person a self-centered prick.


What's most hilarious and depressing about this price situation is that now people are looking to the government, blaming Bush and now Obama, and asking why something isn't done. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: What's happening is NOT price gouging. The price is set by "free market" forces – the forces YOU have said (through your votes) that you trust to take care of everything. So now you want the government to go 180 degrees in the opposite direction? 



Go drown yourselves in your tears... they're cheaper than a gallon of gas. 

-Tom Rossi

3 comments:

  1. The way I see it, our gas prices are relatively cheap, compared to the rest of the industrialized world. Also, accounting for inflation, our gas prices were higher in 1981 and 2008 than they are now. Given a market system, the only way that alternative energy, alternative forms of transport, and alternative living arrangements (as opposed to sprawl) are going to become cost-effective is if the price of gas increases. I'm also already seeing the benefits of higher gas prices in the form of reduced traffic on the roads.

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  2. Too funny! Ain't it the truth!

    Linda

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  3. Dave, I apologize for not seeing and responding to your message sooner. Thrustblog is in a state of flux as our name was sort of taken by a spam site: thrustblog(dot)com. A spam site of this type exists simply to provide links for paying customers' sites so that their rankings on google will rise. So I may change to a new web site. In the meantime, I regularly post (Tuesdays) on another blog: leftcoastvoices.wordpress.com.

    As to your comment, you bring up yet another reason to stop all the whining, but it is an advanced-brain reason and will therefore fall on not only 90% deaf ears, but most will be actually opposed to your logic. I know you are absolutely correct, but you'd have a hard time selling this to the "natives".

    But soon, Mother Nature/physics/market-forces will make this a reality. It's technically true that we won't really run out of oil anytime soon, it's just that it will get much harder - and more expensive - to extract. So prices WILL go up and that's for certain. Then, maybe we'll get off our asses and make some progress in renewable energy. See my post here for more thoughts on this: http://leftcoastvoices.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/lies-damn-lies-and-statistics/

    Thanks Dave! And thanks Linda!

    -TR

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