Want Cheaper Gas and Oil? End the Damned Wars!
Americans are in a panic over rising gas and heating oil prices, and with reason. For months, the price of a barrel of crude oil has been rising steadily, hitting a record $127 yesterday.
Analysts keep getting trotted out on TV and in print, attributing the dramatic price rise to everything from “peak oil” — the idea that producing countries have reached their peak of productive capacity, and that the only direction for oil supplies looking forward is down, while demand continues to rise — to increasing demand in China and India, to supply bottlenecks, to specific news events, like a pipeline break in Nigeria, or a closed refinery in California.
Politicians, like Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, have called for a two-month moratorium on federal gas taxes, but with taxes running at something on the order of 18 cents a gallon, this is not going to do much to bring prices down-in fact it might do nothing, since retailers would be free to just raise prices to match the tax break, and pocket the profits.
One analyst, economist Ismael Hussein-Zadeh, a professor of economics at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, has a different explanation for the price rise, and American motorists and homeowners should pay close attention.
“Oil prices have gone from the mid $20 range in the fall of 2002 to $127 yesterday — a rise of $100/barrel in just over five years,” he says. “And the bulk of that increase can be attributed to the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the threats of war against Iran.”
Hussein-Zadeh’s analysis looks at a number of ways that the Bush/Cheney wars have contributed to rising oil prices. Chief among these are two factors: the threat to supplies, particularly from the Persian Gulf region from which 20 percent of the world’s oil supplies come, and a falling dollar, because oil is priced in dollars, and as it loses value, oil producing countries raise their prices to compensate.
In an article titled “Worried About the Price of Gas? End US Wars,” Hussein-Zadeh writes, “Soon after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq the price of oil began to escalate in tandem with the escalation of war and political turbulence in the Middle East.” Furthermore, he says, “Anytime there is a renewed US military threat against Iran, fuel prices move up several notches.” If the US were to actually make good on Bush’s and Cheney’s threats to attack Iran, in Hussein-Zadeh’s view “the sky would be the limit” to oil prices, with $200/barrel being a starting point.
The dollar’s fall, too, is significantly a result of the wars-particularly the Iraq War, he says. That war has been costing the US $200 billion a year, all in borrowed funds. That in itself is a huge hole that has to be funded by borrowing from China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and other nations. But as Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz has pointed out, the true cost of the Iraq War, when interest on debt, health costs of injured veterans and other long-term costs are factored in, is more like $3 trillion and rising. And when currency speculators and traders — the ones who really set the value of the dollar — make their bets, they’re looking at that bigger number, not the little one.
Moreover, it’s not just oil that has been driven up in price because of the war. As energy costs have gone up, so has the cost of food, in no small part because most fertilizer is oil-based, and because transportation costs are also largely a reflection of oil prices. As well, to the extent that American’s food is imported, they are paying in shrinking dollars, whose value is being driven down because of the war.
Hussein-Zadeh says the Bush/Cheney administration and its neoconservative war promoters have worked hard to offer other more benign explanations for the crippling rise in energy prices, and food prices. As he puts it:
Neoconservative forces in and around the Bush administration and beneficiaries of war dividends — wishing to deflect attention away from war as the main culprit for the skyrocketing energy prices — tend to blame secondary or marginally relevant factors: OPEC, China and India for their increased demand for energy, or supply-demand imbalances in global markets. Whatever the contributory role of these factors, the fact remains that the current oil price hikes started with the beginning of the Bush administration’s wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, a closer examination of these factors reveals that their roles in the current price inflation of oil have been negligible.
Common sense bears him out here. China’s and India’s economies have indeed been growing rapidly, and with them, demand for oil, but over the past five years, oil prices have risen 400%, and the same cannot be said for demand. Even if Chinese and Indian growth figures of 7-9 percent per year were accurate (and there is reason to believe they are grossly inflated), that at best would amount to perhaps a 50% increase in economic activity over five years. In fact, during this time more efficient energy use in the developed countries has largely offset much of the increasing demand for oil in China and India, and even in China and India, much of the energy growth has involved replacing inefficient vehicles and power plants with more efficient ones, so oil consumption isn’t rising in lock step with economic growth.
