Gasoline prices have reached upwards of $2.80 a gallon here in the South, in part due to fears surrounding a cyber attack, meaning that Costcos and Sam’s Clubs lanes have become virtual parking lots. Feeling as though they will get one step ahead of rising prices, I saw today many people hazardously filling large gas cans as well as their vehicles. This behavior counts as a) dangerous and b) hoarding. And, it defies logic, considering you’re saving maybe the cost of a grande latte at Starbucks, all told.
Rumors abound. Gas is surely headed to upwards to $4, back to Dubya, second Gulf War territory. Maybe, maybe not. I still think we need to be more fuel-efficient and transition to cleaner forms of energy. For all the naysayers that say this is impossible, I counter that we efficiently transitioned our economy from a consumer-based one to a war-based one in about a year. And this was prior to 21st Century technological advances that would surely aid us in the process, that is, if we really wanted to change.
While we still have the opportunity to have some say over the course of our own affairs, I’d prefer we act now. It is true that China is coming on strong and we as Americans have reasons to be concerned, but it possible to outsmart an adversary with a massive numerical superiority to our own. The Korean War showed the Western world the folly of conventional warfare against Red China, which may be less Red now, but as of 2019 is home to an astounding 1.4 billion people.
I get the impression that both sides are feeling each other out. What can be safely stated is that we are abstractions to each other. They may know us as so many other foreign cultures do—by way of our media, music, and television—if these are indeed fair portrays of our culture. By contrast, we still see China as backwards and impoverished, dominated by autocrats like Mao. I would still not want to speak loudly against the Chinese Communist Party in this day and age, but even they have discovered that capitalism has great benefits.
We’ve talked about China. Now to discuss the particulars of 21st Century America. Why are gas prices rising? It’s complicated. But to think that you’re somehow going to get ahead of the curve after you’ve worried yourself silly about doomsday scenarios of it being 1973 all over again, or worse yet, complete deficiency of gasoline supply everywhere, forget it! Sometimes people really make me laugh. Not so much a mocking laugh, but as a mirthful laugh, as though we think as vastly limited beings we can be in total control of our own destiny.
But in the meantime, I’d think about maybe not buying that grande latte if it bothers you that much. Then you can coast into a service station and depart, tank full, having paid a few extra pennies per gallon, yes, but not having to be reminded of the noxious combination of basic greed and wishful thinking of those around you.