Petrol Prices - Are they to high - What can we do about it.

[TightEnd]

tikay's world would be black and white too. Colour wouldn't have been invented yet.

Is Colour TV a luxury, or a necessity?

it was a joke. A luxury, clearly.

[tikay]

Quoted from a group on Facebook

Take the time to at least read this, then, see what you think and pass it on if you agree with it.
We are hitting 106.9 p a litre in some areas now, soon we will be faced with paying £1.10 a litre.
This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the 'don't buy petrol on a certain
day campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil
companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't
continue to hurt ourselves by refusing to buy petrol. It was more
of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.
BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can
really work.
Please read it and join in!
Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned
us to think that the cost of a litre is CHEAP, we need to take
aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the market
place not sellers. With the price of petrol going up more each
day, we consumers need to take
action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come
down is if we hit someone in the pocket by not purchasing their
Petrol! We can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year DON'T purchase ANY petrol from the two
biggest oil companies (which now are one), ESSO and BP.
If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to
reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other
companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact we need
to reach literally millions of Esso and BP petrol buyers. It's
really simple to do!!
Now, don't wimp out on me at this point... keep reading and I'll
explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I am sending this note to a lot of people. If each of you send it
to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to
at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, until we reach around THREE MILLION consumers!
Again, all You have to do is send this to 10 people. That's
all.(and not buy at ESSO/BP)

Invite ten more people to this group within one day of joining, all 3 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next
8days!!! Acting together we can make a difference If this makes
sense to you, please pass this message on.
PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE 69p a LITRE
RANGE
It's easy to make this happen. Just invite your friends, and buy
your petrol at Asda,Tesco, Morrisons Jet etc.
i.e. boycott BP, Shell and Esso (and Sainsburys)would this work

And who exactly supplies Asda, Morrisions, & Tesco with Fuel? Correct. BP, Esso, Shell. As protests go, it's as blunt as a blunt thing.

I think we should worry less about the price of petrol - it's just money, & a luxury - & more about some of the dreadful World-disasters of the last month.

During the aftermath of the Burma Cyclone, the Daily Express & Daily Mail Headlines were about the £10 Tax affair & Gordon Brown. As sick as sick gets.

I don't agree actually. Not wishing to downplay at all the terrible natural disasters recently, but how is Petrol a luxury for the vast majority of Britons? Much of public transport is either too expensive or too unreliable for petrol for one's personal use to be anything other than a necessity.

It's a luxury, like Tellys, mobile 'phones, Computers, & washing machines. We can live without them, but we prefer not to. IMO, of course.

all the others you quote are luxuries, clearly. Petrol? different I would contend, for most of us. IMO only!

We would die without petrol, then? Or would life be just a bit more awkward than it is now?

Think of the money you'd save, if there were no petrol to buy.

Life would be a lot more awkward, immeasurably more so than if I was minus computer, TV, mobile etc

I actually travel far less than I used to (no more DTD for me at the moment) because I won't spend £65-70 to get there and back.

For the economy overall, we'd be put back a century without petrol/diesel to run industry with, with huge consequences for everyone's living standards..far more so than if none of us had TV's, mobiles etc

"more awkward".......

Well we can't have awkward, now can we?

Tikay, in all honesty we couldn't all survive if there was suddenly no petrol/diesel. We now have large conurbations of people dependant on transported supplies of food, no transport, no food.

The people in the cities couldn't just start walking out to the countryside either. Even there, depending on time of year how many people have more than a few days food available?

Rod, you of all people should have been able to see where I was driving. I just preferred someone else to get there first.

You know I'm not daft. I know we need petrol.

Amazing how inward-looking we are in the civilised world, eh? Price of petrol? Shocking. 100,000 dead in Burma & China? Really, we never noticed.

[Rod Paradise]

but tikay you are fighting human nature. Its not just Mail or Express readers, people are energised by that which is immediate to them

At the next election, will overseas aid for example be a big discussion point? will policies on global poverty be a big vote winner/loser?

I contend not.

People will vote, and discuss, on issues such as the domestic economy first and foremost.

This does not mean that people are uncaring about the likes of Burma, or Chinese earthquakes. In fact many will contribute if they are able. I suggest most look on sadly, a bit numb..in part because of a feeling of helplessness and in part because of immediacy.

