Bikes: The New Revolution

[Soldier of Fortune]

I read the description for the Flying Stone, and it said politics. Well, I decided that gas has been a huge politic/economic subject as of late, and I wanted to know how it has affected all of you.

Personally, I am pissed. It literally costs 5$ at the least to drive to my university every day, because I lived off campus (poor choice I realize now). I've read articles that predict that prices will continue to skyrocket, because oil companies state that despite their record-making profits, in comparison to the difficulty of getting said oil, they still aren't making out as well as we all think. A load of bullshit if you ask me.

Research apparently shows that they can still make a profit at around $2.50, and any profit is profit, no? Though I even heard rumors that if a price ceiling was places on gas, the companies would introduce some more money loving and whorish oil dealers, and the resultant competition would jack prices up again.

Is there no end to this?! Correct me if my information is wrong, some rumors are just gibberish.

[BlackAndBlueEyes]

Methinks that a bike would be a good investment right about now.

[The Wall]

Small trucking companies and independent contractors are really suffering right now. When I was leasing a rig, diesel was $3.15 a gallon. I was making several thousand dollars on a good week, but all but a couple hundred dollars was going right back into the rig, between gas, maintainence and the $650 a week lease payment. I was going through about 100 gallons a day, 150 if I was in a really mountainous region or heavily loaded.

While hybrids, hydrogen cells, and full on electric cars are great ways to try and save on gas for a regular car, these things just aren't going to work for the trucking industry. The miles truckers drive and the strength of the engine needed to pull 80,000 lbs is just too much for any of these alternatives to do the job. The best the industry has is Biodiesel which is proven to not have quite the pulling power of regular diesel and some of the newer engines can't even process it.

My uncle, also a trucker, put it rather well to me the other day when we were chatting. "It's kind of disheartening to come home and pay thirty five bucks to fill up the car, but it's a real kick in the gut to go run a load the next day and have to pay five hundred to fill up the rig and know that you'll be filling that rig up over and over before you even have a chance to touch that car again."

[Letho]

Oil companies jack up prices because they can, it's that simple. They can because people need gas in order to go about their everyday lives, because people will bitch and moan about the price but still in the end buy the gas because they can't make do without it. And even if people collectively refuse to buy gas in some sort of a protest, they will sit back and wait for the shit to pass because they're sitting on gallons and gallons of oil. And eventually people would come back and buy gas again. It's shitty, but that's the way it is.

Biodiesel isn't the magic cure for this ailment either. In fact, it's not easy to produce and it takes large parcels of land to grow stuff needed for its production. So what you get instead of a solution for the gas problem is that in some African country there are millions of people starving to death while their government plants stuff needed to make Biofuel instead of food for the people.

Though, I'm not so certain why you people from the US complain about the prices. You still pay less than most people in the world. As an example, a gallon of fuel in Croatia costs about 9$ which is almost twice as much as you pay it. On top of that, the income of an average citizen of Croatia is considerably less than that of the US people.

In the end, I'd just like to say that fuel prices will continue to go up and there's nothing anybody can do about it. Oil is a fossil fuel and there is a limited amount of it in the world, so it's only natural that the price goes up as the reserves go down. Yes, the oil companies could take a cut to their own profit and give us cheaper fuel, but they got used to a certain percentage of profit and I believe they'll do anything to keep that percentage up.

Is there a solution? Walk the shorter distances and use public transportation whenever you can. You'll definitely save money that way.

[Nautilus]

Around here we've been opting for the bus/walking/biking as often as possible. When I move to my college city I won't even be taking my car. Thankfully said city is well endowed in the public transportation department and the dorms are located rather close to everything one might need. I have been thinking about getting a scooter though. 123 mpg? Hell yeah.

My mum runs a small cafe that thrives on commuter fare and business has definitely been down for them lately. Like Letho says, oil's just gonna keep going up no matter what along with the price of just about everything else and soon $4.09 for a gallon of your basic fuel will seem cheap.

