Perspective and Trying Make in the Oil Dependent USA

Gas is three snapperoonies a gallon!! Lee Raymond of Exxon got a $400 million dollar retirement package!! How can we defeat these evil oil corporations??

There is nothing we can do directly to these companies. We just can't. What we need here in America is a touch of perspective. Take Mr. Raymond's retirement package. It is worth $400 million. This includes things like using the corporate jet for personal business, security, and an one million per year pay. Forget all that. We as Americans use 375 million gallons of gas a day. If Exxon gave Mr. Raymond's retirement to us as consumers we would get approximately $1 off each gallon of gas we bought for ONE DAY. That's it, ONE DAY. It makes little sense to bitch Exxon out over this tiny bit of dough. Admittedly it looks bad, but it is all about perspective.

Take big oil's profit margins. They right now sit at 8.5% of every dollar of revenue. That is really high for the oil industry, but is it really that high? The price of gas compared to the price of crude oil(which is not set by oil companies) has remained the same throughout all the ups and downs. Banks make close to 19%. Pharmaceuticals are at about 12%. Utilities are at about 12%. Household goods are at 11-12%. Why are oil profits suddenly windfall profits that need to be taxed at 50%. Why not the phone company? Why not Merck? Why not Comerica? Forget all of that and you are still left with the question...When did it become bad to make money in America? Who has the right to say what excess profit is?

Americans are very selfish in their views about this. Before I go on, I want it to be understood that I do feel that three bucks a gallon is a lot. I also know how big of a financial burden it can be. My wife and I could save literally thousands of dollars a year if we lived in the city where she works. That said, Americans are not the only people in this world. Nations like China and India that have populations 4 times as large as ours are becoming oil hungry and probably they will soon be oil dependent like we are. There is only so much out there. We as Americans still have some of the lowest gas prices in the world. Places like the United Kingdom pay upwards of $6-$7 dollars a gallon. Perspective.

Americans also sometimes seem to forget who gets the most money from the sale of Gasoline. Oil companies get tons, no doubt. Politicians won't let you forget it. Why is it okay though for them to make just as much if not more. Remember that 375 millions of gallons a day we use? The average taxes taken out of a gallon by both the state and federal levels of government average about .40-.45 cents. If you figure out that over a years time and you get about 60 billion dollars a year we pay in taxes. They get this no matter the price of gas. Upswings and downswings do not matter. They always get 60 billion in profit. That is $205 from every man, woman and child per year. I am not trying to say this is wrong. All I want to know is why it is okay for the government to have 60 billion of our dollars, but it is evil and excessive for the oil companies(who at least get their profits from everyone in the world, their 60-70 billion a year in profit is spread out everywhere) to do the same. How many peoples retirements are being sured up through stocks by these profits? How many charitable causes are getting a piece of this money? Perspective.

We need to learn to change our lifestyles accordingly. I know not everyone can, but if you have cable TV, or a cell phone, really think about how necessary they really are. Walk when you can. Pile errands together. Oil is not our right, and things will only get worse if we keep treating it so. I told my wife that high prices for oil may be just what the doctor ordered because it will finally get people to figure out real solutions. Complaining about excess profits will solve nothing. Taxing windfall profits will only exacerbate things. Any taxes you impose on the oil companies will only come back to us at the pump. It isn't like Exxon will just sit by and give money away. Americans just really need to think about how they live their lives and stand up to oil itself, not the people who make money giving us what we want.

I wish good luck to everyone out there trying to make it.