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Good thing Food and Fuel don't really count when the Government states core inflation rates. Just a few weeks ago oil closed over $100.00 per barrel.
Is the the whole world on Prozac, or Drugs. Am I the only person who is "NOT" getting a 25% pay raise every two weeks........:eek:
I just don't get why no one cares....?
Well, it took 12 minutes from my start of the thread for it to happen. It just crossed $125.00 Per Barrel. OPEC just said $200.00 with in one year. "No Worries", We can just squirt out another Economic Stimulant Check. Which will drive down the value of the U.S. Dollar, which will raise the price of Oil Per Barrel...........:eek:
It's not that no one cares, Hopeak. Everyone knows the price of oil is going up. We've had other threads on it and ways to save gas. I agree with you on the stimulant check, too.
But it's not like this is the first time we've been here. Oil wasn't 125 a barrel in 1973 but I guess that's relative. I wasn't making as much money then either. Of course that didn't matter because stations didn't have gas to sell anyway. Talk to anyone that was alive 1941-45? Rationing was a way of life then. Not just gas either.
We've also talked about oil deposits and peak production. None of this should come as a surprise.
Just out of curiosity, what's your solution? You talk about the financial end in sight so what are we supposed to do?
By the way, we're having a Prozac party tonight. Why don't you stop by.
[QUOTE=Rick;45842]
Just out of curiosity, what's your solution? You talk about the financial end in sight so what are we supposed to do?
Rick, I do not think the end is in sight. I just think it will get worse and worse everyday, every month. I think the financial end is "NOT" in sight. From the end will come a "NEW" system.
What is happening is no longer theoretical, It is really happening, and it has just started.
"What are we supposed to do?" Well, it is just like when one is lost in the wilderness. Stop pretending one is not lost. Tell the truth about the situation, inventory what one has to work with. develop a plan, and take action based on how it really is, not based on how we hoped it would be.
We hope a "NEW" leader, or a "NEW" Congress, or a "NEW" FED Chairman will save us, and every things is going to be wonderful.
I just feel that people are living in the "HOPE" that there is one more magic pill that can save the financial system.
I can't tell you what to do. But, It would help if we knew the full extent of the problem. Let's say that there was the chance of 38% inflation, the chance of 22% unemployment, the chance that the quality of life was "NOT" going to be gooder and gooder and gooder everyday going forward.
YES, that is the hypothetical survival possibility we could discuss.
I do believe wars have been fought for less. We can't put a price on the men & women we lost in Iraq but we can darn sure get some of our money back in oil. As for the UN I can tell them where to go, and they won't need their long underwear either. If anyone tried to rob me they would probably get shot, and I feel an Arab's hand in my pocket now......
I don't think the reason for complacency in society is because nobody cares. I think that has more to do with the concensus of not being able to do anything about it other than boycott and people down here are driving way less... which is nice during the morning rush hour... and then, throughout the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by hopeak
I don't think anyone thinks it's going to get better and better either. Just the opposite, at least for a while. I do think things will turn around late this year or early next. We might even see a bit of a price drop on petro but that's only short term.
You know as well as I that a financial cycle is a complex thing. There were a lot of drivers that took the economy into a spiral. Oil is one, housing and debt are a couple of others but there was even more at play than that. Derivative investments, loosing lending policies and on and on. Some of that is starting to get behind us. The housing downturn is starting to put the brakes on. So is loose lending. And we'll no doubt see a more legislation on both (like we really need more rules). I don't believe in magic bullets but I do believe in ebb and flow. We're in the ebb now.
Bring the jobs back to America, buy locally / buy armerican, put altenative energy into place... our own, pool resourses, offer straight across trade ins for automobiles owned for new ones that are battery or hybrid operated.. in other words trade it in for a battery powered automobile with no money exchanged. Now everybody has a battery powered car and not using gas, or not so much of it and keeps the money normally paid for those new cars in their pocket.. now that would be economic stimulus. the cost of doing that would be born out by all of us in the tax revenue that the government has when they don't spend it on wars for oil.
I mean, the government is supposed to be taking care of it's citizens right?
Here are some thoughts. First I think that every citizen should take personal responsibility for finding a way to "make this work". There are many alternative solutions besides gasoline, but people refuse to open their eyes. When I lived in South America the taxis ran off of propane, and had the handy little tanks in the trunk. The first time I saw that I thought "NO WAY!" All gasoline cars can be converted to run on BOTH gasoline or liquid propane/natural gas/methane.
