You can support Ukraine and democracy while still complaining about gas gouging
Almost three weeks ago I needed to fill up the car with gas. The price at that time was $3.59/gallon. It was late in the evening so I decided to wait until the next day. When I went to the gas station the following day, the price had risen by twenty cents a gallon. There was no reason for this to occur. There were only rumors that something was going to happen. Gas gouging!
Later that day the Russian military invaded Ukraine. When I passed by that same gas station, the price had again risen. It was now up to $3.99/gallon. It was a forty-cent increase in two days. I did some swearing but then thought it was a small price to pay for democracy.
Since then the price has gas has risen another eighty cents. It's now up to $4.79/gallon. It doesn't look like it's coming down anytime soon. I'm sure we'll see another increase any day. And it's usually in twenty-cent increments. I'm not sure why that's the magic number. Blame the person or corporation that makes you feel better about this.
You see plenty of people complaining about the price of gas. But, it's usually tempered with comments about how lucky we are that's all we have to complain about compared to the situation in Ukraine. How we should be grateful we're living here. Here's an example:
Instead of complaining about gas prices going up… try feeling grateful that you aren’t sitting on a concrete floor in a train terminal, holding your cat, wondering if your home and everyone you love has been blown to bits.
Yes, that's true. Obviously what is happening in Ukraine is horrendous. The visuals are stark and heart-breaking. We should all be doing what we can to support the Ukrainian people. But that doesn't mean we can't complain about the obvious gouging cases occurring at the gas pumps. The two things are not mutually exclusive.
Revenues and profits for the major oil companies in the United States were at a record number in 2021. Exxon Mobile reported $23 billion in profits last year. Chevron had its most profitable year since 2014. BP said they had an almost $13 billion profit in 2021. Shell had its highest revenues in eight years. Yes, that helped to offset what were major losses in the previous year due to the pandemic. But, let's face it, being in the major oil business is pretty much a license to print money.
When the Biden administration made the decision to stop importing oil from Russia, we were told to expect prices to rise. We were told that we all needed to tighten our belts in support of Ukraine and in the name of democracy. Yeah, it's not easy. Many people have to make tough choices because of this, but we're doing it. What I want to know is when will the oil companies join us?
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