Boycotting Petrol – dumbest idea ever? (941 hits)
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Submitted by Fleet Marshall Badass (View user info) at 2004-05-29 11:49:00 EDT
A mate of mine sent me this email, along with his disgust, basically saying that this couldn't have originated in Australia (you'll see why when you read it), that it gets circulated around the Western world every time oil prices go up, and that if you really wanted to make a difference, you'd just walk everywhere for a day, instead of just not putting petrol in your car. I decided he was right, but there was more to be said.
So I've posted the message in its entirety (which shows just how powerful a message typed in all caps can be - some people are fucking stupid), for two reasons:
1. I want to know if any of you Brits, Yanks, Canucks and others recognise this;
2. I want to find out what a bunch of randoms who are bored at work think about this.
Here we go with the original email:
IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN AUSTRALIA DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF PETROL 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 MAY 30TH HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND DAY" AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF PETROL THAT DAY.
THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.
WAITING ON THIS ADMIINSTRATION 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 PETROL 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 MAY 30TH A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF AUSTRALIA SAY, "ENOUGH IS
ENOUGH"
It is my strong opinion that whoever wrote this will one day contribute to the statistic of 20 people who die every year putting on their socks. Let's have a closer look at the genius that is our hard-at-work political activist:
"IF EVERYONE IN AUSTRALIA DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF PETROL FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES." There is no fucking way that the oil companies (you've gotta love the way this wanker makes the term "oil companies" sound so broad, that instantly you become angry at "the man" - simple, yet effective) rely on Australia's daily purchase of petrol to loosen the load on their stockpiles. Australia couldn't possibly spend more than 2-3% on oil, so don't bullshit about crippling the market. I'm sure the demand in China right now would more than make up for it.
Let's read on: "...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." The people that pump the oil wouldn't lose a cent. They'd still pump the oil, and Australia would still buy it. It's the Australian oil refineries that would lose out on this one. The bottom line of those companies would all be affected. That bottom line just happens to be the same working class men and women as whoever wrote this email. The difference between the oil workers and this dipshit activist is that they're doing their jobs, while this moron is writing emails on his company's time! What an arsehole!
"THEREFORE MAY 30TH HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND DAY" AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF PETROL THAT DAY." This may well be the most pansy-arsed sentence ever used by someone trying to "make a difference". Nothing makes a more powerful statement than the use of the word "BEHIND". Fucking pussy. Besides, May 30th is a fucking Sunday! What does anyone do on a Sunday? You either drive the kids to sport and back, make the kids walk to sport and back, or stay in bed! This is the biggest copout ever. If you're going to do it, do it on a workday! Then you'll be making a point, because nobody will use public transport, and nobody will drive to work. Oh wait, that means you'll have to get your fat arse up and walk to work and back, and god forbid you'd ever want to make a difference if it was too much of a hassle! Whoever this fuckwit works for should fire them, because they're not dedicated enough to walk to work. What if a plane hits the building and you have to use the stairs instead of the lift to escape! You'd be fucked then! No dedication, whatsoever, to their work, or their cause.
I'm not even gonna talk about how you're meant to turn this extraordinarily important message into chain mail, in an attempt to get everybody in Australia to consent to the notion. The sheer stupidity of that one speaks for itself.
Moving right along: "WAITING ON THIS ADMIINSTRATION 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?" This is where Captain Contradiction steps in and gives someone who couldn't think of how to start an argument a helping hand. Good idea: blame the Administration (As if anybody in Australia refers to our Government as the "Administration" - Australian my left nut) for a problem that lies with the Arab Nations, and then "cripple" the oil companies for it. How fucking brilliant! I'm gonna go slam my head in the boot of my car, then I might be able to follow this guy's logic.
Does anybody out there think that the "Administration" is going to be able to control world oil prices? If they lower the prices here, everybody involved in selling oil products loses money, and since the oil industry is one of Australia's biggest employers, it may not be worth it. It's time for certain email-spewing fuckwits to stop being so selfish. And as far as controlling how much Opec, ORL, etc. want to charge, well, I'm only gonna sing this once:
The whole world buys oil,
And we can't control the whole world,
So stop your fucking bitchin',
Or I'll stomp you in the fuckin' nuts!
That should settle that. Let's move on.
"AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED." Finally, some holistic thinking! Too bad the Clue Fairy forgot to factor in those worker bees in the good ol' oil refineries again. Remember what happens when consumers claim about the cost of their product? The people who provide it get paid less. I can just see it now: "Opec workers paid sweatshop rates" - so that's what you want! Now, I'm all for sweatshops, but then again, I'm not trying to get oil prices lowered by boycotting petrol for a day. Wow, it really does sound that much more stupid when you type it out like that. Hehe, fucking idiot.
"WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN." I seriously laughed out loud when I read this, and the joke just doesn't get old! On the other hand, if this keeps up, and people don't use petrol (despite using fuckloads of natural gas, tar, Vaseline, and other oil based products), we might be able to enter a decent track team in the Olympics. I don't really have to explain why this is the second dumbest idea in the universe (the dumbest being to let the Jewish population of Florida vote that one time), do I?
I'll close this by saying that I've never been more proud to be in the Navy as opposed to the other services, because some Air Force Aircraftswoman sent this email to my friend. I shudder to think how someone in the AIR FORCE can possibly consider not using petrol for a whole day. Problematic. So, back to the start of the post: I dare say that someone would recognise this email, and has probably punched their computer screen out of that reflex action that makes you punch stupid things, so (dare I ask) what do you think Uber?
User Reviews
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-09-14 07:46:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Sounds like the Yanks tried to prank us into collapsing our economy for a day.
Submitted by Flying_buttmonkey (user info) at 2005-09-14 07:38:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Speaking from England, I've had it about three times in the last few years. Well, a similar version of it anyway.
Horsecrap.
Submitted by ima (user info) at 2005-09-14 06:44:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I don't usually register for sites such as this one. Not because I don't enjoy them, but because I don't have much to say. However, when I find people like yourself having influence over young people who are important to me I am compelled to say something.
Yes I received the email. I did not read it all because the fine details were not important. All I saw in that email was the chance, finally, for the Australian people to speak with one voice; to show that we are willing to put up a united front in issues that affect our livelihoods and therefore our families.
Of course a day of non petrol buying would have no effect on the oil companies; that goes without saying. The oil companies are not the main issue.
The issues in Australia are:
*The petrol stations raise the prices two weeks BEFORE the oil companies raise theirs; and drop them two weeks AFTER the oil companies drop theirs.Yet, the government is unwilling to enforce fairness on this issue.
*Petrol prices do not affect most politicians because they do not personally pay for their petrol; WE DO. If it did affect them personally, they would be quick to subsidise petrol by dropping the GST and/or other levies.
Even you, in all your wisdom, have neglected to cover those aspects. Instead you are very quick to insult others; even going so far as to dare to insult their grammar. So I will join that war. "Remember what happens when consumers claim about the cost of their product?" Grammatically, that
sentence makes absolutely no sense. Nor does the intended content. Indeed,the entire inference behind that particular paragraph is as fanciful as you claim the email to be.
Certainly, it has long been the vicious circle: pay-rise = price-rise = cost-of-living-rise = request-for-pay-rise. But where did that circle start?
It is grossly naive of you to suggest that if we, the people, stopped complaining about the cost of living we could prevent such things as "sweat shops" and prevent people from losing their jobs. Those who make the most money from consumer goods will continue to want to make higher and higher
amounts regardless of whether or not the consumers complain. Furthermore,you seem to suggest that we should cop whatever comes in order to save the livelihoods of those in "sweat shops" and third-world countries. Put the shoe on the other foot. If you were to ask those people to cop whatever comes in order to save the livelihoods of our truckies etc., what do you believe the answer would be?
You "laughed out loud" at the suggestion "We can make a difference". Your laughter saddens me. The reason "a difference" is difficult to make is because of people like you. I don't care what that difference might be, or to what it is making a difference. The mere fact that too many people
believe that a difference cannot be made is why a difference is not made.
You have made your opinion clear. But that is all it is: AN OPINION. The email has attempted to use facts to back up the author's opinion, albeit that those facts are a little fanciful. Yet nor have you used any reasonable facts to back up your opinion; instead you use a derogatory tone in the hope
that this will give your opinion weight.
Well, now it is my turn for an opinion. You sign yourself off as Fleet Marshall. Unless you are on duty, you are not a Fleet Marshall, you are just a person like any of us. Before I retired I was an Administrative Officer of the Federal Government; but I would have been in deep trouble if I had
signed myself off as such in a public forum such as this one. An off-duty policeman, an off-duty airforce officer; any such person cannot legally sign themselves off with their on-duty title in any matter that does not concern their on-duty responsibilities. If you are signing yourself off as Fleet Marshall, you must have written your article while on-duty; therefore wasting the tax-payers money. If you are signing yourself off as Fleet Marshall while off-duty then you son, in MY OPINION, are a FIGJAM.
