Gas Prices

[buff2]

Note: Copied and pasted from an e-mail I received. :kick:




IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES DID NOT
PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE
OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF
OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL
COMPANIES.

THEREFORE MAY 19TH HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND
" DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF
GASOLINE THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY
PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.

WAITING ON THIS ADMINISTRATION TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS
NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES
THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO?

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT
THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING
COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON
EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING
MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY,
WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE
YOU KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE MAY 19TH A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF
THE UNITED STATES SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"!

[MallRat]

1. Won't that mean twice as many people gas up on May 20th?

It seems to me that you wouldn't be fundamentally changing consumption- you'd just be delaying the inevitable trip to the pumps.

-MR

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Two points:

1. Don't pass along uncommented spam, even if it's content is politically acceptable here.

2. Don't post WITH EVERY WORD IN CAPITAL LETTERS. IT'S EQUIVALENT TO SCREAMING IN A PERSON'S EAR!

Thank you.

--bkl

[buff2]

21. Calm down........

If you could read, you would have seen that I copied and pasted it from an e-mail.If you think this is spam,then why the hell do YOU post? You're not a moderator and you don't need to tell me what to post! Put me on ignore and forget it! :grr:

[BlueEyedSon]

3. Since the whole US economy runs on Fossil Fuels

this is essentially a call for a general strike.

[jus_the_facts]

5. It should be done for more than one day....at least a week.....

.....well FOREVER would be the most effective! x(

[ewagner]

11. General Strike?

Not a bad idea....

If I recall, Europeans are pretty good at organizing 1-day to 1-week general strikes.....that would be a strong message to the administration............

[GiovanniC]

4. Won't Work

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/nogas.asp

"Not buying gas on a designated day may make people feel a bit better about things by providing them a chance to vent their anger at higher gasoline prices, but the action won't have any real impact on retail prices. An effective protest would involve something like organizing people to forswear the use of their cars on specified days, an act that could effectively demonstrate the reality of the threat that if gasoline prices stay up, American consumers are prepared to move to carpooling and public transportation for the long term. Simply changing the day one buys gas, however, imparts no such threat, because nothing is being done without."

[jus_the_facts]

6. why is that site deemed the...AXIS....of all that is true or false?

.....seriously...seems to be just another TOOL to keep minds CLOSED instead of open!:puke:

[GiovanniC]

8. Because They're Right Most of the Time

They research these things, they reason out their arguments. They aren't right every single time (the Bin Ladens' flight out of the US after 9/11 is a good example of that), but they are right most of the time with evidence to back it up.

You know, or you could keep your "open mind" and keep waiting for Bill Gates to send you 1,000 for every ten people you forward this message to.

And Gap will send you a pair of jeans, too.

[Virginian]

9. Try this instead

Boycott all the EXXON / Mobile stations.

Since they are a major company, they will lower their prices to try to lure customers and then the other companies will have to lower their prices to stay in competition with the "Big Boys."

I heard that through a chain mail email. Don't know if it would work.

----
I paid $2.00 for regular yesterday. I guess the prices will go down in October to benefit Dubya as the Saudi prince said they would, but first they have to go up.

[GiovanniC]

13. Same Basic Problem

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/gasout.htm

Economics Prof. Pat Welch of St. Louis University says any boycott of "bad guy" gasoline in favor of "good guy" brands would have some unintended (and unhappy) results.
. . . Welch says the law of supply and demand is set in stone. "To meet the sudden demand," he says, "the good guys would have to buy gasoline wholesale from the bad guys, who are suddenly stuck with unwanted gasoline."

So motorists would end up . . . paying more for it, because they'd be buying it at fewer stations.

And yes, oil companies do buy and sell from one another. Mike Right of AAA Missouri says, "If a company has a station that can be served more economically by a competitor's refinery, they'll do it."

Right adds, "In some cases, gasoline retailers have no refinery at all. Some convenience-store chains sell a lot of gasoline — and buy it all from somebody else's refinery."

[jus_the_facts]

10. Yeah...they debunked a few chain emails .......

.....still...it's not wise to put so much trust into a source is all! :eyes:

[GiovanniC]

12. Then Prove Them Wrong

n/t

[jus_the_facts]

14. BUT...the internet GODS of all truth have said this WON'T WORK.....

.....so this idea had already been sabotaged before it was ever even tried!!! :eyes:

[GiovanniC]

15. No...

It HAS been tried. But if you actually read the thing instead of doing the knee-jerk thing, you'll understand why, economically, it wouldn't matter. It's not just, "It won't work because Snopes says it won't work." They explain pretty clearly the economic principles in play that show pretty clearly and convincingly not only that it won't work, but WHY it won't work.

[jus_the_facts]

16. O'course nothing at all will EVER work again in all honesty.....

.......because there's NO WAY to EVER get EVERYBODY on the same page to accomplish anything POSITIVE as a people....that's one of the most relevent FACTS that will remain a catalyst in our demise....peace :hi:

[GiovanniC]

17. The Problem...

Is that even if everyone in the WHOLE country read that email, marked their calendars, and did exactly as they were told, refusing to buy gasoline on that one day, it wouldn't hurt the gas companies EVEN A LITTLE. You can buy gas on Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday. The gas station doesn't give a shit when you buy it; the point is you'll buy it, and they know it.

The only meaningful boycott would be if everyone just stopped driving completely. Just taking public transportation or riding a bicycle (for an extended period of time -- not just one day). THAT would be a boycott. THAT would hurt the oil companies (of course, it would also hurt small-time gas station employees, too). But honestly, that will never, EVER happen.

[jus_the_facts]

19. Because......the power of consumerism compels us.......

....we are their SLAVES and beholden to them above all else...that is the reality! :evilfrown:

[AngryAmish]

18. Do not try to explain economic principles here

You will only end up with a headache.

[jus_the_facts]

20. Yeah..... economic *principles*....

....beatin' our heads against that oxymoran indeed HURTS! :puke:

[Bandit]

7. May 19 is Ho Chi Minh's Birthday

A better date could have been picked and business will not stop for protest. Wasted efforts I think.

[treepig]

22. and then the next day, no one should go to a fast food restaurant

so they choke on their brutally-factory-farmed beef and chicken. and lose massive amounts of money. and shut down for good.

and the day after that, perhaps we could all agree to not purchase a handgun or assault weapon, and put those industries out of business, too?

yup, that'll teach 'em.

[GiovanniC]

23. Boycotting Fast Food Chains For a Day

If pretty much everyone did it (which wouldn't happen), would actually have more of an effect because their stocks are perishable and we probably wouldn't buy two days' worth the next day (to make up for the time we were boycotting), like we would with gas.

But your point is taken, nonetheless.