Have you noticed how gas prices have spiked over the past month -- again? It’s a major cause of inflation, making products more expensive to deliver, not to mention digging into our wallets to fill the tank. At first, many of us thought it was due to the war in Ukraine, but it seems that’s not the real cause at all.
The Federal Trade Commission, created in 1914 to protect consumers against fraud, price gouging, and unfair business practices, uncovered literally thousands of emails between Scott Sheffield of Pioneer Natural Resources, a Texas fracking company, and OPEC to keep oil prices high. And they’ve shot up again, just in time for the election.
So far the only action against Sheffield is to bar him from any work with Exxon Mobil, which just bought out Pioneer. Now, if someone can be arrested for theft, why can’t this man who cost each of us over $2,000 a year in oil costs, be arrested and packed off like the shoplifter? White collar criminals should not be exempt from prosecution.
Prayer for the Day
Corruption and theft by big business all around us, O God,
And we ask what can be done to save us from its effects;
Collusion between greedy companies and their owners,
Unelected leaders of our economies rule our lives.
Save us, O God, from those around us driven by greed,
Caring only for themselves and bring them to justice.
In the name of the One who overturned the tables,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
I've seen my brothers working, Throughout this mighty land,
l prayed we'd get together, And together make a stand.
Les Rice, from the song “The Banks Are Made of Marble”
The New York Times captured the new corporate order succintly in 1987, reporting that it 'eschews loyalty to workers, products, corporate structures, businesses, factories, communities, even the nation.
Barbara Ehrenreich, from Bright-Sided (1941-2022)
Crooked minds are an abomination to the Lord;
But those of blameless ways are God’s delight.
Be assured, the wicked will not go unpunished,
But those who are righteous will escape.
Proverbs 11: 20-21