If you see my thread on methane digesters you will notice that once you have converted your car, you can then start making your own fuel. Wait a minute grundle, back up a second -- did you say way I thought you just said? Free gas for my car? That is what I am implying, but you need to take a few steps to get there. So then if you drop the money to convert your car and make it bi-fuel how long would it take to pay for itself? A compressed natural gas kit costs about $1200 plus labor (yours or someone elses). Depending on how much you drive that will pay for itself relatively quickly.
I for one, am serious about doing things like this. If you are all interested I will make a DIY (Do it yourself) so that anyone else can follow along.
As for the oil crisis I think that there are answers that we just aren't pursuing. There are huge deposits of methane hydrate (which is basically combustible "ice") on the sea floor that could provide an alternative energy source. We also could have Iraq compensate us oil for the vast amount of money we have spent reconstructing and helping them out. There is the possibility of hydrogen as a fuel source, which BMW promises to pursue. Tesla motors has a high end fully electric car that uses no gasoline at all.
The problem is that petroleum has been king for so long that people somehow decided there is no other way. The truth is you are only restricted by your imagination. I ride my bike to work everyday since I live so close. Soon I will have a gas (non-petrol) powered car and will be growing my fuel in the backyard :D
GAS
STILL CHEAPER THAN CIGARETTES, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL.
WON'T MAKE YOU HIGH OR DRUNK AT ALL.
NO LUNG CANCER OR STINKY FUMES.
MAKES YOUR MAZDA GO ZOOM,ZOOM,ZOOM
HIT THE PEDAL AND LET IT RIP.
DOSEN'T LOOK SILLY,
HANGING OFF YOUR LIP.
0-60 IN 6.0
GET'S YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.
NO HANGOVERS OR WITHDRAWL FITS.
JUST HUGE EXXON QUARTERLY PROFITS.
DRIVE ACROSS TOWN OR TO THE STORE.
TO THE MOUNTAINS OR TO THE SHORE.
MAYBE EVEN HIT THE GOLF COURSE.
BUT IF IT HITS 4 BUCKS, I'M BUYING A HORSE
Benjamin G. Fountain
LAST MOHICAN, Getting drunk on Gasoline fumes, (Which can be fatal, and for sure causes brain damage) is a problem in "BUSH" Alaska. It is called huffing.
Grundle - I swear, someone cloned our brain cells. We thing way too much alike. The only exception I'd make to what you said is in the last paragraph. "...people somehow decided there is no other way." I think the petroleum companies have invested so much into their infrastructure that they don't want to change and there is no financial incentive for them to do so. As for you and I, we are just now seeing the financial incentive to do something else. People have WANTED high performance engines and didn't care about the cost of gas. This whole "woe is me" thing happened in '73 and we're going through it again.
I'm with you on the methane hydrate as well.
Nice post, by the way.
[QUOTE=Rick;45875]I don't think anyone thinks it's going to get better and better either. Just the opposite, at least for a while. I do think things will turn around late this year or early next. We might even see a bit of a price drop on petro but that's only short term. QUOTE]
Rick, I think this is our main difference, although we disagree on many economic factors; The primary difference is you think it will turnaround like it always has, in 6 months or a year. I think the best ever is behind us. I don't think it will ever turnaround, yes there may be some short blips of positive, I think the overall economic quality of life is trended down, (Maybe for 30 or 60 years).
The system is broken......I wish that it was not broken, but it is. Our so called housing downturn could last 15 -20 years. It has not even started, really.
I am "NOT" wishing for a "World Depression", however if one looks for possable solutions to the problem, that is the only option that I see. After a 12 to 15 year depression will come a WAR, and a new economic system.
It is very depressing to think that "YESTERDAY" was as good as it will ever be, we humans want to have a cheery tomorrow to look forward too. I see nothing but higher fuel, higher food, higher unemployment, and States and Utility's Company's defaulting on pension payments.....:eek:
AND OIL JUST HIT $ 126.00 per barrel.........:mad:
I think I'll dig out that old bicycle and fix it up.
Bought gas today. Nice thing was they didn't check to see if I had an odd or even license plate number, and I could buy more than eight gallons.
I filled four of my trucks (and two jerry cans) yesterday, 136 gallons @ $4.59 a gallon that is $625.00.
Just think about the long haul truckers with 450 Gal. to 600 Gal. tanks. That well by $3,000.00 please. Or topping off a 747.
I read their annual fuel expense had gone from $37K to over $100K in the last year. I think I paid $3.65 earlier this week. Did you pay that for 87 Octane?
Gas went up to 3.78 a gallon here today :eek:
Diesel, stove oil. (Private Delivery)Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
Are you formulating a response to my post # 13....?
That's makes sense. I was thinking pickup truck and I knew you had bigger ones.