Alternative Fuels, or Alternative Distribution of Wealth?

Another disadvantage of the high price of oil is that when there is a concentration of wealth, there is a disproportionate amount of power. When the Standard Oil Company was broken up at the turn of the century, it marked the beginning of the breakup of monopolies by Pres. Roosevelt. The concentration of resources controlled by one group also represented a concentration of power. Today, this is most visible in the form of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This group acts as a cartel to control the production of oil throughout the world. In this fashion it controls a source of energy for those that do not produce oil, or have sufficient production for their country's needs. Again, through the concentration of wealth, this body, benevolent or not, has attained a measure of power. The DeBeers cartel is another example of how a group can keep the price of a product artificially high by controlling the production of that product.

As alternative fuels are developed, those that harness or produce those resources begin to amass their own measure of power. It is possible that these alternative fuels producers could supercede the oil producers, if they are able to concentrate their power. Unfortunately, the oil producers already have the means to distribute fuels to the public and could hardly be supplanted for their ability to deliver the alternative products as well.

The socialistic response would be to tax the large concentration of power and redistribute that resource (read wealth) to those that are less endowed. Interestingly enough, many of the labor unions in the United States, have as part of their by-laws specific language stating that their purpose is to redistribute wealth to the poor and the downtrodden. I have never known a labor union to reach out to those that can't pay union dues....but I digress.

History has proven, time-and-again, that empires do not last forever. They come and they go, and as one disappears, another rises. The AT&Ts of the world have produced AT&T Wireless, and the Standard Oils (SOHIO) have produced ChevronTexacoUSA, Inc., etc. We may someday be running our vehicles on coconuts, and the fuels power would be amassed in more tropical climes as opposed to the desert moguls of today....Power and the amassing of wealth, seem to go hand-in-hand. Or maybe this transigence of power is only a fleeting thing. Maybe there is a greater, altruistic, egalitarian source of power. It will all depend on whom you put your trust. As for me and my house...this is Just an Observation.