Originally posted by saturneptune:
... The oil companies are stealing from the American people daily. ...
No, the "oil companies" aren't "stealing" from the American people! That's a lie! Stealing would mean they're taking your money and giving you nothing or less for it's value. That's not at all the case! Prices are set by supply and demand. That economic system is capitalism. Gasoline - the best known product made from crude oil - is still a bargain in this country even at its highest prices. It's price has gone up but, relatively to cost of living, it's still a good deal.
The profit margin for many parts of the oil business is not that great and there's a whole lot of risk involved in the business. Yes, some people have become very rich in the business but others have lost a lot. Refining, for example, is a business that operates on variable margins and when the margin is small it can quickly kill an enterprise no matter how well they run the business. They have to honor their contracts and keep supplying the demand. Few businesses - especially small ones - can afford to be in the industry especially with the intense amount of capital required even for environmental controls alone. Without the opportunity - not guarantee - to make lots of money few would bother with the risks. That's what drives capitalism. Let's try more socialism or even communism as an alternative and see how unproductive business and government can become.
A large part of the price of gasoline is tax - presumably for highways - that your government keeps spending on new, improved, and maintained roads so you can drive your car wherever you want whenever you want. The citizens want those roads and they want their cars. They want bigger and faster freeways with no delays. Do you want to lower the price of gasoline? Cut the demand! Cut the cost of roads! Stop building so many roads and build alternatives instead. Give up some flexibility to go wherever you want when you want.
A whole lot of Americans make a very reasonable living off the "oil" business when you consider all the petrochemical processes related to it and all the many products made by them. Do you remember the "oil" industry bust of the 1980's? Do you remember all the people who had to walk away from their homes because they lost their good jobs in the industry? The "oil business" has in fact put a lot of money in the average worker's pockets, bread on their tables, roofs over their heads, and clothes on their backs. The "oil" industry includes the exploration, production, transportation, and distribution of natural gas. Do you want to turn off your heat for a while so the price will go down? We use disposable plastic materials in an ever increasing number of products and they're made from crude oil and natural gas. Do you want to stop using those conveniences to help cut the demand for the raw materials?
In any industry - entertainment included - a few people make a disproportionate amount of money. It doesn't seem fair to those making much less but if it's not illegal it's not a problem for the government to solve but rather the marketplace. What those making less don't often see is what it actually takes to make more money. It's work - not necessarily back breaking work - but real hard high risk work with a very high level of responsibility. Most people can't do it but they like complaining about the benefits those that can get from it. The business of government is not to make rich men poor or poor men rich. We do have antitrust laws to prevent monopolistic practices that would override supply and demand by controlling both sides of the equation. If that happens, then it's time for the government to step in and protect its citizens. But, it's not happening because there's plenty of competition in the business.
