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Wait a minute. OPEC isn't strangling us. We're strangling ourselves.
Tell you what. Answer these questions and see if you're complicit in the mortgaging of this country to pay a bunch of sheiks barely out of the Middle Ages.
1) Do you own an SUV?
2) Have you elected to live somewhere more than 5-10 miles from your place of employment?
3) Do you drive to the store even though it's less than a mile away?
4) Even funnier, do you drive to the track to run?
5) Do you not use public transit, even when it's available?
6) Do you run errands daily in your car?
7) Do you not carpool?
8) Do you oppose drilling for oil in the northwest slope of Alaska?
If you answered those questions yes, then you're part of the problem not the solution. In short, the way to deal with OPEC is by making lifestyle choices that make their product in less demand.
Thanks for the great post.
I answered yes to several of these, but I'll go on the record right now as saying that I'd rather have $10 per gallon gas than my tax dollars and fellow citizens' lives lost through foreign policy tied to energy concerns. Not to mention the future of this country.
While I would rather have lower energy costs than higher ones, it's more important that the country pursue a sound foreign policy. I'll buy as much gasoline as I need to suit my purposes. I just want the price to be a reflection of it's true value.
I answered yes to several of these, but I'll go on the record right now as saying that I'd rather have $10 per gallon gas than my tax dollars and fellow citizens' lives lost through foreign policy tied to energy concerns. Not to mention the future of this country.
While I would rather have lower energy costs than higher ones, it's more important that the country pursue a sound foreign policy. I'll buy as much gasoline as I need to suit my purposes. I just want the price to be a reflection of it's true value.
I heard the author speak and that's one of his points....the price of oil is artificial...it is NOT a reflection of supply and demand.
OPEC does NOT control the price of oil. The market, no matter how skewed by government ineptitude (much of here in the U.S. on a federal, state and local level), controls the price of oil.
Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Norway, the U.S., Mexico, the U.K. and countless other countries not part of OPEC also produce oil.
OPEC does not control the value of the U.S. dollar.
OPEC has nothing to do with increased demand in China and India - countries with populations exceeding a billion people. Each.
OPEC has nothing to do with consumer choices and lifestyles anywhere in the world.
I heard the author speak and that's one of his points....the price of oil is artificial...it is NOT a reflection of supply and demand.
The price of almost everything is artificial, I agree. Governments in producing and consuming nations skew markets horribly - through subsidies, taxes, foreign policy warfare, war itself, you name it.
It's anyone's guess as to what oil would cost if you removed the state from the equation. Or what food would cost, or real estate, or clothing, or anything really.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,389,283 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Who?Me?!
OPEC isn't a country but that doesn't matter...OPEC controls the price of oil....most are Arab countries....thnk it through...if the U.S. goes to it's knees economically, those oil rich countries start(edited to add: They HAVE started) buying banks, land, businesses, media outlets....then who controls the U.S.??
And if WE allow that buying of US assets by foreign countries to happen who's to blame?
I say if we're going to fight a war, let's not waste blood and $$$ fighting over sand. We'd be better off with an army of computer hackers crippling those countries economically. And the same goes for technology, if I could I would immediately bar students from any OPEC country from studying in the US and deport any who currently are.
""The Cartel and Its Levers
To understand how we can break away from oil, we must first understand the workings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the cartel arrangement that has fabulously multiplied the Saudis’ petroleum revenue stream and the power that goes along with it. Founded in 1960, OPEC is an open conspiracy in which representatives of the rulers of a dozen kleptocracies (Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela) get together at periodic meetings and decide what the world price for oil should be, and then assign production quotas to each so as to force the price to that level. This is very different from the way business is conducted in a free market, and it produces very different results."""
I am not arguing with anyone.
However, I hope I can just get people upset/angry/defensive enough to read this book or at least find out about what the author has to say or just,hopefully, get interested!!.
Or read other authors...or ANYTHING related to the take over of America....it IS happening.
And if WE allow that buying of US assets by foreign countries to happen who's to blame?
I say if we're going to fight a war, let's not waste blood and $$$ fighting over sand. We'd be better off with an army of computer hackers crippling those countries economically. And the same goes for technology, if I could I would immediately bar students from any OPEC country from studying in the US and deport any who currently are.
Placing "blame" never solves a problem....the big picture is finding solutions FAST....
"Allow" foreign countries to buy up America....there are no laws against it.
You're right...THIS war is not about blood and sand......it's much worse for being unseen...
""The Cartel and Its Levers
To understand how we can break away from oil, we must first understand the workings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the cartel arrangement that has fabulously multiplied the Saudis’ petroleum revenue stream and the power that goes along with it. Founded in 1960, OPEC is an open conspiracy in which representatives of the rulers of a dozen kleptocracies (Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela) get together at periodic meetings and decide what the world price for oil should be, and then assign production quotas to each so as to force the price to that level. This is very different from the way business is conducted in a free market, and it produces very different results."""
I am not arguing with anyone.
However, I hope I can just get people upset/angry/defensive enough to read this book or at least find out about what the author has to say or just,hopefully, get interested!!.
Or read other authors...or ANYTHING related to the take over of America....it IS happening.
Not accusing you of anything, and I would like to read the book. But I know enough about how oil markets work and international economics these days to tell you that even if OPEC had as its goal price determination, and even if they set a target price at every meeting, their ability to actually do it is extremely limited. That might not have been the case in the 1970s, but we're living in a much different world with a much more complex economy now.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,389,283 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by Who?Me?!
Placing "blame" never solves a problem....the big picture is finding solutions FAST....
"Allow" foreign countries to buy up America....there are no laws against it.
And nothing to prevent passing those laws as far as I know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Who?Me?!
You're right...THIS war is not about blood and sand......it's much worse for being unseen...
Like I said, for a start, let's call for the IMMEDIATE deportation of any OPEC citixens in the US and cancel the issuance of all visas. We bailed Kuwait out in the first Gulf War and got what in return? I think it's time to hack their accounts and extract payments. There are other ways to fight a war besides shooting.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,389,283 times
Reputation: 40736
Quote:
Originally Posted by Who?Me?!
From the book:
""The Cartel and Its Levers
To understand how we can break away from oil, we must first understand the workings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the cartel arrangement that has fabulously multiplied the Saudis’ petroleum revenue stream and the power that goes along with it. Founded in 1960, OPEC is an open conspiracy in which representatives of the rulers of a dozen kleptocracies (Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela) get together at periodic meetings and decide what the world price for oil should be, and then assign production quotas to each so as to force the price to that level. This is very different from the way business is conducted in a free market, and it produces very different results."""
I am not arguing with anyone.
However, I hope I can just get people upset/angry/defensive enough to read this book or at least find out about what the author has to say or just,hopefully, get interested!!.
Or read other authors...or ANYTHING related to the take over of America....it IS happening.
I don't quite understand the sequence, I know OPEC sets a price but there's also bidding on the commodities market. Who does OPEC set that price for? Resellers on the market or?
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