the mighty gas out!! and the mighty flaw.

We all know myspace can be a breeding ground for stupidity. But recently it's just gotten out of hand. I get these bulletins, 5 now, telling me to participate in a one day boycott of gasoline in order to drop gasoline prices. Have you heard of this before? are people really this dumb?

here is the bulletin.

" on may 15th all mypsace members are to not go to the gas station in protest high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.00 a gallon in most places. There are 72,110,073 members currently on the network, and the average car takes about 20 to 30 dollars to fill up. If all myspace members did not go to the pump on the 15th it would take $2,163,302,190.00 out of the oil company's pockets for just one day, so please do not to go the gas station on May 15th and let's try to put a dent in the oil industry for at least one day. If you agree (which I can't see why you wouldn't) repost this bulletin."

Now, the above quoted piece advocating one-day gasoline boycotts are proof that some bad ideas just never go away. All of them are reminders that "protest" schemes that don't cost the participants any imconvenience, hardship, or money remain the most popular, despite their total lack of effectiveness. the premise behind this idea is inherently flawed, beceause consumers not buying gasoline on one particular day doesn't affect oil companies at all. the "gas out" as they call it, doesn't call upon people to use less gasoline, but simply to shift their date of purchase and buy gas a day earlier or later than they usually would. So... the very same amount of gasoline is sold either way, meaning that oil companies arn't really losing any money!
Secondly, by definition, a boycott involves the doing without of something, with the renunciation of the boycotted product held up as tangible proof to those who supply the commodity that us, the consumers, are prepared to do without it, that is, unless changes are made. Not buying gas on a designated day may make people feel a bit better about things by providing them a chance to vent their anger at high gas prices, which is totally understandable, however it will have no REAL impact on retail prices.
An effective protest would involve something like organizing people to forswear the use of their cars on specified days, an act that could effectively demonstrate the reality of the threat that if gasoline prices stay high, americans would be prepared to move to carpooling, or even transportation for the long run. I mean most urban areas have means for public transportation. USE THEM!!! Simply changing the day one buys gas, however, imparts no such threat, because nothing is being done without!
Moreover, the primary effect of the "gas out" is to hurt those at the very end of the oil-to-gasoline chain: the independent service station operators, who have the least say in setting gasoline prices.
FYI: (Independents are at the mercy of a very volatile oil market and operate on thin profit margins, and even a single day's disruption of supply or demand can wipe out many many days worth of hard earned profits.)
Really, the "gas out" is a punch on the nose delivered to the wrong person.