I’m sure the recent steady rise in fuel prices didn’t come as an incredible shock to anyone, but that still doesn’t make it any more pleasant or palatable, especially when one of the major underlying reasons is so painfully obvious.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist or a paranoid idiot to realize that the extra financial pain we’re all starting to feel at the gas pump is not a mere coincidence or an evil by-product somehow related to the Covid pandemic. This situation, I’m convinced, can be directly chalked-up as a side-effect of the so-called election outcome we just suffered through.
One recent report highlighted the fact that Mississippians are lucky and shouldn’t complain because our average gas price per/gallon (at that moment) happened to be the lowest in the nation. But they failed to point out that our state is also infamous for having some of the lowest average wages – so I really don’t consider that an accurate comparison.
The bottom line is, if you earn less than the national average, then the overall cost of living for your region should be relatively proportionate. This shouldn’t be limited to only fuel, either, but also for many other necessities like food, healthcare, educational opportunities – everything.
Fuel is in its own separate universe as an essential product because of the obvious – it’s required up-front before we can meet many of the other mandatory needs for our survival. Although our jobs are ultimately necessary to earn the money required to buy everything we need, we first have to get to work.
I think having the political power to maintain a tight strangle-hold on when, where and how much the nation pays for fuel is a pretty powerful position to have on society. It’s frustrating and even scary, since the government often acts like a vampire on the public’s wallet, but unfortunately it’s nothing new.
Some in charge have blamed the latest wave of increases on their old favorite excuse – supply and demand. Although demand clearly fell somewhat with less driving during Covid, gas prices held fairly steady from the onset of the pandemic and throughout most of 2020, up until just a few weeks ago. I don’t believe our local driving volume fluctuated enough between then and now to justify blaming this sudden price spike on that reason.
I also believe it goes beyond that basic concept, and it has nothing to do with jeopardizing free enterprise and allowing people to charge whatever they want for their products in an open market.
Sure, people can choose where they buy their gas, so it’s not a monopoly in that sense. But since fuel prices are typically market-driven in every region and locality, they’re fairly consistent regardless of which local store you buy it. Most retailers compete within a few cents of each other in any given town.
Like most people, I’ve enjoyed paying less at the pump over the past few years – who wouldn’t? But at the same time, on the flip-side, I have many friends and relatives who work in industries that are directly impacted by fuel prices, so I’m very sensitive to the flip-side of this dilemma.
I’m not even opposed to paying a little more per/gallon (within reason), because knowing that it might help to strike a better balance between helping neighbors keep their oilfield and related jobs, etc. But I am opposed to the spiking levels and percentages of price hikes we’ve seen over the past few weeks.
I don’t recall reading or hearing much uproar (good or bad) about the tolerable fuel prices during the past four years, which just happened to be under the Republican leadership of President Trump. But now suddenly, under the watch of this new Democratic president — and only about 50 days after his inauguration — it makes me wonder if paying higher fuel prices will be the last bad news we’re in for, or just the latest bad news.
Danny O’Fallon is the publisher of
The Columbian-Progress. He may be
reached at (601) 736-2611 or
dofallon@columbianprogress.com.
