Slumping Gas Prices

Well Howdy! Step right up, folks, and watch the great decline in gas pump prices! The only question left is – “How far will they go, down that is!?”

Well, I have another question: “Why did it take so long to happen?” The gas price decline was inevitable. The length of the decline and how much time it will take to recycle to higher levels are still unknowns. But there are embedded issues lurking here that need public disclosure and investigation.

First, why have the oil companies been so slow in researching and producing alternate fuels? I know, I know; they don’t want to devalue their oil and gasoline stocks too much before they are ready to fully replace the revenue streams with the new products. But hey! That’s competition. That’s risk assessment. That’s free markets. That’s capitalism.

We know there are alternative fuels available. We even know the specific purposes of those fuels. Some are for automobiles. Some are for home heating, home air conditioning, big store, manufacturing plant heating and air conditioning, too.

Second, why have the automotive manufacturers and energy companies been sleeping with each other for so long? Their long term futures do not compute. Only the past and the short term present. The future is forever. It spans the unknown for uncountable years.

Ford, Chrysler and GM: invent the transportation modes that will be good for people and their economics. Do so now. Do not wait for the energy corporations. If they don’t follow you soon, replace them with your own vertical business opportunities. Or vice versa.

Third, housing options will follow human needs. We don’t need gigantic. We do need comfortable depending on how many occupants are in the household. Shifting to smaller enclosures is a good trend to follow. It also reduces consumption of energy supplies, water and sewer demand, as well as interior design/décor/consumption of products. This trend may be bad for some retail opportunities, but new ones will spring up.

One such spring-up should be cultural involvements and community interaction. Plays, concerts, entertainment venues shared with other people as well as educational pursuits, will take the place of buying things to store in the house. Think of the fun of knowing other people, expanding our minds, and building an exciting future – together! The mind reels at the possibilities!!

Endless consumption does have an end. It must. Our markets and supplies are not infinite. The world is not infinite. Water is not infinite. Energy is not infinite (or maybe it is but we still haven’t done the research to make this claim!).

In ‘developed countries’ we are taught to expect more and more things and pleasure. We are raised to expect unlimited supplies of what makes us happy. Unfortunately, all too often that costs somebody else somewhere else in the world their peace and tranquility. Mining for rare earth minerals, energy supplies, and what not tends to destroy soil, landscapes and cultures in other lands. So far from home we even make things happen that are injurious to others. Think of Bhopal, India and the enormous death toll from leaked chemicals. Think of spoiled rivers and lakes due to mining and unsupervised dumping of wastes. Think of the same for our oceans.

We humans are despoiling our planet. Americans do so at a voracious rate far more so than other nationalities, but they, too, will catch up to our rapacious speed of despoliation eventually. Unless, that is, we change expectations and values of what truly makes us happy.

Far too late we discover peace and serenity is a mighty reward of happiness. It comes not from the endless search for wealth and power. No; it comes from halting our busy pace and thinking on what really matters to us.

We find peace in this process. We save time, as well. And money. We are in the process of downsizing not only our living accommodations, but also our expectations of what makes us happy. This allows more surplus for others to enjoy.

It snuffs out greed, too, along the way. I surely hope this is a lasting happenstance. Because greed causes too much longing for what belongs to others. Best to leave them alone and find our own at rest moments to cherish.

Peace. Shalom!

Now, just a little more time and gas will sell for $1.99 a gallon!  Gasp!!

August 7, 2015