Oil Junkies: watch the dragon burn

             The distressing fashion over the past quarter century's economic oil dependence from Middle Eastern and other oil producing countries should be so apparent that Ray Charles could see it. Our ever-increasing costs and demands of mineral fuels from the Persian Gulf region performs like a junkie about to turn whore for its pusher-pimp.
             America's enslavement to oil became obvious from 1974 to 1980 when the expenditures (in million dollar units) more than tripled from 24,668 to 78,637 units1. The twenty years that followed have seen the prices "plunge" into the mid thirty thousand ranges only twice, in 1986 and 1988, just to soar to 2000's spending of 119,251million dollars1. They keep raising the price tag and we keep buying more.
             Politically speaking, they have the United States by the balls and they aren't letting go. The slightest provocation, usually due to humanitarian reasons on our part, causes the oil pimps to squeeze a little harder; the economy becomes strained, and the vast majorities of our citizens are in an uproar. The threat of losing our country's steady supply of oil creates a rather volatile element to our socio-economic infrastructure2.
             Unfortunately, no one can wave a magic wand and instantly cure the economic need for petroleum and lubrication. The problem stems from the golden rule: Those with the gold make the rules. Whether the precious oil flows from bowels of the Persian Gulf, Venezuela, or Mexico, our society currently cannot do without it.
             Other alternate fuel sources exist, such as hydrogen, compressed natural gas, electric, and alcohol products3. Their costs to further develop and implement are considered to be too high to reasonably pursue, yet the price of fossil fuels keeps climbing1.
             The economic need for oil in our society influences both our industrial
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Oil Junkies: watch the dragon burn. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 20:05, May 19, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/98313.html