I was told a couple of times last week that I needed to not buy gas on Tuesday, May 15th. Supposedly there was this great gas boycott organized for the day. The idea was that if no one bought gas on Tuesday, we would send a message to the oil companies that we weren't going to take it anymore. High gas prices, that is.
It really didn't matter to me because I already had a goodly amount of petrol in my tank, so I was able to drive by many gas stations on Tuesday without any sacrifice and observe how the great boycott was going. And they were full of customers. Not very surprising. Here's some theories on why it didn't work:
1. Not everyone has the internet, especially Facebook and the ability to join a group specifically designed for the purpose of not buying gas.
2. People need gas and don't care about a stupid boycott that won't work anyway.
I also read an article that said the boycott was pointless because its not a true boycott. When you boycott something, you are vowing to stop an action for a prolonged period of time, like a hunger strike or the 1980 Moscow Olympics (or the 1984 LA Olympics). The Great Gas Boycott was only for a day. It didn't stop the purchase of gas, it only delayed the purchase of gas. If you didn't buy it Tuesday, you could've gone on Wednesday. There's no sacrifice involved. A true boycott would be to not buy gas over a prolonged period of time. That would really hurt the oil companies and force them to take action. What happened Tuesday didn't hurt them at all. They're going to make their money later in the week regardless. It really only hurt the owners of the gas stations who have no control over the price of gas. They hardly make any money off gas anyway.
So, the boycott didn't work, people still bought gas on Tuesday, and what was our reward? Gas was $2.99 on Tuesday. It's now $3.19. Unleaded. Good work.
It really didn't matter to me because I already had a goodly amount of petrol in my tank, so I was able to drive by many gas stations on Tuesday without any sacrifice and observe how the great boycott was going. And they were full of customers. Not very surprising. Here's some theories on why it didn't work:
1. Not everyone has the internet, especially Facebook and the ability to join a group specifically designed for the purpose of not buying gas.
2. People need gas and don't care about a stupid boycott that won't work anyway.
I also read an article that said the boycott was pointless because its not a true boycott. When you boycott something, you are vowing to stop an action for a prolonged period of time, like a hunger strike or the 1980 Moscow Olympics (or the 1984 LA Olympics). The Great Gas Boycott was only for a day. It didn't stop the purchase of gas, it only delayed the purchase of gas. If you didn't buy it Tuesday, you could've gone on Wednesday. There's no sacrifice involved. A true boycott would be to not buy gas over a prolonged period of time. That would really hurt the oil companies and force them to take action. What happened Tuesday didn't hurt them at all. They're going to make their money later in the week regardless. It really only hurt the owners of the gas stations who have no control over the price of gas. They hardly make any money off gas anyway.
So, the boycott didn't work, people still bought gas on Tuesday, and what was our reward? Gas was $2.99 on Tuesday. It's now $3.19. Unleaded. Good work.
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