Life

The Great (?) Gasoline Boycott of 2004

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Last Updated on August 29, 2020

Buying gasoline today? Some aren’t, and they don’t want you to, either.

Today is the Great Gasoline Boycott of 2004. The premise is simple: “It has been calculated that if everyone in the United States did not purchase a drop of gasoline for one day and all at the same time, the oil companies would choke on their stockpiles.”

I’d sooner buy gasoline than that “calculation.”

The concept has been going around every year since about 1999. It fails to consider that the gasoline business doesn’t rely on a perishable product. If we all stopped buying dairy, the milk would go sour. Gasoline, as far as I know, faces no such problem while it waits in the tanks for something to power. No one buys gasoline every day, anyway. Sooner or later, almost all of us will buy it.

Many people, trying to be clever, decided to buy their gas yesterday. If they did, they beat the latest increase: gasoline jumped up another two cents overnight.

Those who are riding on fumes to wait until tomorrow will pay more for the gas than those who tried to beat the ban. In either case, the gas companies get their money.

The other factor to consider, according to Michigan University economics professor John Edgren, who addressed the issue back in 2001, is the free-rider problem: “People figure, ‘I won’t do it because it will take me time and effort, and everybody else will do it.’ If everybody thinks that way, nothing happens.”

I’m not buying gasoline today, but it’s not because of a boycott. I have three-quarters of a gallon, so I’m in good shape until next week some time. If I was out of gas, I’d buy gas so I could get to work so that I will be more likely to be able to afford paying for whatever amount per gallon it will cost then.

I’m not saying that it’s a hopeless situation, although it probably is. I’m simply suggesting that a single day of behavioral change generally accomplishes nothing. It’s longterm behavioral change that gets results, whether you’re trying to lose weight, trying to quit smoking, or trying to save money.

As one old saying goes, “What a difference a day makes.” The people behind this gas boycott should recall a different one: “The world wasn’t built in a day.”

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.