Some musings on the price hike for crude oil and, by extension, the cost of gasoline:

• Those on the most modest parts of our class system feel it the worst. Imagine a single mother who scrimps to put $20 in her beat-up Escort to get to and from work, and take kids to child care. What does upping that to $30 do? I’m sorry Tommy, but mom can’t afford anything but Ramen this week. Again.
• In addition to the price at the pump, consider the ripple. I once saw a sticker on a semi’s cab that read: If you got it, a trucker brought it. How much do you think it costs to fill the tank on a semi nowadays? This one for sale has two 120-gallon tanks. At $3.14 per gallon, a price for diesel already seen in areas of the country, that amounts to a $750 fill-up. Don’t think for a second that such pump shock won’t translate to higher sticker prices at the grocery store, the local mall and all retail points in between.
• Think of what you do when you have an unexpectedly high bill, and tighten your belt. That’s right, no movies or eating out this week. And next week’s not looking good either. That hurts everything from restaurants to tourism (the mainstay of my adopted state, Florida).
• Remember “plastics,” the undying catch-phrase from The Graduate. Know of anything packaged in plastic or made from petroleum products? Click here and scroll part-way down for a handy table featuring just a few examples. Everything from the shell keeping your cell phone’s innards together to the jug keeping your milk in one tidy place just got pricier.
• Which leads me to the jump in producer prices. Your raw materials, and the juice to get them to market once assembled (see above item), is eating into your bottom line. Your only avenue of reprisal? Raise prices. This particularly hurts manufacturing-based states, like Michigan.
• Expect the cost of money to rise too. Energy prices are a big factor in inflation, which sums up all of the earlier points. What does the Federal Reserve do to cool inflationary heat? Ten points to whomever answered, “Raise interest rates.”

Now, I’m not trying to hate on the oil cartels. They have a right to rake a buck, even if they are a tad monopolistic. And I won’t hate on the Saudis or the Venezuelans, or even the war in Iraq.

But, what I will hate on is America’s weakness. We love oil, and can’t get enough of that black gold. (I’m no different.) It makes us weak. This same thing happened the year I was born, and was attributed to Western support of Israel in its war with Egypt (Gaza Strip, anyone?). There was a reprise six years later, this time on the occasion of the Ayatollah Khomeini taking the reins in Iran.

Those were serious enough to get us talking about alternatives. As a youngster, I remember rosy-eyed discussions about alternative fuels: solar, wind, etc. As an adult, I see few changes. How different would the U.S. be now if in 1973, or even 1979, when long lines for dry pumps whipped up outrage, long-viewed politicians put in place a plan to wean us from our addiction?

The only difference I see now: Instead of cutting the supply to hurt us, as in 1973, oil cartels keep the market glutted and just take our hard-earned cash. We’ve truly exported capitalism to the rest of the world.