Can the regular Joe on the streets ever affect the crazy gas prices plaguing this nation? The answer is a resounding, well maybe. You see, the human species has a massive capacity to affect everything in our lives, adversely or positively. One person can make a massive difference and even change the course of history. They simply have to make the choice to turn off the TV and do it. But, there is one other thing that can change the course of history to a much further extent than a single human being, and that is a group of people, a mass of people an entire country full of people. To really make a change it takes millions of voices screaming out ‘no more!, We’ve had enough!” Instead of one person undertaking all the work himself, millions can each do one thing consistently until the government, the corporations or whoever realizes that something is different, that us lowly citizens have actually gotten our act together and stopped allowing ourselves to be herded around like cattle.
A few days ago I received an e-mail that intrigued me. Now as an advocate of the environment I’d much rather see us switch to renewable energy, but until that day I have to get around just like everyone else. But with gas prices settling in at $2.75 in my part of the country, just going to the store is putting a strain on my pocket book. In other words you can just not leave your home. We must go out to forage at some point. Boycotting gas was out of the question and I certainly don’t have the expertise to build my own solar powered vehicle. I can’t walk the ten miles to the grocery store and back.
Back to the e-mail and the answer. Oil companies have fought with one another since the beginning of the industrial era. They fight in pennies to retain customers, creating what called a price war. It never ends and we as consumers and use this weakness to our advantage. The two largest suppliers of gas at this time is Exxon and Mobile are now one, making this task of our much easier. And the task? Do not buy from this company or any gas station who retails their gas.
The oil companies will tell you this will never work, but when you consider it logically you have to know that it will work. Once their sales drop and ExxonMobil feels it in their pocketbooks they will drop their prices in an attempt to lure back their customers. Consequently when the prices begin to drop and people return to Exxon other stations will miss their new clientele and drop their own prices to bring them back. Obviously, we will never again see the days of $1.50 gas but I’d be happy with $2.00 at this time.
Now, I don’t know about you bet I get a little tired of being filled with excuses. To much demand and not enough supply. But when you see gas prices suddenly increase 20 cents or more in the month leading up to summer when we all go on vacation, I find it truly hard to believe that oil companies aren’t taking advantage of our desire for a get away.
That said, to truly spearhead and motivate a movement such as this takes work and commitment and it takes a lot of angry people. Who knows maybe we can change the course of history this time, or heck maybe we could all just switch to solar powered cars and leave the internal combustion engine behind. That would really hit them in the pocket book then.
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