The answer then, to rising oil prices, is obvious then. It is not some silly two-month moratorium on federal taxes-what Sen. McCain referred to, in a candid moment, as a “little gift” to American vacationers. Nor is it opening up the Artic refuge to drilling — a move that would take years to lead to any significant new supply, and which in any case would have minimal impact on overall supply, or on prices. Nor is it opening up the Strategic Oil Reserve — another drop in the barrel. Nor is it hammering OPEC to boost production — something they have already done. No, it is much simpler. As Hussein-Zadeh puts it:
The political implications of this discussion are clear: to bring down the prices of fuel and food requires bringing home the troops. By lowering the energy costs of production and transportation this will help save our own and many other economies from the plagues of inflation and stagnation. It will bring relief to hundreds of millions worldwide who are burdened by crippling energy bills and the crushing costs of feeding their families.
Got that people? If you want to see gasoline drop back below $3.89/gal, get Congress to end the war!
It’s that simple.
Dave Lindorff is a Philadelphia-based journalist. His latest book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net
“Capitalist society is and has always been horror without end.” - Lenin, October 1916
Thank You!!!
I’ve been screaming this message for a long time now. I’m glad to see that the obvious is starting to get noticed.
When the gas tax holiday scam was being pushed a couple of weeks ago, I sent an email to the Obama campaign, connect the war and those who voted for war to the high gas prices. They didn’t do it.
The filling of the strategic reserve, is a signal to the speculators, that the U.S. is preparing for war with Iran.
If it looks like Obama will be elected in the general election, we should start to see the price of oil go down, his willingness to negotiate with Iran and pull the troops out of Iraq will scare the speculators out of the market. The caveat is an October surprise.
Another benefit to ending the wars, and lower oil prices, is a reduction in food prices. Food inflation is tied to oil inflation.
Even though I am Green, I will be voting for Obama, I hope he and their people are smart enough to make the connection for the American People. Vote Obama and you will pay less for gas and food. Simple.
Thanks again
Ramsay
I have long contended that if Americans had been asked to pay (with special taxes) for the wars in real time, they either would not have happened or would have been very short.
Well, now we citizens ARE paying for the wars, but not to our Treasury. We are paying Mideast Nations, Russia Venezuela, Canada, Mexico and perhaps others, and it’s that “flat tax” Republicans love. Hotel maids going to work are paying the same $3.50 or so a gallon as Warren Buffet pays to fill his car that takes him from home to office in Omaha.
Obama’s word “blunder” is a good one, but barely describes the magnitude of the fleecing of America (and other oil users) by the sheer stupidity of “Neocons”.
Yes, end the war. And, put windfall profits tax on the oil companies. And, stop corporate welfare for the oil companies. And, regulate energy-market speculation. And, stop Enron-style manipulation.
Senator Obminable has voted for none of these. But, hey, don’t worry about his record. Don’t be informed. Go with the rhetoric.
Sure, the economic logic (not to mention the moral argument!) demands that we stop the war. But in a society ruled by the military-industrial complex & the oil companies, this possibility is not even “on the table” for discussion.
Therefore, what will happen — regardless of the election — is that the war will go on interminably. It will shift in terms of rhetoric & specific troop deployments, if Obama wins. But the essential character will not change. Just as the “peace process” in the Middle East has dragged on for decades with no progress; just as the US has maintained troops in Okinawa & Germany & S Korea for over 50 years, the US will have troops in Iraq for decades.
There is no way out of this, as long as our society is ruled by the military-industrial complex & the oil companies, who control US politics through the mechanism of the 2-party system. If people desire any other outcome, they must organize to overthrow or otherwise reject the 2-party system. If you support Democrats — ANY Democrats — you are in effect saying that you accept domination of our society by the MIC & the corporate oligarchy, as long as the rhetoric of the war changes, even if the basic fact of it does not change. (The new “more pleasing” rhetoric might be, for example, to pretend for the next few years that we’re moving slowly towards a “timetable” for partial troop withdrawals or re-deployments.)
Eventually what will happen is that the US economy will collapse. From the viewpoint of the rest of the world, and of the Earth, this would probably be a good thing. On our collective tombstone, the inscription will be written, “Here lies America. It collapsed because its inhabitants were too stupid to stop voting for ‘lesser-evil’ candidates.”
WRONG. The reason oil prices are so high are:
1) Basic supply/demand. Global demand has passed 87 million barrels a day, while supply is at 85 million. And contrary to Dave Lindorff’s beliefs, it does not take a fourfold increase in demand for a fourfold increase in prices, especially for a commodity as inelastic as oil.
