What’s up With the Price of Diesel, Besides the Price?

Another Way to Widen the Gap.

There has been quite a bit of discussion lately as to exactly why the price of diesel fuel has risen so drastically of late. There are the claims that the "new" mandated low sulfur fuel is much more expensive to refine. It turns out that the cost is only increased from four to five or five to seven cents, depending upon whom you ask. There is also an "ultra" low sulfur diesel which allegedly may cost as much as fifteen cents per gallon more to refine. Not being an expert on petroleum commodities and the production thereof, I find myself forced to rely upon information provided by those who profess to be. Knowing the motives of those in the oil business and of those in their pay, I find information provided by them or their experts to be of somewhat dubious value at best.

There are also taxes to be considered. Apparently diesel is taxed at a higher rate than gas, both federally and by states. Once again, one is left to wonder why, exactly, this should be the case. This information, much of which is provided by government agencies, is also only as reliable as its source and I do not believe it necessary to discuss the degree to which our government is to be trusted at this juncture.

None of this data, even if one accepts it as accurate, sufficiently explains why diesel is now consistently much more expensive for the end user than even the highest grade of gas. As long as I can remember, at age sixty one, diesel fuel has always been less than regular gas. Was diesel always "more costly" to refine? Was it always taxed at a higher rate than gas? If yes, then why has its price to the consumer not always been the highest? If no, then why has the situation suddenly changed? Many explanations, which I believe are purposefully convoluted and dauntingly complex, are being proffered, complete with colorful graphs, tables and lists of data to dupe the reader into believing that the questions have been answered. After all, this kind of technical crap is way too complicated for the average American to understand anyway, right? And these graphs and tables and all this scientific stuff sure looks and sounds, well, scientific, right? So, these people must know what they are talking about, right? What is more likely to put the general public to sleep quickly than a long, highly technical, excessively detailed, pedantic scientific article? The problem is, reading more than a few of these explanations soon brings one to the realization that they do not all concur, which begs the question posed by the title of this discourse.

One fact which is perfectly obvious is that almost everything we consume travels a great distance to get to the "big box" stores where we purchase them. Because of the centralized nature of these giant retail outlets, the products they sell are delivered in very large quantities from regional and district warehouses. The more they buy for resale the lower the price they pay. Furthermore, as a non-producing debtor nation we must first acquire the products we consume from other, productive, countries. Once again, this freight must travel great distances to our ports before being transported, again, to the aforementioned warehouse. Even the few things we produce here, foods being the most obvious, still come from large centralized sources such as the fields and processing plants of giant corporate agribusiness and must travel far before arriving on our dinner tables.

What, some of you may be asking, does any of this have to do with the cost of diesel fuel? The answer is quite simple and obvious. Virtually all the vehicles, with the exception of aircraft, used for heavy transport run on what fuel? Did you guess diesel? Bravo! If you want a gold star to stick on your forehead, send me five dollars plus fifty cents for shipping and handling and a self-addressed envelope and I shall send you one! Please allow four to six weeks for delivery. All sales are final.

So, if the price of diesel fuel goes up substantially, the shipping and transport companies responsible for moving this stuff around the globe and around the country will see their bottom line shrinking correspondingly. What ever will they do? Well, I suppose they could simply absorb this extra cost as a magnanimous gesture to their customers until it reduces their profit to the vanishing point. Given the fact that greed is far and away the primary motivator of capitalist enterprise I feel that scenario is a bit improbable. I think, instead, they may just possibly elect to pass along this financial burden to the retailers they supply. The retailers, being far more compassionate, due to their much closer relationship to the beloved consumer, will certainly absorb this increase as long as possible, will they not? No? Oh, right, I forgot, the retailers are giant, money sucking capitalist enterprise as well! I guess that means this impediment to financial survival might get passed further down the economic food chain all the way to the bottom feeders, the working people of America.

I submit to you that this is deliberate manipulation on the part of those who long for global feudal monarchy or a two caste system of Masters and Slaves.

The increased burden of artificially inflated diesel prices has already driven some smaller freight companies out of business. It will affect the cost to the end user of virtually everything. Nearly all vehicles used in agriculture run on diesel. Most heavy construction equipment runs on diesel. Even the trucks that deliver diesel to the pumps run on diesel. So the high price of diesel is contributing to a higher price for diesel.

Any and all cost increases to corporations will always be immediately passed along the economic food chain to the consumer. Many of us could barely afford the "everyday low prices" at WalMart a year ago. As those prices go up in response to fuel cost, more people will be forced into poverty. More people will require government assistance. People working sixty hours a week will be forced to apply for food stamps. People loosing their businesses will be forced to seek jobs flipping burgers at fast-food poison peddlers. Unemployment will increase. Loss of medical "insurance" will put more people at risk. Build the list of repercussions at your leisure. The ripple effect can be most effective. A small stone tossed in here can affect the whole pond. Butterfly effect. Dominoes. Take your pick.

In short this is just one more attack in the convoluted, bizarre often incomprehensible war of the Supremacists against the masses. This war has raged since before there was recorded history. Try reading the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis with a slightly different perspective. Attempt to keep in mind that these epics were written as more than just fairy tales to entertain us.

Make no mistake about it, Good and Evil are very real states of being and an equally real war is being waged between them to this day. If Good is ever to be victorious it will be necessary for us to look at reality in a simpler way, to ignore the complexities and distractions that Supremacists use to distract us from the essence of our being. We need not necessarily destroy those who are evil. We only need not aid them in their conquest. Left to their own devices they will destroy themselves.

Anyone who says that without Evil there can be no Good is one who wishes Evil to triumph. Without Evil there can only be greater Good.