Big Demand. Dwindling Supply

Big Demand. Dwindling Supply

Del Walters on the Tyranny of Big Oil

By Del Walters - EbonyJet.Com

As Chrysler emerges from bankruptcy and GM enters we need to take a look back at what really caused the collapse of the American automotive industry. Look no further than the gas pump, which again is reminding us that when it comes to our own personal economies, we are held hostage by the global oil cartel. Once again there is talk that gas prices are creeping up and speculators are to blame. Those speculators are betting that as the economy improves we will be willing to pay more at the pump. And we will, because we have no choice.

When the very first cars were rolling off the assembly line in Detroit, oil was cheap because until the mass production of the automobile there was no demand. The old oil companies were uniquely American - Texaco, Esso, Pennzoil. Standard Oil Company began in 1870 in Ohio. When Standard, which had become too big, was forced to break up we got names like Exxon, which was once Standard Oil of New Jersey, and Mobil, which was the former Standard Oil Company of New York.

We started changing the names of Big Oil when we started crossing borders to find it. Loosely translated, we created the demand which led to the oil empires of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the list goes on. How many cars do you think they were selling in Dubai in the 1950’s? The country was known for its export of pearls until 1930. Look at any documentary from the time and you will notice that we not only helped them look for their oil but gave them the technology to get it out of the ground.

Walter Cronkite, in a documentary about oil in Libya proclaims, “The only problem for this once small back woods desert country is how to spend all that money.” The next line sets the stage for countless coups and wars fought in the name of black gold. “The people who shepherded the camels seem determined to shepherd the oil.” They had the oil, and in the long run, we got the shaft we sent to drill it.

It would be easier to find Waldo than figuring out who actually owns big oil but there is one tentacle in this entire battle we can trace. The fortunes of companies like Exxon Mobil, Shell and the others rose, as the American auto industry collapsed. They earned, and continue to post, record profits while the American car companies fight for their very survival.

Now let’s look at the politics. Republicans hate organized labor. Detroit is symbolic of everything big labor can produce. Set aside the racial politics and the battle lines were drawn. Senators angry over the GM and Chrysler bailouts pointed out cheaper southern labor forces. Patriotism, it seemed, stopped at the Mason Dixon line. It is after all, better to buy a Kia or Hyundai and punish those unions than to save American icons. After all, it was the high cost of union labor and healthcare that crippled the auto industry. Or was it?

Does the demise of the GM and Chrysler have anything to do with the fact that for the last eight years the White House was ruled by George Bush, a man whose family made its fortune off big oil? Shouldn’t there at least be someone out there asking the question? How is it that all of the man’s friends got rich and we got the shaft? Didn’t we see it coming? How many of us would still be driving our gas guzzlers if gas were still selling for $1.50 a gallon? How many of us stopped driving those gas guzzlers when prices hit $4.00?

That is not to let either GM or Chrysler off the hook. Everyone has known for years that the word’s supply of oil was dwindling and alternative forms of energy would have to be found if the American way of life is to survive. That is why the current crisis may have a silver lining in the long run. We have been forced to change by the man who promised it.

There is a line from a 1981 movie, Rollover, with Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson about Big Oil. The synopsis was described on IMDB, “An Arab oil organization devises a plan to wreck the world economy in order to cause anarchy and chaos.” The young naïve Fonda says in the closing lines of the film that unless we act quickly the Arabs will own us. Kristofferson faces the camera and says to the youth matter-of- factly, “You’re missing the point. We are the Arabs.” Life often follows art but in this case no one can argue we weren’t warned. The problem is I’m still not sure we have found the proper person or persons to blame.