2) The inflationary policies of the Fed that are debasing the dollar by printing money. Annual money supply growth is now ~17% to 20%. A declining dollar buys less and less oil. If you look at the price of oil in gold (which can not be printed willy nilly by central bankers), there isn’t much of a price spike at all.
http://www.enigmacurry.com/blog-post-images/change_in_oil_price.png
Also, the reason oil companies are making so much money is because it is such a large sector of the economy with massive revenues. But the profit margin is in the region of 10% - ie. ExxonMobil had roughly $10 billion profit on $100 billion revenues Q1 2008. For comparison, microsoft has a 30% profit margin, intel 20-25% - I don’t hear anyone talking about windfall profit taxes on them.
The real problem here is that Americans have grown accustomed to an ever-expanding economy based on everlasting cheap fossil fuels. Unfortunately, exponential growth on a finite world is not maintainable for very long and this short and unprecedented era is finally drawing to a close. No amount of wishful thinking will change that.
While the war should end for purely moral reasons, it will only provide a temporary downtick in oil prices. And, I find it a bit offensive that Mr. Lindorff would “market” ending the war in this way.
High oil prices are due to oil supply reaching it’s global peak, but demand accelerating exponentially. Period. No other explanation is all that significant. Other events - storms, wars, only indroduce “noise” to this trend.
I suggest that instead of whining, people do things to cut their fuel use. Find a way of living that puts jobs and basic necessities a short walk or transit ride from home. Move or change jobs if necessary. But, do it fast! When outer suburban living becomes economically unviable, you’ll hardly be able to give that McMansion away!
When I moved from sprawling Fairfax, Virginia to compact, Pittsburgh, PA, my gasoline use dropped 300 percent and quality of life improved considerably.
If the wars have any impact on the price of oil it is only by the tremendous cost added due to the devaluation of the dollar over the last 6 years. This is one of the main reasons.
The real biggie, as noted above, is we are approaching the Rubicon with respect to demand and production of oil and the abysmal weakness in finding and developing new oil resources. In short, we are at the beginning of a new reality with respect to oil, one we better get used to. The future has the potential to be life altering and just not very pleasant.
sweeve,
good points. I wrote my piece before seeing yours.
And as far the elasticity of gasoline, I am old enough to remember the OPEC embargo and the Carter years, and in those days, gasoline demand proved to be somewhat more elastic than anyone thought. Carter put on his cardigan, solar heating panels went on the white house roof, conservation became quite “fashionable”, European and Japanese cars flooded the market, US manufacturers quickly built very small and economical cars - smaller, and more economical than than available than today - like the $2000, 38 mpg Ford Pinto and Chevy Vega. V8 cars went to the junkyards and crushers.
And so, a few years later, the price of oil crashed, OPEC got emasculated, wells were closed-in, and oil-industry workers got laid off in droves.
But now, we are now a couple years into the current price expansion, and I see absolutely nothing in the way of fuel conservation efforts. I think this is a consequence of a lot of dreadful things that our “free markets” have done to our infrastructure - most notably the movement of workplaces from transit-and-carpool friendly central business districts to those sprawling, ubiquitous “office parks” and “industrial parks”. Concurrent with this, we have had stagnation of real wages, and the rise of job-insecurity and contingent work, and the multi-job/multi car household.
The frightening thing is, as high fuel prices hit the economy, these suburban workers will be forced to drive even more and use more gasoline in a desperate search for work - driving prices even higher in an upward feedback spiral.
Without vigorous government action of the “socialistic” sort that are totally “off the table” these days - mandating employers to locate on transit routes or downtown, banning commercial and housing sprawl - I see nothing in the future but disaster.
“Got that people? If you want to see gasoline drop back below $3.89/gal, get Congress to end the war!”
Okay, first of all - the USA is not at WAR with any nation on Earth. Why is it so difficult to convince even solid, upstanding members of our choir to re-frame the goddamn message already?
Americans hear “war,” they bow to power and think in “win-lose” paradigms. An ILLEGAL AGGRESSIVE INVASION and ILLEGAL OCCUPATION cannot be “won,” nor do they allow for CIC “war powers.” So f**king stop saying “war” if you want minds to change.
Second of all, gas prices will never, ever fall again. The only - THE ONLY - solution is this f**king simple: get the most efficient car you can afford, and drive the least amount possible. Bike, walk, car pool, hitch, skateboard, Segway, scooter, whatever.
