When the price of gas hit $2 a gallon, it was the beginning of the current inflation. Every product and service is impacted by the cost of fuel.
I have been told the cost for OPEC countries to extract a barrel of oil from the well is $9 for 250 gallons. They are able to average 88 million barrels per day, but actually can adjust the supply to demand at will at this time.
The price of oil per barrel on the stock market is so volatile it gives "big money" the opportunity to make more "big money" through shrewd speculation.
This will never stop until a moratorium on oil-stock trading is created.
The world economy was doing well until the price exceeded $50 per barrel.
Overpopulation has created many problems for civilization and nature. Nature's solutions are lengthy and painful. It is not accidental that most of the natural disasters occur in highly populated areas.
Disasters like 9/11 and the genocides going on can be attributed to man's inhumanity to man. These can be avoided over time, through education and a sincere adoption of morality along with charity. Of course, the vision of a world society without corruption, greed or racism anytime soon is naive. For the future? Not impossible.
We must deal with the present. The U.S. has chosen to be the world leader, policeman and savior. Even though we have a glass storefront, we continue to throw stones. We are not perfect, but we still look for perfection as we judge our neighbors. Even so, our heart is in the right place.
History proves that politicizing problems deems failure.
Let us hope whatever new administration takes over the difficult task in January will be able to trash the past mistakes and attack the new objectives with majority fervor.
-- Max Van Der Wyk, Ventura