No, I'm not writing about the greasy facial oil masking your skin. It's all about sweet crude oil, the Black Gold, the OPEC-issue, today's fuel, and tomorrow's scarcity. We're seeing macroeconmics here, when most of today's economies solely depending on oil, take it away and you paralyze the global economy. Who cares, you ask? You might have felt it a little with the rising of the standard minimum fare but its long term effects are disastrous.
It has already been noted that global market growth is slowing down. The US Economy is fluctuating, the OPEC is fighting for a $100 a barrel mark-up, Russia is going war freak again with oil as its hostage. The slower the growth of a market, the slower the development, and the slower can we uplift our standards of living. Yes, it's nobody's fault but everyone's. We've been too dependent on oil. We knew its long-term effects yet everybody's addicted to it. Think about opium and shabu addicts in rehabs. The world is so much like it right now, enslaved and in-denial.
I've written how indolent we are when we could have harnessed other sources of energy by developing hybrid technologies. We've been too slow on these developments. Our policy was: let's use oil for now and see what happens next. Good heavens, we not only see but also feel global warming, pollution, and now economic slowdown. Think about it, if oil runs dry today, what would happen to the millions of jeepneys and tricycles running up and down the Philippine road?Will we really run out of oil? No, we won't. Oil will become so scarce that it will become so expensive, no one wants to buy it or invests in finding it. Isn't this a classic human condition? We trust so fully in things that are passing, things that are temporary. We easily find solace in the easiest conditions that we have. What little psychological problem we innately have adds up to become the global problem. Everything after all rests on individual choice and everything else is a reflection of the inner struggle. We can't always blame the higher institutions, it's too immature for today's consciousness.
As human persons, we are called to more social awareness and active participation. Whatever we do, no matter how small, affects everything in reality. Think about the Butterfly Effect.
I am such a sucker for positive thinking that I could only see what is happening about oil getting so expensive very positively. Why? Because alternatives such as fuel-free engines are now gaining momentum & support wherein they were just ignored before by our governments and private financiers. With the demand getting higher than the supply, our governments are now compelled to look and finance studies for other sources of energy to balance it out. Isn’t that great?! In a manner, I disagree with you, not everything rests on individual choices unless everyone would be willing to go Stone Age and renounce all technology which is just plain tomfoolery. As far as oil and alternative sources of energies are concerned, it rests on political will of our governments. As oil becomes scarcer and scarcer, our governments could slowly convert to oil free engines and other sources of power. Let there be enough alternatives in order for us not to be fully dependent on oil exporting countries and at the same time let there be enough demand of oil to tide them over the long-term change and not adversely affect our economies. Balance must be found.
ReplyDeleteWith the reality of ‘oil scarcity’ and global warming staring us at the face, individual contributions have become a must. ‘Doing your share’ campaigns are getting widespread and people are getting more educated as far as the problem is concerned. A number of those who are unmindful of the problem are now going green and are willing to do their share. Really experiencing the problem ourselves now has jolted us out of our dream world and hs spurred us to actions. Isn’t this great again?!