The less gas you use, the less it will cost you. Sort of, like, if you’re fat, and start eating better and less, suddenly you’re not as fat anymore.
Or go ahead and waste your time trying to get Congress to do, what used to be called, “the right thing.” Does anyone, anywhere, see any evidence whatsoever that said Congress has any intention of ever doing the right thing ever again?
We don’t need “daddy” to lead the way. We’re on our own - act accordingly!
” Bush says Saudi oil boost doesn’t solve US problem”
Well George, that’s because the ‘problem’ can be seen in any mirror - oh, I forgot, Republicans don’t have a reflection…
“Johnny, did you know that the US military is killing thousands of innocent people in the Middle East, that millions are being made homeless? that US soldiers are dying and thousands are being seriously wounded?”
“Yeah, I heard that, but we’re fightin terrorism so we gotta be there”
“Did you also know that our oil and gas prices are high because of this, so called, war?”
“What the f???, Congress oughta get us outa there then!!”
I have to agree with USAn on several different levels. I usually like most everything Lindorf writes about, but this one is way off base. Stopping an invasion and occupation that was based on the lust for oil, is not going to be stopped by people who just want to lower their gas prices at the pump.
And SWEEVE also brings some reality to the table. Especially the effect of the tanking US dollar on oil prices.
This occupation of Iraq must end because it is illegal, immoral, and wrong. Period.
frank1569: THAT is one of the BEST comments I have ever read. Bravo!
After reading this article, it seems pretty obvious why the Iraq war was started in the first place, and it wasn’t to control the oil. Instead, it was simply to jack the prices way the hell up. And to sell a lot of very expensive, hi-tec weapons.
And, yeah, frank1659 made some very good points.
Analysts keep getting trotted out on TV and in print, attributing the dramatic price rise to everything from “peak oil” — the idea that producing countries have reached their peak of productive capacity, and that the only direction for oil supplies looking forward is down, while demand continues to rise — to increasing demand in China and India, to supply bottlenecks, to specific news events, like a pipeline break in Nigeria, or a closed refinery in California.
These events are all consistent with the run up to Peak Oil. The demand from China or the U.S. or the Middle East: that just determines the pricing pressure on top of the supply leveling out. Supply bottlenecks: that just emphasizes how ‘tight’ the supply is to current demand. In the past, rebels in the Nigerian Delta disrupting supplies could not affect the global price of oil, since the slack would just be compensated somewhere else.
I’m glad sweeve May 17th, 2008 3:26 pm, USAn May 17th, 2008 3:46 pm, and BobBeaSea May 17th, 2008 4:29 pm understand Peak Oil
That plot of oil prices in U.S. dollars, Euros and gold was interesting. I think that the price of oil is spiking in Euros is important, and I bet it is spiking in most, if not all, currencies. That the price of gold is spiking in tandem with oil might just be a reflection of the wealthy realizing that a financial storm is coming (Peak Oil), and trying to position themselves accordingly. I bet if you plot the price of oil against another crucial commodity, like oil, the curve would be pretty flat also
Also, the fact that the final runup to Peak Oil was occurring right when two ex-oilmen were starting Wars in the Middle East, home to most of the remaining Oil Reserves on the Planet, was no coincidence. Cheney knows about Peak Oil, and has mentioned it on the record. That is WHY they are positioning U.S. forces in the Middle East. Economist Ismael Hussein-Zadeh got his cause and effect bass ackwards: bringing home the troops will not affect the geology of the situation. If birds fly south because it gets cold in the winter, bringing them back north will not make it warmer there.
And YES, start to limit your oil consumption. The downward slope of Peak Oil is going to get ugly. (I got a Prius summer 2004 - this was all predicted in 1999, while the U.S. auto industry cluelessly built ever-larger SUV’s. Way to look ahead, Detroit. How’s that working out for you ?) The new lithium-ion batteries for autos (enabling plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles) will help somewhat, allowing the use of wind energy and solar to replace oil in transportation. But we still need oil for fertilizers, plastics, etc., and it will take a long time to replace the huge existing vehicle fleet, which needs oil distillates.
