Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy89
The root cause of all reasons why people are pissed about gasoline prices is because these prices can be volatile and sometimes (rather abruptly) people have to pay more for something that in the short term they have no reasonable substitute for. They also cannot change their consumption of it in the short term either and it's a natural reaction to be frustrated to have to pay more.
All gouging arguments basically stem from an emotional response to that reality and most 'data driven' arguments on that side are basically data mining by emotionally motivated people looking for an argument to support their beliefs. These threads tend not to pop up in times like in February 2016 when crude and gasoline prices were at multi-year lows. The thesis that lizard-men are manipulating markets to gouge consumers doesn't seem to hold up as well when prices drop, nor are there as many angry people looking for them then.
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Well no kidding when it's low threads like this don't pop up, I don't think people get upset when they pay what is reasonable.
And you're right, people do get frustrated because it does cause short term (or sometime long-term) hardship, so people have every right to be upset and frustrated. Look at Haiti when the government raised the prices. Its not fair to have people bent over a barrel, regardless for the length of time, they know people will continue to pay it and for some people that's the difference of food, utilities, etc. That's unreasonable. Your Ability to absorb that fluctuation without much concern doesn't dictate anyone elses situation