UNITED STATES—It is bad right now, the cost of gas prices are absolutely ridiculous. Do you know the last time I recall the price of gas being this high? It was back in 2008 when the housing market crashed, we had that economic crisis were people were losing their homes and jobs and I was a college student. Nearly 15 years ago, it was tough as hell; I mean I was placing nearly 50 dollars twice a week in gas to fill up a car and to COMMUTE back and forth from my university and home because it was too damn costly to live on campus.
Now, gas prices are already at $4.00 a gallon in most places across the country. Hell, I feel even worse in California where gas is over $5.00 a gallon, some places $6 and I even heard this week there are a few places where gas is clocking in over $7 a gallon. Can you believe that $7 a gallon? That means $20 would get you just under 3 gallons of gas. If you have a gas tank that is 15 to 20 gallons do the math people, you’re paying a lot of money ($60-$100) and it’s damn upsetting to say the least. I literally saw gas jump 10 cents at one station in a matter of 3 hours. When I first passed the gas station it was $3.99, 3 hours later it was $4.09. Yeah, explain that to me America, explain it.
This excuse that the oil companies are using that the war in Ukraine is the cause of gas prices skyrocketing I’m not buying it. A month ago gas wavered at a little over $3 a gallon in most parts of the country and then this war erupts and suddenly gas shoots up a $1. Anytime there is some sort of chaos on a domestic or national scale gas prices automatically rise and to gargantuan amounts. We are still in the midst of a pandemic, even though a lot of people seem to think the Coronavirus is over; it is not, there are still millions of Americans who have not gotten vaccinated and could get and spread the virus. However, if you take what is being told by the CDC and so many other health experts you’d be just as confused as any other American.
Most Americans received 3 stimulus checks between 2020 and 2021, in addition to a bevy of unemployment benefits to help them keep up with daily and monthly expenses. That extra money has all but dissipated for most Americans. So what does that mean you may have seen a boost in your hourly wage, but the cost of living right now is so damn high, no matter what you do you’re seeing less and less of that income you worked so hard for.
The price of food right now is unbelievable, your bills are going up and now you have to tackle gas on top of that people. The cost of commuting back and forth to work is putting a strain on the wallet for most people who are starting to think of ways to conserve gas more. Carpooling, taking public transportation if possible, utilizing transportation services like Lyft and Uber (they are costly too people), biking and those who are very lucky, walking to work if possible.
I honestly fear that the price of gas will hit $5 a gallon before the end of March and if that happens that is going to be damn scary and will pose a major question: what will the U.S. government do to tackle this issue. Can we lower the gas tax on a national basis? Can you turn to actual oil in the United States instead of relying on oil in countries overseas? Could Americans see another stimulus check? I don’t know, but quite frankly something has got to be done people. People are struggling and they are really struggling with the price of things going up on everything. So any extra money that you were making, you are simply dishing it right back out people.
I bet the oil and gasoline companies are seeing a hefty profit right now. Are they complaining about it? Of course not, and guess who pays the price: the consumer. I don’t know what to say, but something absolutely has to be done people this is beyond upsetting and change is not likely happening anytime soon America.
Written By Jason Jones