Little by little, people are starting to wake up to the crisis. But most of them are still confused, blaming Big Oil (’pretending’ to be running out of oil) or lack of new refineries in the U.S. (as though other countries couldn’t build them and ship gasoline to the U.S.) or lack of enough drilling in the US (sure, that 7 billion barrels in ANWR will be enough for ONE YEAR of US consumption, that will sure end Peak Oil) or lets make the U.S. dollar stronger (that will help pay for ever increasing oil prices, but not stop them).
Anyway, check out this 300 MPG plug in hybrid. Good luck in the coming Crisis.
What nonsense.
Tell me what has happened in Iraq since June of last year to cause Oil to increase in price from 60 dollars a barrel to 128 dollars a barrel. The USD has not devalued by 50% in the last year, and the war is not responsible for the all of the devaluation.
There is no shortage of oil, if there was, there would be no gas at the pumps and we would not be able to by oil to top up the strategic reserves in prepartion for the new war every new President is supposed to deliver to the elite (in the past we used these reserves as a weapon against rising prices, in concert with other countries who also maintained reserves).
The oil prices are manipulated by the Big Oil cartels (whats left of the 7 sisters) and the financial speculators (the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, DMEX, was set up in June 2007 by NYMEX, and prices have since doubled). Big Oil controls the transport of oil from the oil producing nations to oil consuming nations, as well as much of the refining capacity.
Incidentally, since last June, gas prices have increased less than 30%, despite oil increasing over 100%.
carbon dioxide green house gas is at 387 oarts per million. Dr Hansen at NASA warns that it cannot be sustained at that level without ruining the planet- it has to be lower and just the opposite is occuring- it keeps rising- we need to take all measures of lowering our use and that includes having oil be expensive.
However, the war in Iraq must end for many many reasons. Vote Obama- our best bet- he is smart, he is skilled, he is committed to end the war.
It’s time to nationalize the oil industry, and energy in general. And might as well do health care too. They are huge infrastructures that are too critical to our nation to leave to the hands of the greedy.
That would also send a signal that any industries that are failing so abysmally because of malfeasance and greed, i.e. banking and insurance, that they’d better straighten up or they’re next.
That’s not socialist, that’s downright American. It’s time that blatant capitalism was painted evil.
qbaldsmoove:
The US imports ~65% of its oil from countries like Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria. As US oil production peaked in 1970 this ratio is only getting worse as time goes by. In addition, the majority of world oil reserves are now in the hands of national oil companies like Saudi Aramco, Pemex ,Petrochina, Petrobrasil etc, not private US corporations.
I don’t think these countries will play along with your little scheme of forcing oil prices down by decree. And if you think prices are bad now, wait until our Asian and Middle Eastern creditors stop accepting increasingly worthless dollars in payments, and demand hard money (euros, gold?).
The US wars in the ME burn massive amounts of fuel, increase the risk premium on oil transportation and along with the distortion of energy investment caused by sanctions (particluarly against Iran) are definite factors in increasing the price of oil. A tight supply/demand situation, compensation by oil suppliers for losses due to a weak dollar, speculation and just plain greed are also factors. Its a complex problem, but undoubtedly, non-belligerence in the key oil-producing region of the world would save consumers billions as military fuel consumption and risk premium fall.
Why do the wars and rumors of wars push the price of oil up? Because of speculators, friends, who are betting that the future price will go higher. Prices are determine primarily by commodity traders who are betting that supplies will be reduced because Iran might be invaded. Iran isn’t being invaded and most likely won’t be, and supplies are not limited at this time, even though demand is increasing world wide.
The oil price spike is comparable to the food price spike. Massive amounts of speculative capital, much of it operating in unregulated markets, is driving commodity prices through the roof. There is no shortage of food in the world. There is a shortage of regulation of out of control speculation.
Read F William Engdahl’s essay here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8878
There is no scarcity of food or fuel. The perceived scarcity is created by sky rocketing prices that are driven by speculators. Engdahl asserts that 60% of the price of oil represents pure speculation and market manipulation above and beyond any true increase of demand over supply and he explains why this is true.
This is not to imply that the price of oil has not risen because of other factors, it is only to say that it is far higher than it ought to be in an honest market, a market that reflects actual supply and demand, not the exaggerations and inflation that comes from market manipulation by big players creating a free lunch for themselves at the expense of everyone else.
cruxpuppy:
William Engdahl also does not believe that oil is a fossil fuel, ie. the abiogenic petroleum theory.
