Oil Feeds My Children

“OIL FEEDS MY CHILDREN” was the bumper sticker on the SUV in Houston, Texas, where 68.7 percent of the job market comprises oil and gas exploration and production. Clearly in a statement meant to appeal to the emotional side of the energy debate, the driver of the SUV missed the mark. You see, to the people that the statement is directed toward, the real emotional issue is the children that are killed every day by the effects of oil on the environment. On the other hand, why does this gas-guzzling SUV driver even have children that need fed? What gives them the right? Their offspring are just as guilty of carbon output. Besides all of that, they should have known that they aren’t allowed to appeal to emotion on that side of the argument. The sticker was probably a lie anyways. I mean there is no way that oil literally feeds their children, unless they’re talking about fish oil, which I hear is good for your brain, but their kids may need a little more variety in their diet.

The truth is that if you have children or if you are a child, you are also fed by oil, of this I have no doubt, but this fact alone will never detract from the evil reputation of oil. I would like to thank Lewis and Josiah for bringing up this topic while we were in Houston for Dane’s wedding. As tempted as I am to comment on how cute Dane looked, I’m afraid I’ve turned into the guy that would rather solve the world’s problems, or at least the country’s. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with all the facts, semi-truths, lies and conspiracy theories behind energy. This issue is really much simpler than anyone thinks. The bottom line is that the principles of capitalism work every time they are tried. The problem is that we aren’t letting that happen. I mean let’s just say that the government is the answer, let’s pretend that the government really wants us to get off of oil and into alternative energy. So they first stop oil exploration, then tax the crap out of oil and use the revenue to invest in alternative energy. This will make oil prices go up and thereby increase demand for alternatives. They would also propel propaganda about the evils of oil and the environment and start a “green” movement, but that’s a topic for another post. So far, it seems like it just might work, assuming of course that the angels up there in Washington will be honest stewards of tax payer money and make sure every dime goes to alternative energy. Wow, I said that with a straight face. If this doesn’t sound absolutely insane to you already, there’s a good chance you are college educated and a better chance that you consider yourself in tune with pop culture. But even so, the government solution should start to raise the red flag in your mind in the next steps. As soon as we have made alternative energy attractive enough by vilifying oil, we can thank the government for graciously taking away the windfall profits from oil companies and all go out and buy our nice new alternative fuel cars. As soon as that happens, what happens to the price of oil? It plummets, but don’t worry, government will keep taxing it higher. The government has an answer for anything, including mandating the use of electric go-carts, and banning the use of oil. This isn’t that far-fetched, people. I would ask the important question, “at what point during all of this did we throw away socialism and leap to full-scale communism?” but I don’t think anyone cares. I’m not saying we need to try all-out unregulated mob-rule. I object to any corporate tactics which hinder competition. Which, by-the-way are also aided and abetted by the government.

Government does have a role though, it is to make everyone able to compete equally without cheating. Let's eliminate the monopolizing business tactics, let’s get the favoritism bought by lobbyists under control. Let's have parity and fairness. That all starts with us rooting out the weasels in government, also a topic for another post.

If we could be fair about the competition, America can and will find a solution that is BETTER than oil, not just artificially better based on what the government imposes, but actually BETTER. I mean we’re the country that put a man on the moon, we didn’t say half way is good enough as long as we keep the competition from making it.

One thing that our government has lacked for a long time is faith in US. I mean how many opportunities have been squandered with these bail-outs?? How much hope has been lost with the recent taxation?? How much prosperity has been squandered away in the devaluation of our currency with the money-printing?? I think we are long past due for the government to step aside and make way for the people. I for one will be picketing against socialism on July 4^th. My only plea for you is next time you start a sentence with “what we should do is…” consider if you are looking for a government answer or a real answer.