The People's Gas

Socialism is alive and now counts Somerset, Kentucky as one address. Apparently the small town has felt the “pinch at the pump” of high gas prices for years, and decided to take action. Action in this case involved taking taxpayer money and establishing a gas-only filling station for the expressed purpose of lowering the price of gas in the area.

The mayor insists the city isn’t “out to make a profit.” That’s one promise the politician will have no problem keeping. The gas station itself may break even on its own sales, but it can’t help but reduce the income of other private businesses in the area, the ones that pay federal, state, and local taxes which, among other things, will be used to keep the gas-only station pumping away.

The locals that did not work at gas stations or for gas or oil companies seemed quite happy about the new gas station. One remarked that they were tired of seeing business leave town to go to other locations where gas tended to be cheaper. I have to wonder how happy people will continue to be as the observations continue. Suppose that business starts leaving town because the hotel rooms are cheaper a few miles down the road, or the groceries, or the food at the diner? There could be a lot of places where the government could step in to help keep the business in town. The only ones who would lose out are the businesses.

Then again, there’s no real need for the government to start from scratch as they did with the gas station. All they would have to do is set price controls for the local businesses, and that would accomplish the same thing. If you are too young to remember the hour long waits to fill up your car in the 70’s, the principle applies to just about anything. Think about going to the county fair on “wristband” day. Price controls result in shortages and rationing. The only real question is how long it takes for the situation to get really ugly.

I remember reading a particularly gruesome scene from a book a long time ago: A group of people was out on a fishing boat when they came on a group of small sharks. The man who owned the boat caught one of the sharks, and slit the animal’s belly with a sharp knife. The animal did not die right away, but began to bleed. The man then threw the shark back into the water. True to their nature, the other sharks homed in on the blood, and started to attack their comrade. As they did, little bits and pieces of him got loose and began to drift just from all of the activity. The original shark, the one with the slit belly, went after those. Even though it was being attacked and killed, it couldn’t overcome its primary instinct which was to feed, even if that meant eating itself.

The town of Somerset, Kentucky has decided to eat itself. It may not be quick, but unless they change course, it will happen, and it will be ugly. The only real question is how many others will come to feed as it’s going down.