From his Sept 2007 piece “Confessions of an “ex” Peak Oil Believer” (where he is quoting a Russian Scientist) “‘Crude oil and natural petroleum gas have no intrinsic connection with biological matter originating near the surface of the earth. They are primordial materials which have been erupted from great depths.’”
I no longer take him very seriously, at least on oil issues.
In terms of food scarcity, world grain supplies are at all time lows - a bubble in prices would be characterized by an abundance of commodities sitting in warehouses, this is not the case. These low levels have been reached in spite of record harvests in the past few years. One bad year, and we are talking famine for the unfortunates who live at the 1-2 dollar a day level. This is not a Ponzi scheme like the tech & housing bubbles.
If you had talked about the escalating price of gas, food and other commodities as a result of the war leading up to the invasion of Iraq, one would have been branded a traitor, unpatriotic or un-american. It was common sense thinking which most Americans seem to lack, being caught up in the Bush Co
rhetoric. Now in hindsight can we now understand that we may have shot ourselves in the foot.
I agree that nationalizing the energy and health sectors would be the right thing to do. Money earned by selling oil and coal could then be directly invested in clean renewable energy and clean fast mass transit, in contrast to the situation when oil based General Motors bought up electric street car companies all across the country in the 40s and 50s and scrapped them so they could sell more cars.
Taking profit out of health care is a no brainer. I don’t trust decisions made about my health when the personal profit of the medical practitioner increases when I am sick and goes down when I am healthy. That is a situation just asking for trouble.
Yes, the article is true. Now throw on top of this, that these same creeps who launched the Iraq and Afghanistan war’s, were the ones that perpatraited the 9/11 event. We’re playing the whack a mole game. Let’s get the creeps for the very obvious and provable 9/11 atrocity, and then start to deal with the fallout from from all it’s consequences. Working from the backward approach, [trying to deal with each new additional crime] is a very unproductive way to solve our problems.
It’s very interesting to hear from all the “market true believers” who criticized Mr. Lindorff’s article. Simple, say they. Supply, demand, prices … what could be easier to understand?
Well, if you actually believe the pricing mechanisms in the global oil industry are driven by anything resembling a free market, you’re wrong.
Mr. Lindorff’s assertion that oil prices would fall if the US truly charted a new course and withdrew from Iraq is correct. Without question, the instability created in the oil markets has been a major contributor, if not the major contributor, to wild price increases. Anyone who believes this was not included in the pre-invasion neo-con calculations is blind to the Cheney-Bush-Rice et al connection to the oil industry. Tap dance around the statistics anyway you want to but the oil industry has had record profits after record profits after record profits since the invasion of Iraq.
And, it is true, as others have stated that there are indeed legitimate market forces in the mix. A falling dollar, China, India and the madness of the speculators have all combined to spin the little wheels on the gas pumps faster than they’ve ever spun before.
But the oil markets are not “free markets.” The oil markets have long been corrupted by government welfare or corporate welfare if you prefer the term. The once aptly named military-industrial complex is now, to a great extent, the military-oil complex. The US maintains more than 730 military bases overseas and spends more than $1.1 trillion a year on the military. How much of what passes for “defending the country” is, in essence, guarding private, commercial oil pipelines or “procuring” oil for global oil corporations? Skeptical? Please read Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine” and “The Sorrows of Empire” or “Nemesis” by Chalmers Johnson. The message is all too clear. The US government has been catering to massive multi-nationals, especially in the oil industry, at taxpayers’ expense. The oil industry has used the American military as its very own private security force. Exactly what kind of free market is that?
If private industry had to pay the military bill instead of we, the people, alternative forms of energy would have long surpassed oil as the fuel of choice. There’s nothing like a few hundred billion a year in military subsidies to the oil industry to kill the competition from alternative fuel sources. It’s been very effective, hasn’t it?
And, of course, let’s not forget about global warming and oil spills in the oceans and air pollution. Suppose we were to put a proper burden for these societal costs directly on the industries that produce these public harms. An informed electorate and a government dedicated to representing the people’s interests would quickly put the lie to the phony oil markets. The reality is that in a real market, oil prices would be much, much higher than they currently are and real competition, not the nonsense we currently see, might lead to better energy choices.
Bottom line? Take your market dogma somewhere else. Big oil and its capitalist exploitation has all but destroyed this country. It’s time for a sane energy policy and a sane foreign policy. Militarism, combined with Big Oil’s corruption, has created a fraudulent market that has led to a total lack of sanity. Big Oil won’t readily let go of its death grip; perhaps it’s time we offered them a little encouragement to do so.
