What are we working for? A student’s view on rising gas prices
By Crystal Abrell
Distribution Manager
An ongoing issue that is truly hitting home for all U.S. citizens is high gasoline prices. According to many sources, gas prices can be expected to rise to $4 a gallon very soon.
Just when we think the price of gas has reached its all time high, it seems to be soaring ever higher.
A large part of our paychecks is being devoted to filling up our gas tanks. Are we working to fill our tanks or working to make a living?
For college students like me, who have low incomes and small paychecks, it feels as if half of what we make is devoted to filling our gas tanks.
Just last week, I fueled up my Mitsubishi Galant, which is not a gas-guzzler by any means. At $3.35 per gallon, it took $43.21 just for a full tank. That is literally a day’s pay for me.
High gas prices are hitting some college students hard. Students are being forced to find other ways to commute besides driving. Many are arranging their living situations around shorter driving distances.
As a UIndy student and commuter, I have decided to save money by residing in an apartment closer to campus rather than commuting from home.
According to an Apr. 3 article in the Seattle Times, the price of gasoline is having a “big effect because our housing is high, our food is high, and the gas prices just make it worse.”
It’s as if we are working to put gas in our cars, which isn’t very motivational to promote working. I would much rather be paying off my college loans than paying $40 a week to drive to school and work.
Gas prices are doing a number on our economy. Americans can not spend money on other things like eating out and shopping to boost our economy, causing it to continue to spiral.
According to a March 24 article on the Web site CNNMoney.com, Americans everywhere “are cutting back on spending, and that’s threatening to send—or may have already sent—a shaky economy into recession.”
Why are gas prices so high? Who or what can we blame for these high gas prices? Is it the oil companies, supply and demand, our environment or the Bush administration?
Let’s think back to high-school economics 101. Everything runs on supply and demand, much like gas prices. When supply falls and demand rises, prices rise immensely. But why are gas prices so high if supply is not falling?
Yes, eventually our oil supply will run out, but we have enough oil to last quite a while. So why are the oil companies so greedy? They want to make money, and they mean big bucks!
The Bush administration claims to be working hard to lower the outrageous gas prices, but there is a direct correlation between increasing gasoline prices and the oil companies greed.
In an article written for the Web site www.commondreams.org, Congressman Bernie Sanders said, “Reports show that Exxon Mobil brought in a third quarter profit of nearly $10 billion. This is the largest corporate quarterly profit ever, and more than $4 billion more than the company brought in last year.”
That Exxon Mobil earned its largest quarterly profit in its history suggests that price gouging is indeed taking place.
Americans views on gas prices, according to an article in the Apr. 2 issue of USA Today, are that oil companies don’t need a tax break with oil at about $100 a barrel.
The top five oil companies—Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips—have earned a profit of nearly half a trillion dollars in the last few years.
In the meantime, we will be forced to pay $4 per gallon to continue using everyday transportation.
For individuals across the U.S. struggling with declining home values, tightening credit and rising unemployment, high gas prices are just another burden on an economy tilting toward decline.
I don’t know about you, but a hybrid, golf-cart sized-car is not appealing to me, nor does it fit my style!
Either oil companies have to start reducing their greedy ways, which is highly unlikely, or come up with a compromise for American drivers. Maybe the companies can run a deal of purchasing five gallons of gas, and getting the sixth free!
For now, the possibility of seeing gas prices reach $4 a gallon will damper many Americans summertime plans, including mine.
