The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
Back in the Fifties and Sixties, and especially when Senator Joseph McCarthy was frequently in the news, the term “communist plot” was much on people’s minds. Today the only truly communist nations that exist are China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba. For that reason, we don’t hear much about communist plots anymore.
However, long before communism was even thought of, and ever since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, capitalist plots have been hatched on a predictably unjust basis. When any individual or corporation tried to form a monopoly, it was truly a capitalist plot. When anyone attempted to overthrow or subvert a patent, it was a capitalist plot. When a manufacturer created a product but did so requiring that other products had to be purchased in order for it to operate at maximum efficiency, it was a capitalist plot.
Periodically international oil-producing corporations conspire with one another in undisguised capitalist plots. For example, the price of gasoline goes up and down over time for a variety of reasons: seasonally, and when economies are in boom or bust, and what the cost of extracting oil from the earth is at any given time, etc.
Up until recent years, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) indirectly determined what the price of gasoline at the pump would cost. The cartel promoted production when supplies were low and curtailed it when supplies were high.
Russia has more oil reserves than any other nation, largely because it is far bigger than any other nation. Because so much of their GDP comes from oil, they prefer to produce as much crude as the market will bear. When fracking became popular, the USA began to produce much more oil than it had previously, and now a significant percentage of our oil is the result of fracking and not from conventional drilling per se.
Up until a few months ago, the price of gasoline was relatively very low compared to most previous periods over the past few decades. OPEC was not able to control the flow of oil as they once did. Now OPEC is flexing its muscles much more visibly, and the supply is dwindling. Hence the price is increasing. When the supply is high, the price is low; when the price is high, it means the supply is low.
This, dear consumer, is a classic capitalist plot. The price of a barrel of Brent crude in late 2019 was $75 a barrel. It dropped to $15 a barrel in late 2020 because the Saudis and Russians could not agree on an acceptable level of production, and both major producers started drilling for more petroleum than the market could bear. Hence we were buying gas at between $1.50 and $2.00 per gallon for a happy and unreal year. In just the last three months, the price has jumped up by more than 20%. From now on, gas will be priced closer to the $3 than the $2 range.
Corporations and governments in democracies can somewhat control the flow of oil, but in autocracies such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Libya, national leaders decide the levels of production. Thus the autocrats can suck up as much oil as they think they need to keep their countries, and lavish lifestyles, in operation. And thus the price of oil shall continue to bounce up and down in an arbitrary fashion.
The Saudi energy minister, Abdulaziz bin Salman, has declared that the slogan “’Drill, baby, drill’ is gone forever.” In other words, the supply of oil will be kept relatively low so that the price will remain high. Presumably, therefore, the price of gas will remain high permanently.
If this is correct, the energy corporations will turn their production attention to other sources of energy to keep their stock values high, and we will pay more for all forms of energy. It is an undeniable capitalist plot, and we shall be its intended victims!
- March 20, 2021
John Miller is Pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC. More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.