What did people expect would happen when they voted twice to install oil men in the white house? That is why we were bombarded with scare talk about gun control, abortion, social security, and restoring respect for the government. Then we would forget what we were really voting for— war for oil profits and tax cuts for the rich.
We must be careful, as several commenters have pointed out, to identify the willfulness of the Republican strategies for destroying our country. This is not sheer ignorance and incompetence. Yes, there is a lot of ifnorance and incompetence happening, because Republican policies require idiots to implement them. But there is also a carefully calculated element behind the direction that our governmental institutions have been steered in. What seems to be (and IS) generalized incompetence is also systematic neglect, which is also the wholescale ripping off of all our public assets. Government as a structure for transfering public wealth into private hands. Government as wholescale kleptocracy. Government as criminal conspiracy.
Think about it. The entire federal government is a criminal conspiracy. How do we go about prosecuting the whole government?
Oh yeah… That is what they call a revolution. Bringing Justice — sweet justice — to bear against a corrupt and life-destroying criminal government. Let’s prosecute them. Put them all in jail and atone to the world for what they did. Revolution. Republicans in jail. Let them watch tv in jail. Let them stroll the grounds and contemplate the watch towers, wondering if anyone is up there.
A $3 trillion dollar war and a monthly military gas bill of $150M a month to keep those planes flying.
Gee, sure could have bought a lot of gas with pennies from our national piggy bank.
I’m surprised that we as Americans aren’t out on the streets marching in protest every single day. I say boot the lot of Repubs who are in lockstep with our dictator.
The new mantra should be from here on out - never vote in an incumbent. Period!
By the way, ever been skiing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming? The Cheney ranch is huge.
I say that the personal fortunes of GWB/Cheney be rescinded through a congressional order.
How many Americans have to be financially raped every day while these idiots run politically amok?
USAn is right about marketing the end of the wars. It wouldn’t make much difference in oil prices. In fact the wars are about oil to begin with. They are among the first, but by no means the last, tribulations of peak oil, which is nothing short of the end of the industrial age. Some clever hominids discovered some reservoirs of flammable grease and experienced a technological bubble which is about to burst. Expect more wars, as we quarrel over shrinking supplies and clamoring demand. Expect every species of self-interest to maintain its blind inertia. Expect our competitors to be painted as pure evil. Expect societies to come unglued as they are increasingly unable to deliver “basic” services such as power and water and protection and health care. Expect anger, scapegoating and blood. Don’t expect everybody to wake up and develop cooperative solutions as our problems devolve onto chaos. The time for intelligent collective choices was a while back. It comes down to personal choices now, among which I would recommend a joyful appreciation that gas is only $4 a gallon today, and that tomorrow is not yet here. Turn on all the lights in your house and be amazed by it. Open your freezer and look at all that food. Go for a walk in your safe streets. Thank God you are not your children. Today I am going to buy a Vespa - a longtime fantasy - not to save the planet, but to give myself one last, exuberant experience of wantonly hot-rodding around the countryside for the pure hell of it.
WELSH TERRIER: Wonderfully insightful post.
VOXCLAMANTIS: Guess I should say enjoy the ride! I still live humbly, but I often do pause these days to think that the half hour car trip to have a little dinner on the water and see friends, the coffee I enjoy in the morning, the AMENITIES we, of this spoiled nation, TAKE FOR GRANTED, may soon be rare items indeed. “This thou perceiveth which makes thy love more strong, to love that well which thou must leave ere long.” Shakespeare intended the quote (one of my favorites) for something loftier than an appreciation of lifestyle, yet it does apply!
It is not our need for oil that is the problem. It is our use that goes beyond our need, our abuse that is the problem. As citizens, our choices are limited. But we can always QUIT DRIVING! Our household has cut driving in half by simple planning. We are using bicycles for trips to the grocery and about town. The kids are riding the bus, I’m walking to work, we’re declining from activities that require too much driving, the list goes on. And we don’t even own a hybrid. Americans can do something about this, but it won’t be through politics. The real change will be through changes in behavior. We have to change our lifestyles. By the way, doesn’t the lack of a conservation message from the msm seem strange at this point. You know it really could help. And it feels great too!
