FUEL
PRICES HURT MIDDLE CLASS A
The
chain of events that derivate from the price of fuel is hitting middle class
Americans hard. We use oil for heating our homes, transportation and even to
make some of the basic products in the market. Every business depends on the
transportation structure that works with diesel and the price of it keeps on
going up. The Main problem is that we are getting to the point in which if we
don’t do something to control this problem soon, we will get in a hole in
which we will not be able to get out. I have talked to people that have decided
to change their basic way of life to be able to survive the increasing oil
prices and are living the consequences.
There
are different factors that affect the price of oil but the biggest one could be
with relation to the supply and demand of this natural resource. The United
States is now competing for this product with countries that have increased
their demand like China. There may not be enough efficient refineries to process
the crude and the speculation to keep the economy supplied with enough oil helps
raise the price. In other words the US Government is not at fault for the price
of Diesel. Another factor that has affected the prices of crude oil is the
supply that the producer countries can generate at this time. Since the demand
has increase and this is a non renewable product, some countries that used to
supply others do not have the same capacity of doing it anymore.
One
of the biggest problems middle class families are facing at this time is to have
to live with the same salary when every product around them is more expensive.
When diesel cost more, the transportation of every product will also increases.
In order to compensate for this increase we have to pay more money for the basic
goods and services. Well, we face inflation in prices but we are not seen any
more money in our pockets therefore we are falling in to a personal recession.
I
was told about a family that could not afford the increasing cost of heating
their home and they had to opt for an alternative resource. From one month to
the next the increase of that service was about 100%. It was imperative to keep
the house warm due to the crude winter therefore this family started using
wood-fire heaters which provoked a fire in which they died. Another person,
making the minimum wage, could not afford his car gasoline anymore and decided
to walk to work which was about two miles from his home. Unfortunately he got
fired from that job because he was late a couple of times and the employer was
not in the position of paying more for the type of job he was doing. Being over
50 years of age he was still far from retirement and too old to get another job
like the one he had. There are many other different stories that Americans are
living at this time and are due to the sudden increase of the oil prices.
Some
families are making more drastic changes in their lives. From living out of
their cattle they have decided to change and grow corn because the cost of the
transportation has increase. They can not feed their animals and make the profit
they were making before. Things like that affect everyone because even the price
of milk is going up due to the oil prices.
But
what can we do? As I said before one of the main reasons the oil prices are
going up is due to the demand for its products like diesel and gasoline. Well,
we could try to lower the demand for those products and that way force the
market to lower its prices. There are times in which we do not need to drive to
the corner store. We could take it as exercise and feel better knowing that we
are helping lower the price of fuel and helping the environment. If we can find
a way to consume less fuel and we could try it for a while we could be doing
something for the rest of the society. If enough people stop consuming derivates
of oil we should be able to see the difference in a short period of time. Also,
a little help from the government could be appreciated. There are tax brakes for
people that buy low fuel consuming automobiles. If the interest rates for loans
to people that buy this type of vehicles was lower it could also help.
There may be many other ways to help the economy from our perspective and, if you know of one, try it. We should make some conscience about this subject. Fuel prices are hurting Middle Class Americans but We may be able to do something about it. We could blame the big Oil Corporations, the Government and other countries for the situation but we could do something about it.
Luisrcg
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