How high will gas have to get before people freak out and we get a major revolt or riot? Give me your guess. who ever gets the closest wins! I'll dream up a prize for the winner latter. ( I used to be a professional baker so probably homemade cookies or bread) So chime in, how much do you think it will take to send a sizeable number of people over the edge? Jeez, hanging around here has given me a sick sense of humor.
Well there wont be a riot, or a revolution just over gas prices. However couple that with increased taxes with upcoming Democratic Victory, the food shortages and the increase in Inflation, National debt and degradation of society and we might just have a winner for the first Cold Civil War.
I don't see large scale riots coming over gas prices, but then again let it get up to about $8 a gallon.
I still cannot see how riots will do any good. Worse, TPTB might interpret it as insurrection and respond accordingly. Hm. Well, maybe that is what it will come to. That said, commodity prices are not controlled by dot gov, but by supply and demand in spite of the tin foil conspiracy theorists. If dot gov keeps its damn mitts off by "aid" packages and "fallow land allotments" or whatever they call them (paying for not growing certain crops) the demand will govern the supply, and the supply will govern prices. Thus spake me, and probably me only.
Nation's full of cowed, complacent sheeple, so have sad doubts there'll be a "riot", per se. Wish there would be, in a way. Daughter called today and said that yesterday gas in Akron OH was $3.75 - an hour later she drove by the same station and it had jumped to 3.95. She is seriously pissed off. (Yesterday we paid $3.56 here in west central MO.)
I never said revolution, ok maybe a riot is a bit extreme (though look at L.A. that was over a silly crack head) OK how about some sort of revolt. Like say 50% of all truckers parking their rigs or perhaps a massive demonstration/protest. So far we have $8.00 any other guesses? Where I work we have been hit hard by shipping costs, everyone at work is b!tching about the cost of gas. Some have gone as far as to say we need a revoution. Of course they just flap their lips and have no idea where to even begin. Talk is cheap. I personally could care less, bring on that $4.50 a gallon gas. I have a bike and am in good shape. I am curious though as to what dollar amount you think it would take to bring a rain cloud to happyland.
At $20 per gallon, I no longer earn enough to justify driving to work and paying car insurance. If it hits $20 per gallon, I demand working from home, sleep at work or just quit working. Long before then there will be increased car pooling, but $20 per gallon is my personal line in the sand for lifestyle change.
Groovy Mike has just hit the nail on the head. If gas gets so expensive where only the rich can afford to drive, then most people will just give up on their jobs, unless they live close to where they work, but that is a very small percent as most of this nation lives in a McMansion way out in the Burbs.
The riots will start very suddenly, with little or no warning to outsiders, in the inner cities when the welfare-ghetto types figure out that their government checks will no longer provide for them. The street-drug market will collapse because there will be a lack of cash buyers for stolen "toys" that nobody wants anymore. A few "instigators" (like Louis Farahkan) will shoot off his/her mouth on the mainstream media and the burning and looting will commence. I figure about $18/gal will be the tripwire (Europe is halfway there already), since the total transportation costs will at that point be close to the costs of the food and goods being transported, effectively doubling the cost of everything. Add to this rampant inflation and/or the collapse of the US dollar, and crop shortages/failures and the recipe for riots is complete. Numbers-wise, the entire US military, National Guard, and state, county, and municipal law enforcement together do not have the manpower to control the three largest cities in the US. Martial law will only be used to contain the inhabitants of the cities, not to control them. Folks in big cities and nearby suburbs will be well and truly screwed.
I think we will fall off the cliff long before the EU will because we don't have the public transportation system that they have. I'd say about $6.50/gal. and America will be hurting. OGM
A coworker approached me about car pooling yesterday. We'll both need to shift our work hours slightly toward each others, but the end result saves 2 gallons of gas per day. Split that between us and its 5 gallons a week each of us doesn't have to buy - so at $4 per gallon $20 per week ($80 per month) saved. Project that out 6 months it's $480 saved (at $4 per gallon). If gas keeps going up the savings will be well over $100 per month. That don't take long to add up.
Numbers-wise, the entire US military, National Guard, and state, county, and municipal law enforcement together do not have the manpower to control the three largest cities in the US. Martial law will only be used to contain the inhabitants of the cities, not to control them. Folks in big cities and nearby suburbs will be well and truly screwed. __________________ At that point they would just bring in UN troops to handle it. I dont see the rios over the gas prices happening. For one thing the main ones that tend to start riots are the ones in the inner city on welfare. Most others recognize that burning and looting their own neighborhoods dont serve them well. The folks on welfare in large part dont drive so the gas isnt their problem. What I see being a lot more likely is that probably by the time $5/gallon is the norm that it will become rather dangerous to be a fuel tanker driver. With them carrying say 20k gallons or whatever of fuel then if you figure it could be sold off the back of the truck for half price then that would be around $50k of motivation for someone to hijack the tankers. I figure blackmarket fuel will become more common soon. Various ways of stealing a gas tank full of gas is already becomeing more common so I figure tankers will come to be seen like a soft target version of armored cars soon and you will start hearing about stations buying stolen gas and folks selling fuel of the back of trucks and so on.
Its going to be a while before we get riots hereabouts. Americans are rather disinclined towards that sort of thing. Whitey is a bit to fat and our minorities aren't really abused enough anymore to create an insular motivated community, that would riot on its own. Though, once the depth of debt we've sunken ourselves into catches up with us the gloves will come off.
This week the news did a story on how a company that picks up used oil from resturants here has started to see thefts from their used oil bins. evidently the thieves are using a siphon to fill containers with used veg oil. The spokesman said that his guess is someone is taking it to make bio diesel with. He also then said that at least one of the containers that they normally empty have been completely siphoned off each week. These are those big containers that say used oil on them. Theres got to be around 100 gallons of oil in those at any given time. That makes a lot of biodiesel. Anyway short term I would say by the end of this Oct. 4.15 a gallon. by end of April next year 5.00 or just a tad over. Take care Be safe Poacher.
Yep JP i agree with you there mate! Again JP you've hit the nail on the head mate, currently we, in the London area are running at around £4.68 per gallon (sterling). It sells (unleaded) at the pump for £1.19 per litre, and yes we have had the drastic rise in food and goods as per the transportation cost rising! Ozarkgoatman: yes on the one hand i would agree that the transportation sysyem here in the UK would "stall" the unrest for a breif time, the raeson i only half agree is simply because those that use public transport, have felt it also , they have had put up with massive price hikes on daily / annual travel tickets, the transport system is dirty, unsafe, overcrowded and unreliable. To give one example: Someone who works in the City of London (maybe office worker) and may live in one of the Greater London Boroughs, maybe pays around **estimate** upwards of £4500 pa, depending on what "Zone" they are travelling to and from, maybe 1:30hrs travelling time each way, and they have to stand for the entire journeys!!!!! These people are not going to put up with extra traffic on the all ready overcrowded trains and buses. Big problems await those in power....yet they do NOT want to address the Problem....YET!!!! London calling to the faraway towns Now war is declared - and battle come down London calling to the underworld The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin London is drowning and I, live by the river.