To all you others out there who are not such FIGJAMs, don't accept the fact that "a united front" cannot make a difference. United fronts have been what has shaped this world, for good or bad. It does not matter if the "facts" and "reasons" given are not quite up to scratch; so long as there is the possibility of a desired effect. Even if that desired effect is merely to show that we will not be taken for the idiots the government believes we are.
Submitted by JSultan (user info) at 2005-08-30 03:49:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Did you think of that all by yourself? Impressive.
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2005-08-30 03:21:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Go ahead.
Go for it!
You'll make a billion chinese friends in a heartbeat.
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2005-08-30 03:11:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
What the fuck is "the administration" if not referring to Bush? Aussie my left nut indeed.
Submitted by Bob_Dole (user info) at 2005-08-30 02:52:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
meh.
Submitted by KoolWang (user info) at 2004-05-31 10:03:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Fleet_Marshall_Badass (user info) at 2004-05-30 11:03:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
"Chain mail hippie crap sucks."
Whoa, whoa. Don't limit yourself to just the chain mail aspect of hippies. Remember, the only good hippie is a dead hippie, for many reasons:
- They smell;
- They don't flush every time they go because it wastes water;
- They hug trees because other humans won't hug them because they smell;
- They drink turnip juice (at least ONE hippie has to drink turnip juice).
Moral: Be careful when you use limiting factors in your anti-hippie statements.]
Badass.
Submitted by intellismartness (user info) at 2004-05-30 04:28:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Not +2 worthy, but definately worthy of a positive score.
Chain mail hippie crap sucks.
Submitted by Yams (user info) at 2004-05-29 14:03:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I guess I forgot not to buy gas on whatever our day was...I'm sure glad it wouldn't have made a difference anyway! Here's what ya do: Get a big ol' bomb, and drop it on some oil-producing country in A-rabia or in Venezuela. Then sit around and insert acid crystals into a cut on your forehead. It'll solve everything!
Submitted by Rixes (user info) at 2004-05-29 13:43:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've just seen the american version, I think our's was May 18th or 20th. Not bad dissection though.
Submitted by More_badass_than_you_you_fucki at 2004-05-29 13:35:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Fleet Marshall Badass: Dumbest Cunt Ever?
-Morebadassthanyou
Submitted by Fleet_Marshall_Badass (user info) at 2004-05-29 13:12:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by cigar (user info) at 2004-05-29 12:29:59 (#)
Ranking: -2
your a fucking idiot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can feel a song coming on...
If you want to call me an idiot,
And you want to sound convincing,
Then use some proper grammer,
So I can't insult you,
But if you really don't mind looking,
Like a total fucking moron,
Then replace "you're" with "your"
'Cause any ol' language will do!
Seriously, I don't mind being insulted since you're a little shit stain anyway, but when YOU'RE calling someone a fucking idiot, do it properly or learn a different language.
Badass.
Submitted by cigar (user info) at 2004-05-29 12:29:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
your a fucking idiot.
Submitted by Fleet_Marshall_Badass (user info) at 2004-05-29 12:11:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by panama (user info) at 2004-05-29 11:59:01 (#)
Ranking: -2
I'm not even gonna talk about how you're meant to turn this extraordinarily important message into chain mail, in an attempt to get everybody in Australia to consent to the notion. The sheer stupidity of that one speaks for itself.
And so instead of a chain mail, you just posted it on uber where everyone in the world to see it. Hmmm, guess the stupidity does speak for itself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You're right, dipshit, it does. It's a pretty big component in your ability to NOT GET IT AT ALL!
When I see replies like this, I weep for the world.
Badass.
Submitted by panama (user info) at 2004-05-29 11:59:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I'm not even gonna talk about how you're meant to turn this extraordinarily important message into chain mail, in an attempt to get everybody in Australia to consent to the notion. The sheer stupidity of that one speaks for itself.
And so instead of a chain mail, you just posted it on uber where everyone in the world to see it. Hmmm, guess the stupidity does speak for itself.
Submitted by simplychilled (user info) at 2004-05-29 11:58:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Gotta give this a +2 for the amount of time you spent dissecting this mail into the pile of crap that it really is. We get this kind of stuff forwarded all the time by some disillusioned tree hugger that somehow gets your email addy. As for familiarity I'm English, and haven't seen this particular one here yet but will be ready to delete it on sight.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-05-29 11:54:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
there was the american verson of this posted awhile ago