I've never been a fan of group projects. I always have this lingering feeling that there will be the one person in the group who doesn't take it seriously and ruins it for the rest of the people who actually try their best. When I'm doing my own work, I only have myself to blame if something goes wrong; putting my grade into the hands of a stranger or acquaintance doesn't sit well with me.
More and more lately, as a nation, we have leaned more toward that reliance on other countries in a way that is simultaneously crippling our wallets and national economy. I visited one of my friends at a different college this weekend and had to fill up my gas tank, and when I saw the prices at the pump I nearly had a heart attack. Even though my Kroger's Plus Card helped keep my gas under $3 per gallon, the fact it had crossed the $3 mark was unbelievable.
I'm sure there are numerous factors in the equation for why oil prices have been climbing, but Tuesday, oil barrels reached a record high according to USA Today ' $97 per barrel of oil. As a comparison, prices were about $59 this time last year, according to BBC News. The scary thing is that prices continue to climb while demand stays relatively stagnant, and our pockets (at least mine anyway) are aching from this.
Our economy isn't doing so hot either. Because we rely on so many other countries to quench our need (note: not want, but need) for oil, the slightest problem elsewhere can shake us from across the globe. For example, bombings in Afghanistan and an attack on a pipeline in Yemen influenced the record-high prices. The scary part is that we get a decent amount of oil from areas aside from the Middle East (our top imports come from Canada), but we are so dependent on every drop that conflict over there rattles us over here.
It also doesn't help that the value of the dollar has been on the decline. This only inflates the cost of oil even further and is another example of how increasing globalization is not necessarily the most profitable venture. Not only are we dependent on everyone else to fulfill a habit we alone cannot keep satisfied, but also the rest of the world is shifting their dependency on the American dollar to the Euro, a move that helps them but leaves us in quite a predicament. Even Gisele B++ndchen of Victoria's Secret fame has refused to be paid in American dollars ' ouch.
The problem with living in a society that is not only capitalistic but filled with a feeling of superiority is that it never expects not to be the one earning the profit. We outsource as much as we can and exploit other countries because we can make more money that way without realizing that putting ourselves into the global economy opens us to the same problem. We are now in a position that definitely, for a lack of a better word, sucks. And what sucks even more is that it seems we can't do anything about it because it's occurring on a completely different continent, while we continue to pump gas and cringe as the price to fill our tanks breaks $30, $40 or even $50.
While it's nice to be able to count on other countries for some things, just like it's nice to have friends to count on, there are some situations when we simply can't always be dependent on other people or countries. Aside from the obvious fact that fossil fuels are terrible for the environment, here is another incentive to stop relying on oil and start looking for alternatives. Not alternative places to drill, but alternative ways of transportation. Oil constantly puts so much strain on us at both a federal and a local level, and it's only getting worse.
Oil, black gold, Texas tea ' whatever you want to call it, it's a dangerous commodity. Not only as a pollutant, but something that is found and relied upon in territories that don't have the healthiest or most stable relationship with the United States. I don't want us to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world, but we can't continue on this path and expect not to suffer from its ramifications.
This is the part of the group project where you have to realize that not everyone is as concerned with grades as you are, or not everyone needs this class to meet a requirement. You have to assess the situation to achieve the grade that is best for you without assuming that every other person (or country) has the same thing ' your best interest ' in mind. Personally, it's in my best interest that a gallon of gas for my car not cost more than a meal at Wendy's.
17 Archives
Cathy Wilson
200711096495midsize.jpeg