Well put Rich.

Also I'm not convinced we shouldn't be concerned about the 10% tax  - it's unfair and fits the lowest paid. We've already had members of the governemnt grateful for disasters as it takes the attention off them and the harm they're doing this country. Being concerned with that does nothing to demean the disasters in Burma & China. But at least we can try to fix one (our 'leaders').

[tikay]

but tikay you are fighting human nature. Its not just Mail or Express readers, people are energised by that which is immediate to them

At the next election, will overseas aid for example be a big discussion point? will policies on global poverty be a big vote winner/loser?

I contend not.

People will vote, and discuss, on issues such as the domestic economy first and foremost.

This does not mean that people are uncaring about the likes of Burma, or Chinese earthquakes. In fact many will contribute if they are able. I suggest most look on sadly, a bit numb..in part because of a feeling of helplessness and in part because of immediacy.

Well there we have it Rich, & there we differ.

You can be as energised by fuel prices (lovely pun there, well done!) as you wish. Please don't speak for me though. I'd happily pay another £ a litre if we could find some way of easing the burden on those poor souls in Burma. That's what energises me. Not the price of bread in Tescos, or Petrol in Esso. The price of petrol is an irrelevance in the greater scheme of things, & yet everyone gets animated & excited by it. Because it reduces their disposable income. Shock, horror.

[kinboshi]

Quoted from a group on Facebook

Take the time to at least read this, then, see what you think and pass it on if you agree with it.
We are hitting 106.9 p a litre in some areas now, soon we will be faced with paying £1.10 a litre.
This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the 'don't buy petrol on a certain
day campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil
companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't
continue to hurt ourselves by refusing to buy petrol. It was more
of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.
BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can
really work.
Please read it and join in!
Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned
us to think that the cost of a litre is CHEAP, we need to take
aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the market
place not sellers. With the price of petrol going up more each
day, we consumers need to take
action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come
down is if we hit someone in the pocket by not purchasing their
Petrol! We can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year DON'T purchase ANY petrol from the two
biggest oil companies (which now are one), ESSO and BP.
If they are not selling any petrol, they will be inclined to
reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other
companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact we need
to reach literally millions of Esso and BP petrol buyers. It's
really simple to do!!
Now, don't wimp out on me at this point... keep reading and I'll
explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I am sending this note to a lot of people. If each of you send it
to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to
at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) ... and so on, until we reach around THREE MILLION consumers!
Again, all You have to do is send this to 10 people. That's
all.(and not buy at ESSO/BP)

Invite ten more people to this group within one day of joining, all 3 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next
8days!!! Acting together we can make a difference If this makes
sense to you, please pass this message on.
PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE 69p a LITRE
RANGE
It's easy to make this happen. Just invite your friends, and buy
your petrol at Asda,Tesco, Morrisons Jet etc.
i.e. boycott BP, Shell and Esso (and Sainsburys)would this work

And who exactly supplies Asda, Morrisions, & Tesco with Fuel? Correct. BP, Esso, Shell. As protests go, it's as blunt as a blunt thing.

I think we should worry less about the price of petrol - it's just money, & a luxury - & more about some of the dreadful World-disasters of the last month.

During the aftermath of the Burma Cyclone, the Daily Express & Daily Mail Headlines were about the £10 Tax affair & Gordon Brown. As sick as sick gets.

I don't agree actually. Not wishing to downplay at all the terrible natural disasters recently, but how is Petrol a luxury for the vast majority of Britons? Much of public transport is either too expensive or too unreliable for petrol for one's personal use to be anything other than a necessity.

It's a luxury, like Tellys, mobile 'phones, Computers, & washing machines. We can live without them, but we prefer not to. IMO, of course.

all the others you quote are luxuries, clearly. Petrol? different I would contend, for most of us. IMO only!

We would die without petrol, then? Or would life be just a bit more awkward than it is now?

Think of the money you'd save, if there were no petrol to buy.

Life would be a lot more awkward, immeasurably more so than if I was minus computer, TV, mobile etc

I actually travel far less than I used to (no more DTD for me at the moment) because I won't spend £65-70 to get there and back.

For the economy overall, we'd be put back a century without petrol/diesel to run industry with, with huge consequences for everyone's living standards..far more so than if none of us had TV's, mobiles etc

"more awkward".......

