May 15, 2007

The Price of Oil

Despicable as the reality is, we joke about the fact that we are at war over oil. But, this morning I got to thinking about that.

At about $3.00 per gallon, gasoline is inexpensive for me. I don’t have a child in Iraq. I don’t have to face the prospect of a child who will never come home as the families of 3,401 and counting [in this country, not to mention the vastly higher numbers in Iraq] do. I don’t have to face my child in a hospital bed. I don’t have to face his wife or her husband or their children.

I don’t have to run the risk of someone wandering into the market where I’m buying my groceries and blowing himself up—as the Iraqi people do. I don't have to fear standing on a street corner and waiting for a bus. I don't have to take my courage in both hands to go to the polls to vote. I don't come face to face with an armed soldier each time I step outside my door.

The next time I start to gripe about the price at the pump, I’m going to stop and think about the actual price we are all paying—and how that price is more for some than others.

3 comments:

TomCat said...

That's true, TC. Expensive oil is less of a problem than living in the midst of Bush's war for oil and conquest. However, part of the reason Bush wants to control Iraq's oil is to help keep the price up for his cronies. In addition, expensive oil makes everything else more expensive, and that is a real issue for those of us who live in poverty.

two crows said...

yep. and, today, that's more and more of us.

TomCat said...

Indeed it is. For example, the price of produce in Oregon has skyrocketed in the last two years.