I would rather the gas stations be reopened and the normal markets of supply and demand be restored. I hope it happens soon or that new gas stations pop up to replace the ruined stations.
You are offering a kind of market control with gouging prices. Lots of people need gas for their generators and cars and don’t have the money to play your disaster darwinist game. Let them eat cake? Let them die? Libertarian “logic.” Libertarianism’s anti-ethical ideology is so shallow, immoral and selfish, it will kill people’s respect for free markets. Libertarians are not worth that.
The stations that are open are making tons more money than ususal in sales volume. They don’t need to go darwin and they won’t. If their prices rise, they are legally permitted to raise their prices accordingly. They just can’t increase their profit margins like hyenas feasting on the corpse, or as Obammy seys corps.
Lots of people need gas for their generators and cars and don’t have the money to play your disaster darwinist game.
Most of these people didn't even have generators the last time we had a storm like this come through New Jersey. What did they do then? Do you really think we're going to have a massive death toll from starvation and hypothermia around here if gasoline isn't available right now?
And what exactly do they need fuel in their cars for? Oh, that's right ... so they can drive to work this coming week. Is this really a "disaster zone" if all of these businesses are up and running?
I'm not sitting here telling anyone that they're on their own --- and they're screwed if they can't fend for themselves. I'm not suggesting that anyone should be charging a $10,000 fare for transporting people from a flood zone, and they're out of luck if they don't have the money to pay. Every municipality in this area has public buildings open to provide heat, shelter and meals to people who cannot stay in their homes. Nobody is being charged a dime for this.
I'll tell you what this is all about. It's about a large, suburban region with a lot of wealthy people who never thought this sort of thing could happen to them. They ran out and bought all of these generators after the last storm in 2011, only to learn (too late) the uncomfortable truth that most generators rely on a steady supply of fuel that may not be readily available. And yet everyone thinks they can go about their lives as if nothing has happened. The shopping malls are open. Every restaurant and grocery store within a mile of my home is open and doing a lot of business ... and yet that half-mile long line of cars is still out there. Depending on where you look, we're living through either "The Brady Bunch" and "Mad Max" out here in the wilderness and anarchy of New Jersey.
The stations that are open are making tons more money than ususal in sales volume. They don’t need to go darwin and they won’t. If their prices rise, they are legally permitted to raise their prices accordingly. They just can’t increase their profit margins like hyenas feasting on the corpse, or as Obammy seys corps.
If prices rose to $10/gallon I bet you'll find that an awful lot of people don't really need the gasoline after all ... like maybe those 80,000+ people who are going to drive to the Meadowlands to watch the Giants play at 4:30 today, or all those people whose cars have filled the parking garages over at the lavish Short Hills Mall.