Brainwash: Notice how comfortable a lot of people feel with current gas

[cantstandbush]

prices? Brilliant move by the oil companies to raise the prices exorbitantly high that when they are just outrageously high, people feel like the prices are good.

[afdip]

1. i found gas yesterday for $2.05/gal and was amused

by my feeling that i had just found a great buy, forgetting, of course, that prices were much lower than even this a year or so ago. i guess it's all relative but such a relief gas isn't >$3.00/gal any longer.

[mtowngman]

2. saw this one coming

when gas was like 3.25 a gallon around here I knew that when it went down to around 2.00 people would be singing hallelujah choruses. I agree that it was a set-up by big oil, and I keep thinking didn't the U.S. military invade and occupy one of the most oil rich regions of the world?

[acmejack]

6. Works every time.

They have used this tactic since the early 70's, when the oil company manufactured a "shortage".

[liberal N proud]

3. That is exactly how the oil regime want you to feel

elated to find gas at $2.15
What a damn bargain!

They jack the price 50% higher than the actual target new median price for gasoline.
You will never see prices go below $1.90 per gallon again.

[Armstead]

4. Yes it's that way with many things...The drip,drip,drip theory

As the last 30 years have shown, the cumulative deteriioration of standards is done very cleverly.

A couple of years ago, the idea of $2 a gallon would have seemed unthinkable

Today, imagine how ecstatic people would be if gas dipped to $1.99 a gallon.

P.S. Although very short, I voted for this post for the Greatest page.

[oc2002]

5. I like high gas prices, its the only way the hooples will get into more

fuel efficent cars. The oil companies know if they keep gas prices too high for too long, thats exactly what will happen.

[rkc3]

9. Other changes may come too - like mass transit and higher

CAFE standards for the auto industry.

Keep your fingers crossed.

[Armstead]

11. Tell that to the average folks in New England who are scared to death

I agree that we need to transition to wiser forms of energy. But it's elitism to want high oil prices to "punish" the people into smarter policies.

There are a lot of people in places like New England who are currently scared to death at the squeeze between high heating prices and high gas prices this winter.

[greenman3610]

12. experience shows People are stupid

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

They will not get out of their SUVs until gas is 4 bucks
a gallon.
They will not look down the road and see the
consequences.
They do not give a rats ass.

I hate paying high gas prices, but that is
the only thing that will get John Q's attention,
a 2 x 4 in the face.

[Armstead]

14. Not a healthy attitude for activism

Sorry,m but you can't start from the premise that people are stupid, if you want to encourage positive social and political change.

I realize that's a difficult temptation to avoid sometimes, but it implies that you are smarter than everyone else. And that's not the way to either empathize with people, or get them to respect you or pay attemtion to your ideas.

There are a lot of people around here who do not deserve to freeze this winter. And you can also toss into that lot all of the people who are going to be totally squeezed who did things like support the right candidates and have advocatd for a better world on many levels.

Saying to all those people "Fuck You, you deserve to freeze because you're stupid" is neither an empathetic attitude nor a successful one.

[napi21]

7. That's exactly the way they did it in the 70's too!

As soon as they started this receent dramatic increase, I knew this is what they had in mind!!!

[newportdadde]

8. Yep. 2 buck gas in the spring was horrible.

Now it seems like a gift lmao.

[nickinSTL]

10. yeah, exactly what I've been thinking

prices at some stations here are down to $1.99 a gallon...

I was actually surprised that the oil companies were going to bring the prices that far down...I kind of expected it to be a bit higher. Still, I'm sure the high prices were a ploy to get us comfortable at around $2.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. The 2 kinds of people hurt most by high gas prices are SUV owners--

who more-or-less asked for a screwing by buying big-assed SUVs in the first place, and, sadly. the poor, who drive around in huge, gas-guzzling dinosaurs because they can't afford anything else. I'm really sorry for the poor.

[Jamison]

15. The real reason it went down...

I think is because the oil industries little friends, the retail and auto industries screamed and cried about it. Think about it...$3/gal. gas at this time of year means people won't be packing into the local Wal-Mart in droves to buy their Chinese produced junk for X-mas. Also SUV sales went WAY down when gas was higher, so you know Ford and GM were not happy about that. Now the price has dropped, so people have once again become complacent, and went out and bought that Navigator or Hummer.

I see it as a yearly cycle anymore...wait till hurricane season starts up again next year, it'll be a repeat of this year, and maybe even worse.