Interesting times we live in...

[Calx Vir]

Indeed we pay less, but compared to the amount of driving, it is probably proportional I'd guess. The US's mostly industrialized economy relies on gas, and seeing as how we even have the potential to drill in the US in oil reserves that could possibly be enough for the nation indefinitely, people are pissed because environmentalists won't allow that to happen.

But yes, public transportation would be a big help, or get a job closer to where you live. My relative drives 40 miles a day to work, and never stops complaining. Just swallow your pride and take the bus already!

Edit: I heard that gas has already been expected to rise up to $7 by the end of the year. Whether or not this is true, if things keep heading in this direction, we're going to see a recession, if we're not in one already. When I want a slice of pizza, I have to pay 2 bucks for a slice of pep because flour is more expensive. The shame!

[Xos]

I think your a day late and a dollar short on that Calx, I think we are already in a recession.

[Calx Vir]

To be officially in a recession, real GDP has to be down for two consecutive quarters. Thus is the technical definition. If I'm not mistaken, it hasn't been two quarters yet. Though there are definitely the sure signs of one.

[Nautilus]

Oh the U.S. is in a recession alright.
Don't take my word for it though.

[Calx Vir]

Most likely. I read another definition of recession:

"When a slice of cheese pizza reaches $2."

Then for a depression:

"When a slice of cheese pizza reaches $3."

The pizza is always first to suffer...

[Xos]

Well its in a real sad sorry state if nothing else. I hope it doesn't get to the point to where the poor are too poor to live.

[Saxon]

Sierra Leone has gas priced at about $18.00 a gallon from what I heard, and it's probably gone up. To sum it up: We in the U.S. are lucky in the fact that we have the economic muscle to slow gas prices to a point that we are still paying around $3.75-$4.00 a gallon. In fact, we are also lucky that we have reserves of oil that could last our entire country for years without the intervention of foreign oil trade. Gas, like Letho said, is a good that can be used to goad people into buying it at any price because there is a finite supply of it. If you've watched any of the TV specials or haven't been living under a rock for the last 8 years, you probably already know that.

What I'm assuming most of you don't know is how quickly the Age of Oil is coming to an end. There've been experts who've said that oil as a refined source will have dried up anywhere between 50 years from now or by the end of the century, depending on how developing countries (India, China, etc) respond to their growing oil addiction. It's astounding to think that some people believe oil will last them their entire lives and that prices should be cut to reflect that, and depending on how old you are, that very well may be the case. But, since most of us aren't, it's time to face facts.

We need an alternative fuel source. Nuclear, hydrogen, something. But trading our food sources for fuel is just stupid. I think at this point, everybody in the world, young and old, are realizing how finite oil really is. There are different things we could look into as said above, such as nuclear power (reactors, not bombs), hydrogen fuel cells, wind power, or even a collaboration of all of the above. But the only way any of that is going to get done, is if R&D is being made to make the progressive leaps in technology needed to get us off of oil for good.

I've watched people in my town abuzz about oil strikes and boycotts on gas stations, and perhaps thats common with some of you folks in your own towns or hamlets, or clachans, or whatever it is you call your established community. I'll say this flat out. Oil strikes and gas boycotts do not work. They haven't and they probably never will. The amount of time needed to affect the oil industries profits could range anywhere from weeks to even months, but a single day of not buying gas is nothing but a blip in their profit charts. Meanwhile, they hold the oil hostage until we come to our senses and start buying it again because as people from industrialized, oil-dependent countries will tell you, oil is in everything. Fuel for cars, air planes, electricity, jets, ships, lubricants for machinery, everything. So trying to wait out the producers of oil until prices drop is both unproductive and damaging no matter how provocative Gandhi's 'fight-with-nonviolence' tactics seem to be to some of you.

Until a new advent in technology is procured by some rhyme or reason, everybody will be the victim of oil and change.

[Godhand]

There are different things we could look into as said above, such as nuclear power (reactors, not bombs)

Thanks for clearing that up.