Well we can't have awkward, now can we?

Tikay, in all honesty we couldn't all survive if there was suddenly no petrol/diesel. We now have large conurbations of people dependant on transported supplies of food, no transport, no food.

The people in the cities couldn't just start walking out to the countryside either. Even there, depending on time of year how many people have more than a few days food available?

Rod, you of all people should have been able to see where I was driving. I just preferred someone else to get there first.

You know I'm not daft. I know we need petrol.

Amazing how inward-looking we are in the civilised world, eh? Price of petrol? Shocking. 100,000 dead in Burma & China? Really, we never noticed.

About 29,000 children under the age of five – 21 each minute – die every day, mainly from preventable causes.

This is conveniently forgotten about as it doesn't make good TV.

[AndrewT]

but tikay you are fighting human nature. Its not just Mail or Express readers, people are energised by that which is immediate to them

At the next election, will overseas aid for example be a big discussion point? will policies on global poverty be a big vote winner/loser?

I contend not.

People will vote, and discuss, on issues such as the domestic economy first and foremost.

This does not mean that people are uncaring about the likes of Burma, or Chinese earthquakes. In fact many will contribute if they are able. I suggest most look on sadly, a bit numb..in part because of a feeling of helplessness and in part because of immediacy.

Yes, people die all the time every day. If we stopped to grieve every death none of us would ever get out of bed for uncontrolled sobbing.

Instead, we care about people we are directly connected to. Friends, family, people we know, people who live near us, people who are in situations we could have found ourselves in ('I cross that road every day where that lad was knocked down etc').

Foreigners dying on TV just isn't close enough to home to matter.

[Claw75]

the price really is getting prohobitive.  A couple of years ago it cost £34-£40 to fill my car.  It now costs over £65 (best price round here at the moment is £113.9 in Sainsburys).  I'm going to start walking/taking the bus more as the weather improves, but it's a tight schedule with school runs/work and it helps being able to use the car.

[tikay]

but tikay you are fighting human nature. Its not just Mail or Express readers, people are energised by that which is immediate to them

At the next election, will overseas aid for example be a big discussion point? will policies on global poverty be a big vote winner/loser?

I contend not.

People will vote, and discuss, on issues such as the domestic economy first and foremost.

This does not mean that people are uncaring about the likes of Burma, or Chinese earthquakes. In fact many will contribute if they are able. I suggest most look on sadly, a bit numb..in part because of a feeling of helplessness and in part because of immediacy.

Well put Rich.

Also I'm not convinced we shouldn't be concerned about the 10% tax  - it's unfair and fits the lowest paid. We've already had members of the governemnt grateful for disasters as it takes the attention off them and the harm they're doing this country. Being concerned with that does nothing to demean the disasters in Burma & China. But at least we can try to fix one (our 'leaders').

We don't have to put the blame on the Government for attention-diverting disasters. Our own greed does that.

[Dingdell]

My dad always said you should live within walking distance from work or the railway station if necesarry. The world never stopped turning when the snow came or petrol prices went up. I remember when we had to queue for petrol and it was rationed at the local petrol station because of problems in the middle east. We still managed to get to school and work.

Petrol is a luxury, good health is not. People spend more money on petrol, alcohol and luxuries than they do on maintaining and achieving good health. There are other options - such as gas run cars, do we use them? No - because they're not as cool as the petrol ones.....our choice is that we want to be extravagant - so we can't complain about it imho.

[Claw75]

In fact many will contribute if they are able.

I'd give more if I didn't have to spend all my money on bloody petrol

[TightEnd]

I understand your view Tony, but there comes a point  (I know not when) when high indirect taxes (or higher unemplyment when companies have to cut staff as their costs cannot be passed on) push (lower) paid families into poverty, and at that point surely our two views begin to collide?

The point must be to have a mix of policies-domestic and international-that work to lift both those close to home and those far away out of poverty.

[Rod Paradise]

Tikay, in all honesty we couldn't all survive if there was suddenly no petrol/diesel. We now have large conurbations of people dependant on transported supplies of food, no transport, no food.

The people in the cities couldn't just start walking out to the countryside either. Even there, depending on time of year how many people have more than a few days food available?

