Stages of Grief

I saw on the news yesterday a few clips of protesting truckers...obviously concerned about ‘unreasonable’ diesel prices. I still can’t figure out why they haven’t been able to raise their prices to suppliers. Perhaps it’s a latency issue – big trucking firms can absorb volatile price swings better than independents – and the same with airlines. But a lower tide lowers all boats...

So here were a bunch of truckers in DC, loosely organized, honking and slowing down traffic. At least the slowing part might help; I think power/speed is non-linear. That is, it takes more than two times the diesel input to double the speed of a tractor trailer, so trucking efficiency is improved. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

We are dealing with the slow death of the non-negotiable American way of life. And how do we approach it? We deny it, get mad at it, try to bargain with it, get depressed over it, then we accept it. I don’t see this as a short-term issue. I still think in the short term we well stabilize at $3.XX gas and unfettered growth will resume, but not in the long term.

Each of us are in a different stage. Right now, I’m well into the 5th stage. Truckers, apparently, are stuck in the second stage, and they will be there for a long time, yet...and it’s not going to get them anywhere in the long run. And we all know this...but they have to run through the stages like everyone else, so let them have some fun with being mad for a while. Drive 20mph on the freeway, block traffic, be rebels! Scofflaws! But, they will be driving that 20mph on $4.20 diesel. Stage 2 is also panning out elsewhere in the world...food riots, panic buying, one-rice-bag-limits...

But denial is still God – just look to our president. The candidates -- those three have to deny it or bargain to get elected, but they don’t really have anything to get mad about; shit, they personally could absorb 500% increases with smiles on their faces. So they move to offer summer gas tax holidays to bargain with the American people. It feels right, doesn’t it? It just feels right.

It’s odd that on one hand, the candidates all peddle energy independence, while on the other, trying to drive fuel prices lower to encourage more consumption. I have gotten over all this, and accepted that there will never be any coherent, organized national energy policy, because the existing arrangements cannot support such change, and so I accept it. Vote third party, ride the bike, take the bus, eat local organic, and work in the electric industry. I could absorb a 500% increase with a smile on my face.