Depression

[N80]

That's what i'm screamin. Turn off the radio and tv, move forward and quit dwelling on speculation of others.

Brad

There is a big difference between quiet optimism and blind faith. On the one hand too many people might be whining and complaining. On the other hand there are definitely too many people with their heads in the sand (or elsewhere) not paying attention to the problems facing this country. That type of ignorance is dangerous. History has proven that over and over again. And when complacent citizens relinquish power, there is always a despot around willing to take it.

And the doomsayers can get real annoying, but eventually they will be right. Every super power in history has fallen. Some fast (Third Reich), some slow (Rome) some in quiet despair (Great Britain). And there were people in each and every one of those situations who could discern the problems and the solutions that no one listened to.

The citizens of this country don't seem to understand that the lessons of history apply to us too. And I guess one of those rules is that no one ever learns from the lessons history.

 

[Bedlam]

"And if the government intends for us to spend it in order to stimulate the economy, why don't they cut out the middle man (we the people) and just give it to GM, Ford, United Airlines and Home Depot? They all need it more than we do right?"

Just give mine to the oil companies ..

 

[N80]

Just give mine to the oil companies ..

That's where its going anyway!

 

[Sigarms]

Just give mine to the oil companies ..

Take the price of a gallon of gas in the 70's and compare it to the price of a gallon at $4 today. Compare that price increase to other products.

People in America always complain about the price of gas. Usually those doing the most complaining about gas prices haven't lived overseas.

Not saying the oil companies aren't making money, but if your a business, it's your job to make money.

Remember back when gas was under $2 a gallon and people laughed at the idea of an alternate fuel source for the auto?

Someone here said it here well. We as Americans are very short sighted and what we want, we want it now!

 

[N80]

I hear people cite that statistic all the time, comparing gas prices to 1970. I'm not sure it is relevant or even significant. A better figure, one that is more relevant, is what gas prices have done in the last 5 years. In the last year they increased more than 50% while oil company profits have increased by a higher margin.

I'm all for letting markets be. But that's not how the oil markets are set up. The oil markets are purposefully set up to benefit the marketeers and the big oil companies. The reason I say 'big' is that the smaller oil companies are struggling. They can't compete because of how the playing field is set up.

And I don't see how such practices can be justified under the rubric of 'every business is out to make money.' So was Al Capone and Pablo Escobar. Ah, but what they did was illegal. Well, that problem is easier to solve for B-PExxon. Make what you want to do legal and make out like you're a good old Horatio Alger hero:

Horatio Alger, Jr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The situation is totally different from the days of the robber barons, vertical and horizontal monopolies. But what those guys did was wrong. They made things work for them by legal...but unethical and immoral processes. Adding a futures market to two or three mega-entities makes it look like a 'free' market but it sure doesn't smell like one.

And again, the whiff test is this: All segments of the economy (outside of the video game market ) seem to be suffering under the same economic conditions while one segment records the largest profits in human history at the expense of all others. No matter what anyone thinks the problem is, there's something wrong with this picture.

Even OPEC released a statement today that international oil prices are not justifiable.

So now its OPEC that's taking the high road? If so, how we have fallen.

I'm all for making a buck. But it needs to be done legally, ethically and with fair competition. Otherwise pirates, bank robbers, car thieves,muggers and cat burglars have been getting a bad rap all these years.

Oil is not a commodity any more than water or electricity are commodities. Can you imagine the howls if water and electricity were traded on the futures market? Can you imagine how much they would cost?

 

[Sigarms]

Oil is not a commodity any more than water or electricity are commodities. Can you imagine the howls if water and electricity were traded on the futures market? Can you imagine how much they would cost?

Give it time.

 

[Sigarms]

And I don't see how such practices can be justified under the rubric of 'every business is out to make money.' So was Al Capone and Pablo Escobar.

And so is our goverment. Where the heck do you think organized crime came from?

How do you think they nailed Capone? Good old taxes.

Interesting you mentioned Escobar for many reasons.

 

[bigshovel]

There is a big difference between quiet optimism and blind faith. On the one hand too many people might be whining and complaining. On the other hand there are definitely too many people with their heads in the sand (or elsewhere) not paying attention to the problems facing this country. That type of ignorance is dangerous. History has proven that over and over again. And when complacent citizens relinquish power, there is always a despot around willing to take it.

And the doomsayers can get real annoying, but eventually they will be right. Every super power in history has fallen. Some fast (Third Reich), some slow (Rome) some in quiet despair (Great Britain). And there were people in each and every one of those situations who could discern the problems and the solutions that no one listened to.

The citizens of this country don't seem to understand that the lessons of history apply to us too. And I guess one of those rules is that no one ever learns from the lessons history.

Agreed, some if not most are blissfully unaware of their surroundings or govt. leadership that they elected, again unaware all around. However I am certainly not one of them. I can show you in excess of 300 letters and email's written to our elected officials from everything from the Indiana brown bat habitat locally to hot topic national fire arm and abortion issues at the fed level. I recently self discovered my own misery and stress from years of talk radio and national news, especially lately. I am turning it off for now. I will remain informed through other venues but I'm to young to die of stress because of our gross media. I don't personally know anyone that has written government as much as I have but I believe my voice should be heard after we elect thse idiots or in many cases we got the wrong idiot. We as Americans should be active in making the world a better place, we're to lazy as a whole. Forward thinking now means debating lunch not how to develop anything usefull for the future. I'm sticking to my earlier post, we remain changed but without a depression.

Brad

 

[riptides]

Oil is not a commodity any more than water or electricity are commodities. Can you imagine the howls if water and electricity were traded on the futures market? Can you imagine how much they would cost?

Water should be a commodity. Clean drinking water is vital to human prosperity.

 

[Sigarms]

One reason why picking a profession or business to go into, know the difference between "needs" and "want's"