White House officials are bracing for oil prices to surge past the $150-a-barrel mark as the Iran war stretches into its second month and the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, according to a new report.
In recent weeks, the average cost of a barrel of crude has hovered around $100, a figure that the Trump administration now sees as the new “baseline,” though a potential spike to $200 hasn’t been ruled out, a source familiar with the matter told Politico.
As a result, officials have entered “all hands on deck” mode, urgently evaluating options to tame soaring oil prices — which pushed gas above $4 a gallon this week and risks inflating costs across the broader economy.
And I don’t know how else to explain that your laughter is misplaced because you’re going to suffer right along with everyone else anyway.
You’re saving a bit on gas by taking public transit. Whee, bully for you. Lots of people save a bit by doing little things to save money. I keep the thermostat in my house lower than most people do because I like wearing fluffy housecoats instead, but I’m not laughing. It doesn’t protect you when everything gets more expensive.
They’re laughing at you/us because they don’t pay for a car, which means either they don’t have a job or they live in a very population dense metropolitan area where the cost of living offsets the money they save by not having/needing a car. So yes in those areas you can have a car, but parking is severely limited, you pay for a parking space, parking just about anywhere else gets you towed, so most people just take the bus/train. If the bus/train is late, you might lose your job, but there are other jobs and your boss is probably late sometimes because they also can’t afford a car. They get accustomed to this life and shame people who have cars because they envy their freedom, and their lower cost of living. Misery loves company, after all.
But they are right in that they don’t have to pay for gas, or car insurance, or car maintenance. They still pay it in higher rent, utilities, and goods and services in the area. But they consider those costs sunk and therefore, do not factor them in. They think they’re winning, when really, at best, they’re no better than we are, and in some ways they are, but in many ways they’re just as bad if not worse. But they’re also shaming us for living the way we live, so that’s worse too.