Hi Friends… Randy here..
I was just poking around the internet and ran upon the recent price for a barrel of oil. Gosh! Was I ever suprised! Even though I’ve been watching the cost of a gallon of gasoline skyrocket in the last few months, I hadn’t full understood just how much we’re getting shafted by the crude oil suppliers! If you’re curious, the last price I saw was $147 dollars a barrel. $147 DOLLARS A BARREL!! Jesus y Maria!
From a individual point of view this is really putting a strain of our personal budgets. But consider your business budgets and your cash flow predictions. We’re all trying to do business on the web. You have a number of costs that are directly related to the price of a barrel of oil. Every trip you make to the Post Office or Shipper costs more. Your bottom line is impacted. The price you pay for goods you resell costs more. Your bottom line is impacted even more. You have to charge your customers more for shipping product. Big impact. Customers have less disposible imcome to spend on your offerings; whether you provide goods, services, or information. The price of oil is costing us in a huge way!
So why aren’t we doing something here at home to cut the demand!! I know that people are buying more efficient vehicles. But many, like the lady I recently spoke with in a local Wal-Mart, can’t. Many folks can’t trade out their old gas guzzlers ’cause they would be so upside down on the trade. Ergo, they’re forced to pay in the neighborhood of $90 just to fill up their rides. Damned if they do…damned if they don’t, sort of.
So maybe our State and Local governments could do something to cut the usage, hence cutting the demand. In Georgia a few years ago our Governor dropped the State tax on fuel. It helped, but it was only a bandaid to temporarily ease a political situation. It had no effect on the demand for oil. It just made it easier to consume more of it. Now the situation is even worse. I fear it has passed the political level. Someone, meaning WE need to take measures in our own hands.
So just what can we do? I’m open for suggestions. I have a few thoughts but I’m sure that most folks wouldn’t agree with them. They might seem a bit stringent. Here’s a list in no particular order:
- Get with your political representatives, Senators, Congressmen, State Governors,State Senators, Representatives, County and City Officials, etc., and push for oil importation restrictions. Restrictions like not allowing oil prices to rise above a fixed level. Let’s face it, $147 a barrel is grand theft by taking.
- Let’s address usage. We’re just going to have to realize that travelling around willy nilly isn’t a right granted to us by the Constitution. This is the part that will cause a lot of Americans pain.
- We need to cut out all unnecessary driving. One way is to not allow high school students the right to drive themselves to school. We’re already paying for busses. Let’s use them. It may mean putting more busses on the road and hire more drivers, but we’d have to save money and the school boards could use the savings for educational programs.
Hopefully this would cut down some of the teen driving accidents and expose our young adults to fewer hazards.
- Now here’s another suggestion that I’m sure will hit the “Most Unpopular Suggestions of all Time” list
Let’s re-enact the Blue Laws. If there are fewer places to go on Sunday, then maybe the quality of family life in America will have the opportunity to improve. Most major retailers will throw a fit about shutting down on Sunday. But just think how much the nation would save not only in vehicle gas usage, but from the reduction of the electricity these retailers suck up in a 24 hour period. Now I’m not talking about shutting down everything. Common sense says that churches, hospitals, government services, certain retailers (i.e., pharmacies, gas stations, and non-alcohol service restaurants) should have license to operate on Sunday.
It may sound a bit Puritan. God knows that I would feel put out at times if the Blue Laws were brought back. But, hey, we’ve all got to share the burden and responsibility. After all, if we hadn’t put up with paying outrageous gas prices we wouldn’t be in this mess. Remember that the price of a gallon of gasoline is due to the price of a barrel of oil. If we cut overall all usage, the demand will drop and hopefully the price of you future fill-up will reflect the drop.
- Public Transportation. This is an old saw and not an idea many folks of middle income entertain. It does need more consideration. I do know that most well run public transportation providers, whether as Public or Privately owned, can get us around more efficiently and cost effectively than using single use privately owned vehicles.
I’m sure that there are many, many ways to help us conserve. Remember that this problem is not only an personal financial problem; it is a problem that affects the way you do business. If you have any ideas or solutions that you feel make sense, please feel free to leave a comment.
I will leave you with this thought from Mr.Stan Hall, columnist with the Loganville Tribune:
At some point and time, I will learn that there is little demand for common sense in today’s world. The fact that something just makes sense or is practical is of little use if it does not also satisfy the political appetite of one side of an issue or the other.
Stan Hall, The Loganville Tribune, page A7, 11 July 2008
So with all this being said, I’ll move on. Please feel free to pass this along to your friends and associates. Any reasonable suggestion is welcome. I’d just like to know what we can do together when we try.
Randy
