An open letter to those passing around the Sept 1 gas boycott spam
> Gas Protest
>
> > IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE
> > UNITED STATES AND CANADA DID
> > NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND
> > ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL
> > COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.
> >
> >
> > AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE
> > INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF OVER 4.6
> > BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES
> > OF THE OIL COMPANIES.
> >
> > THEREFORE SEPTEMBER 1st HAS BEEN FORMALLY
> > DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND
> > " DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THESE TWO NATIONS
> > SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF
> > GASOLINE THAT DAY.
> >
> > THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD
> > THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE
> > AS YOU C! AN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET
> > THE WORD OUT.
> >
> > WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND
> > CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO
> > HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND
> > CONTROL IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB
> > NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO?
> >
> > REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF
> > GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT THE
> > SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR
> > PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE
> > FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS
> > PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS
> > SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING
> > MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO
> > PAYS IN THE END? WE DO!
> >
> > WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET
> > THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE
> > WILL DO IT
> > AGAIN AND AGAIN.
> >
> > SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD
> > THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU
> > KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE SEPTEMBER
> > 1ST A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF THE
> > UNITED STATES AND CANADA SAY "ENOUGH IS
> > ENOUGH"
I'm not sure who calculated that, but it is false.
The only way a boycott can actually work is to
actually do without a product, not buy it a day
earlier or a day later. There is a more complete
breakdown at
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/nogas.asp
Considering assorted problems with petroleum use
anyway, starting with pollution and jumping into wars
under false pretenses to get control of oil fields, I
think it would be far more useful for people to put
their energy into finding alternatives, whether that
means riding bikes, driving hybrids, bugging local
governments to come up with viable public
transportation options, or whatever.
Also, while I definitely feel the bite when it costs
over $35 to gas up my little Chevy, and my paycheck is
of course not keeping up with that, I have a hard time
getting too worked up over prices that are less than
1/4 what most of the rest of the industrialized world
pays. It's just more motivation to try and build up
more stamina so that I can actually bike to work, now
that it has cooled down some.