I used to frequent an on-line gas-pricing site - and I warned them what would happen if the US attacked Iraq… and how high their fuel bills would go.
As for ‘peak oil’ - the US military uses up half of our oil quota already, and we’re driving other countries to militarize in self-defense. How do you think that affects ‘peak oil’ - and your penny-pinching ideas about how to save a few cents? Without a national restructuring, personal sacrifices are a drop in the bucket - and won’t matter in the long run. They are nothing but a feel-good tactic. That’s not how we’re going to save our country - or the world - from the coming multiple catastrophes we now face. And unless you can walk to your voting booth (I can) - then don’t bother. It’s a waste of both time and fuel. Fascism can’t be defeated by voters…
A good start - for more, have a look round Green Island http://www.rudemacedon.ca/greenisland.html (a good story too)
End the war???? Well sounds like a true Liberal Democrat.
Well who elected this Congress in power? They will not let any drilling in the United States because of enviornmentlist and the people who screem (not in my back yard).
Obama stated his solution would be to take away our rights that we eat to much, drive Suv’s and keep our thermastates up or down to low and this must end. Some solution, I can just see him and Machille sitting in a cave to keep cool and what about his huge home, his SUV’s, will he give all this up? One knows better.
The only thing these Liberal Democrats know is blame the war, well if we have another Democratic controlled Congress and a Democratic President, you ain’t seen nothing yet, then who can you blame.
Get the Liberal Democrats out of controll and America will have a better chance to bring this country back in line.
If you fail to vote, you are part of the problem. If you fail to think things through, you are part of the problem.
I use to be a Democrat until I started looking at all the things they now stand for and against America.
First they want illegals in this country because they keep people down by taking their jobs, driving wages down and if we got them out of this country, what would these Liberals run on?
Be a part of the American solution, do not be a part of the problem. This article is full of what the Liberals want you to think, well look elsewhere and see where the problem is, watch what Congress votes on and open your eyes.
Joy
may 21, 2008 i watched on C-span/senate judicial committee (Leahy..5 oil company presidents were on the question panel) i’m sure many of you saw that also. The senate panel revealed one interesting fact about the ‘big oil’ leases that they have now is that: ‘42million acres leased presently, but only about 12million in use’ that fact was of course qualified with several reasons why the unused 30million acres are not of interest to production of minerals at this time. So i would conclude that those leases could be broken and withdrawn from the main oil corporations, in an effort to force the corporations to stop their systemic ripoff/price gouging (in the interest of free capitalistic marketing). Or simply jack the price of those leases say about 500% call it a cost of living increase. i think that might fit real good.
also from that judicial committee (Leahy..5 oil company presidents), the senate panel revealed another interesting fact about the present ‘oil price’, (Senator Sessions R Alabama) reasoned with the panel: that this country’s ripoff/price gouging is (inpart) reality based on the ‘world valuation of oil’. ‘and little we can do to control other nationalized production entities or OPEC with reguard to price & supply’. His opinion was hard and fast: open production, anywhere and everywhere in U.S. holdings, as soon as possible. He wants very much so to tap AMWR, & offshore north, south, east, & west. OK so if that is what we do for example, and oh boy the oil corporations are thrilled and into the pipes are stuffed the latest plunders…(not withstanding all the excuses: 5-10 yrs, some of the mineral is ‘dirty’, there are poor people that are hungry, you cant find a derrick to rent, etc.). And yet Senator Sessions already knows that the mineral is valued on the ‘world market value’, and so the Alabama Senator expects the ‘world market value’ to decrease, drasticly even, based on this great volume of mineral. But i say to you Senator that is not what the oil company presidents just told you in plain words on this panel. They are all baseing their production values on the ‘world market value’ …so that says to me that if you GAVE the oil companys all the minerals they could pump, they would continue to expect the full ‘world market value’. (dont expect the price at the pump to go down, when they can simply point their fingers at the other producers in the world, as the greedy) The oil producers are doing just that right now: with older wells the production is more than just a cheap thrill, its record profits from minerals priced long ago.
what if the oil companys make vast profits, that is their responsibility/joy. i’m not against their profits, rather i’m all for them and their hard work. and i’m all for Senator Sessions trying his best to lead our country out of this chaos. i just don’t agree with the fundamental issue that tapping set aside lands/waters is going to fix anything other than plunder what is rightfully set aside for a different generation other than me, other than you.
sorry i rant on too much… wild