Rod, you of all people should have been able to see where I was driving. I just preferred someone else to get there first.

You know I'm not daft. I know we need petrol.

Amazing how inward-looking we are in the civilised world, eh? Price of petrol? Shocking. 100,000 dead in Burma & China? Really, we never noticed.

Where do we draw the line? I've replied already in agreement with Rich. Some disasters seem unfaceable/unfixable. That does not mean you don't try to fix what you can. The 10% tax, the cost of petrol, all things that affect the have nots in this country far worse than the haves, all things that we need to persuade our 'leaders' to do something about.

Where do you draw the line? Should we have raised money for Reece in light of Burma/China? Of course we should - we've made some friends' lives better (probably just by them knowing people care). The big disasters are terrifying & horrifying, but that shouldn't stop everything smaller IMHO.

[boldie]

We would die without petrol, then? Or would life be just a bit more awkward than it is now?

Think of the money you'd save, if there were no petrol to buy.

Life would be a lot more awkward, immeasurably more so than if I was minus computer, TV, mobile etc

I actually travel far less than I used to (no more DTD for me at the moment) because I won't spend £65-70 to get there and back.

For the economy overall, we'd be put back a century without petrol/diesel to run industry with, with huge consequences for everyone's living standards..far more so than if none of us had TV's, mobiles etc

Indeed..Petrol is definitely not a luxury..and it drives me mad that people say stuff like that. In the same way that  people (mainly of a different generation) claim that the telly is a luxury. Yes, so was a gun for hunting when it first came out..you after all used to use a club and a spear when you went hunting and a house is a luxury as we are, technically, all able to sleep outside or in caves. It's a silly thing to say really and not very well thought out. We COULD also all grow our own vegetables in our own back garden on all natural soil and all that and life off the land (it's what we used to do a milion or so years ago)...but that doesn't mean meat and a supermarket is a luxury all of a sudden.

The "petrol is a luxury" comes from the vegan eco-nuts and I'm amazed they managed to actually convince anyone with half a brain with that bollox.

/end rant.

(no offense intended TK but this one really drives me nuts

Disagreeing with me does not cause offence, ever, assuming it's done in a reasonable manner. The offence, seenmingly, comes when I disagree with others, but let's not go there.

That apart, yes, now we are getting to where I'm driving this thread.

Someone wants us to to sign some daft petition to "force" the Oil companies to reduce their prices, &/or the Governbment to cut the taxation on fuel & other stuff. (Taxation represents how much of the forecourt price of fuel - 70%, 80%?). Like, they will listen, yes? Err, no.

And within hours, we have a 5 page thread, full of folks who care about the money in their pocket.

Remind me how long the thread on blonde about the Burma cyclone was, please. Or the Chinese Earthquake. Sure, they have nothing to do with poker. But nor do fuel prices.

OK, petrol, although we differ on degree, is not a luxury. But do you see where I'm going? I was hoping others would get there first, but money is very dear to most folks. Like petrol, really.

Excellent point of course, and wisely made you clever fox, you....Can I call you "The Wiley Fox" from now on?..I think it suits.

The Burma Cyclone situation is horrible, as was the Earthquake in China..and the situation in Sierra Leone ..and the situation in North Korea..and, you'll have to trust me on this one, those things also really piss me off.

 Not the fact that a natural occurence happened in China and Burma, that can only make you sad,  but the way the Burma situation is handled by the government there..and how the UK govt "appeals for calm" whenever a terrible massacre happens somewhere (Rwanda) and how world leaders do F all when it comes to situations like Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone other than "Condemn it with the strongest words possible"...or how millions of people die of Aids or hunger in Africa and the idiots in charge over there decide that "Aids doesn't exist". I would love to post/rant every day about how those things tick me off and do something about it or move other people to feel the same way I feel about it and then maybe something can be done about it...but 1; it'd depress everyone on the forum, 2; it'd kill me..or I'd end up topping myself if I start doing that..so I've just decided to post the occasional comment in those threads and try to do what little I can in silence rather than keep posting how awful a situation like that is.
I think most people would rather moan about petrol prices than the situation in Burma and the likes because 1; They don't understand/comprehend the situation over there and 2; They feel they can't do anything about that and would therefore rather discuss a topic that they are more in control of.


p.s. (just in case it's needed as I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression) when I rant about something that pisses me off it by no means means you've offended me by disagreeing with me...it just means that I have finally found something I can spout on about that I think people might actually listen to...if i do it about the situations discussed above peoples eyes tend to glaze over.

