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An explanation of my artwork, and the price of gasoline
14 years ago
General
(Leo Kottke at Black Mountain, NC, last October)
So apparently I'm having to rely on a few friends to scan in what art I've got, and unfortunately their scanner isn't working, or something, and they might not be able to work on it for a few days.
*sigh* >_<
But hopefully after this, I'll be able to upload art much more often than I have been...
/subject change
So my dad's a pretty astute observer when it comes to politics. Comes with being an ex-lawyer, I guess, but at any rate we were discussing gas prices the other day. I'd mentioned that gas prices had just about doubled since Obama's inauguration day, and we had a pretty good talk that resulted in a pretty... well, we've got almost all the bases covered when it comes to the question, "What's up with those goddamned gas prices?!?!?"
Okay, first off, he said that obviously the oil companies raise prices whenever there's a chance Democrats will get elected, because obviously they're terrified that the liberals will raise taxes on them. (Ignoring the fact that even the liberals nowadays are in the pocket of big business and would never do any such thing) In addition, I told him about several articles I've seen that say the oil-rich countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran don't stay in power through violence. They stay in power basically because they use their oil profits to give their citizens everything except human rights. :3 But this means that their GDP to debt ratio is so completely out of whack (even compared to Greece or the US) that they need oil prices to stay high just to keep from going bankrupt!
Gas speculators are part of the problem too but they're a relatively minor issue, and one that's easier for the liberals to attack compared to the oil companies who own them and the dictatorships halfway around the world nobody's going to be able to change.
It was either Romney or Santorum that accused Obama of driving up gas prices recently so the green movement could get funding, and to that I say: Stick your head back up your ass where it belongs, fatfuck.
*ahem*
My dad says he's got a little theory on the side that he hasn't heard anywhere else: The oil companies are also raising prices because they want the extra 40-50 bucks a month folks are getting because of the payroll tax cut. That way nobody will be able to see any benefits and they can accuse the left of not doing anything for the middle class...
HAVE AN EXCELLENT, THOUGHTFUL POLITICAL DISCUSSION YOU GUYS :D
it's a law. states, basically, if one station was to raise or lower the price, the others within (personally unknown radius in miles) must do so within (i think 3 days it was).
now, in this greed based world where Exxon alone made (which produces the majority of gas that is native to america, and is in my very home town here) $41 billion in profit last year, WHY the hell is anybody going to make the gas cheaper? that would only logically reduce profit.
so to increase profit, raise prices by the controlling company (Exxon) and everyone else /must/ do so also.
at the same time, there is a conundrum. the addins to the gas they put to "increase fuel efficiency and maintainability" increases prices, as this "technology" is pricy to loop into a already created system.
okay. lowering the octane on a car will damage it, as it's designed for a very particular type. (it's why you put 89 in a 89 car, 92 in 92, etc. do NOT put 92 in a 89, or vice verse. it damages the engine, long term.) and on top of that, other add ins: ethanol. we all know ethanol (the corn "gas") is a HIGHLY usable source of gas for cars? i dont really dispute that part >..>
did anybody know the modern cars are not produced with the capability to process ethanol? so it damaged and gums the engines. ethanol is usable. if a car is designed to use it. but the things the car manufactures say are: "to do so we would have to stripe every plant and redesign the machines, and techniques, then retrain the workers. that would not only bankrupt us, but it's worth more then a liquidation of the entire company" (same reteric said to proponents of the non-gas cars, of various design.)
another point? even though the cars are not designed for ethanol, they add it. in ever increasing amounts. ethanol is made of corn, correct? not that big a problem right?
the US does not export. we import. means we consume more than we produce. including corn, even before ethanol. now that we added corn ot gas, we have /another/ import increase.
which maens we either 1) dont import an split what we have now, or 2) import more.
(1) means that the cows and chickens we live off of for both dairy products and primary sources of meat in every facet of our daily lives, starve. creating shortage, increasing prices for those products (a vast majority of daily life.)
(2) means the cows are just as good. but now the farmers have to pay more, due ot the fact it's imported goods, not native. so price goes up for everything dealing with cows or chickenstock.
the worse part is... i cannot blame this on obama. yes i blame a /lot/ on him. but Obama did not create or lax the laws in the US on the MegaCorp restrictions. nor did he create or lax the laws that found our country into the Free Market that we are (which is also false. we are by definition a Mixed Economic System. not a Free Market or Free Enterprise. and yes those are different things.)
so who did this? the Corps themselves. and our fore-fathers allowed it. not the government, as it was then still in control by the populace. we let them take control, and well... here we are. a doomed country- and all this and the only topic of subject is gas prices. imagen if we had included /anything/ else?
this is why i stay pissed at the government. reasonable to me. reasonable to many.