Erika Wilhite
Published: April 26, 2006
A bumper sticker once informed me that if I ignored my rights they would go away.
I didn’t truly believe it then, but I do now.
We are not, of course, constitutionally granted the right to cheap gas prices. In a capitalist society the government has no authority to regulate business.
Ah, but when has constitutionality been a serious issue? Piff.
Moreover, we are not a purely capitalistic society; the government has been keeping big business in check since Theodore Roosevelt’s Trust Busters in the early twentieth century. Legal precedent is on our side, people-we can demand that Congress take action in this situation without fear of losing any more civil liberties than we already have. No worries.
Gas prices have crept from an uncomfortable height to a nearly unbearable one. I say “nearly” because we are bearing it. Maybe we are complaining to our friends and coworkers, and maybe we are foregoing that nice new pair of jeans or avoiding going out to movie theater as often as we used to, but what we aren’t doing-what we should be doing-is working on a solution for the problem itself.
Why?
Gas is simply too expensive. According to the laws of supply and demand, gas shortages will necessarily mean that drivers pay more at the pump, but there’s no evidence that gas is in such short supply that corporations can reasonably demand $3 a gallon.
Since Congress recently began investigating fuel pump price gouging, no one ought to accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist (unless it really makes them happy, in which case I’ll be obliging and allow it). Oil companies are raping our wallets-they know it, and we know it, so why are we letting them do it?
Let’s not forget that our senators and representatives in Congress are there to fight for our best interests; since reasonable gas prices are in the best interest of the overwhelming majority, from the guy who drives the Escalade to the other guy who washes Escalade guy’s windows for five bucks, there’s no reason Congress shouldn’t be taking action on the nation’s behalf.
The investigations are a great start, don’t get me wrong-but the next logical step (read: doing something about the bloody problem) is vital. Otherwise, our concerns are not being addressed; they’re only being placated.
I can rant and rave all I want to about the depressing state of fuel prices and our collective responsibilities as citizens, but we all know that not a goddamn thing is going to be done until we’re paying $5 a gallon (and that’s optimistic; for my part, as you’ll know if you read my earlier opinion pieces, I think we’re all sheep and we’ll just keep buying and buying until someone else fixes the problem for us).
O, Bumper Stickers of Wisdom, show us the way.