I little while back I made a tiny off-hand reference to liking high gas prices, the comment was mentioned by my pastor, I then mentioned it to Mel, who then mentioned it to Gustave, and this was his response:
Dear Ariah,
I was talking to Melissa and she mentioned something offhand to me. She said you think high gas prices are good in that they will help change patterns of American consumption. I am not sure what your whole position is. It was something about a conversation with your pastor.
However, I get riled about gas and energy prices. Perhaps 3 dollar gas will make people get out of their SUV. More likely though, it hurts people without much money. I live in Wheaton. Most people eat the higher cost of gas. However, the refugees I work for have to often choose between gas and clothes or healthier food or the doctor bill. There is no public transit here and commutes often take 30 to 40 minutes. There is no lifestyle change that will help them. Not everyone can just up and move to the city or live closer to work. Not everyone can drive less. Some people can. Many cannot and have to pay the price of high gasoline very dearly.
Another aspect of high gas prices is that it benefits countries who are oil rich. THose are fun places like Sundan, Iran, Venezuela and Russia. None of them are very nice. High oil prices help Putin consolidate autocratic power, help the President of Iran pursue nukes, fuel conflict in SUdan, and let Chavez talk about being the next Castro. The global effects of high gas prices have horrible effects on the freedoms of millions of people as leaders that are not very nice are flush with cash.
High gas prices in the US also act as a tax. They limit economic growth. Money spent on other things now goes to gas. That means less vacations, fewer purcheses, less charitible giving. All these things affect the job market and can cause economic downswings. Who gets laid off when the economy suffers, not the rich guys. Prices for all goods go up as well because transporting them costs more. So everyone pays more for potatoes and milk. High energy prices also lead to infliation and inflation always hurts the poorest the most.
I see little good in high gas prices. Sure it means some people will consume less…maybe. Sure it spurs on R and D for renewable and clean energy (something I support completely). However, the drawbacks in my mind far outweigh the benefits. Anyone who says otherwise has failed to see the human cost and geopolitical nightmare that high gas prices and high oil prices cause. I am not sure what you think about all this, but high oil really gets me going.
Gustave
I thought everything Goose shared was excellent. I’ll post my response in a little bit, but I figured I should keep them seperate since what he said was worth sitting and thinking on.