[Claw75]

that I think people might actually listen to...

 



sorry, did you say something blondielocks?

[tikay]

We would die without petrol, then? Or would life be just a bit more awkward than it is now?

Think of the money you'd save, if there were no petrol to buy.

Life would be a lot more awkward, immeasurably more so than if I was minus computer, TV, mobile etc

I actually travel far less than I used to (no more DTD for me at the moment) because I won't spend £65-70 to get there and back.

For the economy overall, we'd be put back a century without petrol/diesel to run industry with, with huge consequences for everyone's living standards..far more so than if none of us had TV's, mobiles etc

Indeed..Petrol is definitely not a luxury..and it drives me mad that people say stuff like that. In the same way that  people (mainly of a different generation) claim that the telly is a luxury. Yes, so was a gun for hunting when it first came out..you after all used to use a club and a spear when you went hunting and a house is a luxury as we are, technically, all able to sleep outside or in caves. It's a silly thing to say really and not very well thought out. We COULD also all grow our own vegetables in our own back garden on all natural soil and all that and life off the land (it's what we used to do a milion or so years ago)...but that doesn't mean meat and a supermarket is a luxury all of a sudden.

The "petrol is a luxury" comes from the vegan eco-nuts and I'm amazed they managed to actually convince anyone with half a brain with that bollox.

/end rant.

(no offense intended TK but this one really drives me nuts

Disagreeing with me does not cause offence, ever, assuming it's done in a reasonable manner. The offence, seenmingly, comes when I disagree with others, but let's not go there.

That apart, yes, now we are getting to where I'm driving this thread.

Someone wants us to to sign some daft petition to "force" the Oil companies to reduce their prices, &/or the Governbment to cut the taxation on fuel & other stuff. (Taxation represents how much of the forecourt price of fuel - 70%, 80%?). Like, they will listen, yes? Err, no.

And within hours, we have a 5 page thread, full of folks who care about the money in their pocket.

Remind me how long the thread on blonde about the Burma cyclone was, please. Or the Chinese Earthquake. Sure, they have nothing to do with poker. But nor do fuel prices.

OK, petrol, although we differ on degree, is not a luxury. But do you see where I'm going? I was hoping others would get there first, but money is very dear to most folks. Like petrol, really.

Excellent point of course, and wisely made you clever fox, you....Can I call you "The Wiley Fox" from now on?..I think it suits.

The Burma Cyclone situation is horrible, as was the Earthquake in China..and the situation in Sierra Leone ..and the situation in North Korea..and, you'll have to trust me on this one, those things also really piss me off.

 Not the fact that a natural occurence happened in China and Burma, that can only make you sad,  but the way the Burma situation is handled by the government there..and how the UK govt "appeals for calm" whenever a terrible massacre happens somewhere (Rwanda) and how world leaders do F all when it comes to situations like Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone other than "Condemn it with the strongest words possible"...or how millions of people die of Aids or hunger in Africa and the idiots in charge over there decide that "Aids doesn't exist". I would love to post/rant every day about how those things tick me off and do something about it or move other people to feel the same way I feel about it and then maybe something can be done about it...but 1; it'd depress everyone on the forum, 2; it'd kill me..or I'd end up topping myself if I start doing that..so I've just decided to post the occasional comment in those threads and try to do what little I can in silence rather than keep posting how awful a situation like that is.
I think most people would rather moan about petrol prices than the situation in Burma and the likes because 1; They don't understand/comprehend the situation over there and 2; They feel they can't do anything about that and would therefore rather discuss a topic that they are more in control of.


p.s. (just in case it's needed as I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression) when I rant about something that pisses me off it by no means means you've offended me by disagreeing with me...it just means that I have finally found something I can spout on about that I think people might actually listen to...if i do it about the situations discussed above peoples eyes tend to glaze over.

I'm cogniscant of that. I was replying to your rejoinder......

no offense intended TK

I've apparently upset half of blonde in the last 2 months, & I have to tread  - & write - more carefully now. No more honesty, it's all wishy-washy cooey-wooey now.