Ain't this a great country?

In the United States, gasoline prices are lower than they have been in many, many years. The media attributes it to lower oil prices, which seem to rise and fall in a random, not-for-any-particular-reason fashion (other than, I suppose, political maneuvering). 

For me, going to the pump and paying $1.57/gallon reminds me of my old high school and college days some 30+ years ago (hard to believe, but true) when life seemed simpler. But that is a whole different story...

When gasoline prices drop, economists expect a rise in consumer spending, assuming consumers will spend the savings they are pocketing at the pump on other things. But this time, the media is reporting that the anticipated rise in consumer spending has not happened, unlike similar years when gasoline prices were lowered.

Gee, I wonder why??

Have they not figured out that the cost of living has risen so high in recent years (while salaries seem to stagnate) that people actually may need that "extra" cash for important things like bills, taxes, mortgages, saving for emergencies, etc...? 

When you squeeze the turnip dry year after year, the "savings" from lower gasoline prices does not amount to bonus cash. It amounts to a more livable wage and an opportunity to play catch-up with all the necessities you've had to put off for lack of funds.

And here's the real kick in the butt: I remember several years ago when oil and gasoline prices first skyrocketed in this country, the cost of everything else skyrocketed too. People said, "Well, clothes are shipped on trucks. The trucks use oil and gasoline. They cost more, so we pay more for our clothes." And, "Well, airplanes use gasoline and it costs more, so we pay more for our airplane tickets." And, "Well, produce is transported on trucks. The trucks use oil and gasoline. They cost more, so we pay more for our food." 

Basically, they said the trucking companies and airlines (for example) were paying more for the oil and gasoline (fuel) used to ship the goods or fly the planes, so we had to pay more for the goods, products and services they offered. Back then, everyone's reason for the big leaps in our cost of living (without comparable leaps in salaries, mind you) were attributed to the higher prices of fuel. 

But if that were true, now that the price of fuel is low, the cost of our clothes, plane tickets, food and other goods, services and products would also be low...right? Because the cost of shipping them around on trucks and fueling airplanes is lower...?

Only we haven't seen a decrease in our cost of living that reflects the lower fuel prices today. Why not? Who is pocketing our hard earned cash...all those savings on fuel costs? And what excuse are they using to do so?

In the end, we are paying for higher fuel costs regardless of whether or not the fuel costs are actually high and despite what the pumps say.

These are the kinds of things I contemplate while sitting at my parent's kitchen table in the morning, watching the horny male ducks on the lake torment the disinterested female one. She is so sick and tired of their forceful advances that she slips into the gated pool area where they can't get to her, but where she can't enjoy her life much.

And I realize that I feel a lot like her sometimes: imprisoned by the bastards that have overrun this joint.