How much did you pay for gas today?

Viva la revolucion!

EDIT: Paid 4.05 a couple days ago.

 

Not exactly what I'm saying. I'm saying that as prices for everything continue to rise, the folks already hurting are going to hurt more and more while the rich (whatever standard you make that to be) are going to be insulated -- at least for now. Continued rising prices eventually hurt everyone but Bill Gates and his ilk, and the inequalities continue to be more pronounced. With fewer people able to afford anything but the necessities, the overall consumer economy continues its slide.

Some inexact examples: It costs a semi driver nearly $1,000 to fill his tanks, and the vast majority of U.S. goods are shipped by semis. Airlines are instituting charges for everything, including checking one bag. Food prices are up pretty much across the board, from cereal to eggs to milk. Constantly rising gas prices have curtailed Memorial Day weekend travel for many, many people.

Four-dollar a gallon gas won't cause anyone to take up arms. But what about $8 or $10 or $12? I mean, shit, it was just two months ago that $100 a barrel oil was seen as a year or two away, and now we're at $132 and rising.

Revolution in my lifetime? Maybe if I live another 50 years, maybe not for another 100 years. Hell, maybe never. Maybe we're such spoiled sheep that we'll continue along, not realizing until it's too late that we're headed for the slaughterhouse.

Rome was supposed to last forever. It fell.

 

Road travel dropped for the first time since 1979.
Down 11 percent if I remember the article from the paper this morning.
Household spending accounts for 70 percent of the American economy, again if I remember this morning's article right. If gas is up, people cut back on non-essential travel, then they cut back on everything else, and that's already happening.
At some point, it will hit a breaking point and then it will get ugly.
Like a modern-day Great Depression.

 

Only past the same station on my way to work everyday. I do drive 60 miles a day though, so I fill up about every 2.5 days. No fun.

 

or people cut their use of gas, demand goes down accordingly, prices moderate or drop.

 

Thursday night on the way to see Indiana Jones, the station near our house was at $3.99. Mrs. Fear said just to keep away from the stigma of being over $4.

Friday on the way to the ballpark to cover my game: $4.09. On the way home after the game it was back to $3.99.

Today on the way to the game back up to $4.08.

And they aren't jacking with prices.

 

MM, I think that's what these "analysts" are saying with $4 gas: It's not about supply and demand anymore. I don't really understand it totally, but it seems what they say is that it's a bubble... I assume that means it's not all about the econ 101 supply and demand stuff, it's completely different.

 

Cape_Fear: The Chevron by my work was the same way the last five days. Went from $3.89 to $3.93 to $3.99, then straddled that for a while to avoid the stigma of $4 gas.

Today, it was at $4.03. Good times.

I still haven't paid $4 for gas (except in the outposts of the desert on a recent road trip to Phoenix), but it looks like that day is getting closer.

 

i still haven't paid $4. take that bud of info, put it in your pipe and smoke it.

 

That might be true, if it wasn't for the surging demand from China and India.

Both have newly wealthy (or middle class) people who are damned tired of riding a bicycle everywhere. They're buying cars as fast as they roll off the assembly line. And then Tata, an Indian car company, has introduced a $2,500 car that'll make ownership open to tens of millions more people in both nations.

 

$4.01

 

i just wanted to give you another bud to put in your pipe.