Does anyone here REALLY believe that it costs more today, to produce
ANYTHING than it did say thirty years ago?

In all honesty, I have to question what is actually bringing the cost
up. And when I am doen thinking about it I come ot the same conclusion
every single last time: GREED.

What's your opinion?

I agree.

.

its when one group sees they can raise prices then the others do it in
spite and greed

you mean jeff, how minimum wage has gone up to cover the increase in
general prices yet once it went up, everybody else raised their general
prices at the sametime so the only thing that really changed is how much
employers are spending in wages and the "merchants" getting richer?

my true thought on this is that it ALL comes down to oil....the price of
fuel pretty well dictates when the cost of everything goes up....the
cost of every single product ever made is dependant on oil...get a grip
on the oil companies and everything will follow.

yes but does it really cost more to produce the oil now than it did in
1975 or are the oil companies just saying it costs more?

I would love to see the world move back to the barter (trade back and
forth) system than use money, but that is a whole nother subject, lol.

it costs more...but only because they drove the market to where it is
at...it costs then more because the materials and equipment cost
more...but in reality the oil companies pretty well set the tone for the
world market...thats why the middle east is of such political
importance.

"it costs then more because the materials and equipment cost
more"

why is the rice higher now forthese materials, whe they are the same
materials that were needed back in the day?

We use the same method, samematerials etc. as we did back then. The
only difference is the cost. So why does it cost more to provide the
oil (as the example of basic need for everything)nosw than it did back
in '75?

The answer is there is no REAL increase in cost to produce. It is just
some big head of department saying, ok back in 75 ten people wanted
this. Now in 2007 1000 people wnat it, so lets raise prices and say it
costs more to prodice. We still pay the same no matter what, but they
are now giving us more money. hence we are richer.

greed

you bet

but it is greed everywhere

oil is very direct in causing
inflation in a throw away society

what can you get without fuel
not even vegis from your local
farmer unless they are amish

fuel price increasing starts an ever growing spiriral

workers need more money to pay fuel related increases

and companies need more to pay for fuel and saleries

but if the cost goes up 10% they raise the price 15%

never ends greed greed greed

thats rigfht adj...
I say get rid of oil
goback to barter (but again that is a nother subject lol)
DO WITHOUT WATYOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE AND IT WILL FORCE THOSE THAT HAVE
THE STUFF TO DROP PRICES IN ORDERTO GET RID OF IT.

it costs more because the companies making the equipment have shipping
costs with everything they make...i have to believe that oil is the
biggest root of the problem....and its fueld by greed...but if oil was
.10 cents a gallon like it is in bahgdad...the cost of an oil pump would
be cheaper...farm good prices could come down... manufacturing costs
could go down in every market...i think it all comes down to a greed
driven oil market.

*sidenote* and look who runnin the country...remember when sr. took
office and how we all cried when gas went over a dollar a gallon...i
owned my own trucking company and wondered how i would survive diesel AT
1.30 a gallon....stop the oil frenzy and see how much the world
changes....see how much world politics changes...

well one thing would be go back to deposit bottles for things like back
before plastic came along and became so prevalent

plastic is made with oil

just a thought

but hey what do i know

and so true dan
we could all do with some of the extras we think we need

plastic is definately a factor...and packaging cost alot of money...and
you are right plastic=oil...we are right back to the core

te thing that realys cares me the most in all this is the cost of gas
too and Americas prevailent idea taht you NEED to own a car in order to
be employable. In my case I DO need a car as I work security and I ahev
to make patrols with it, although the site I am at right now I can and
do do on foot, most places I need the car.
However, somewhere like mcdonalds or taco bell as an example, will ask
you in your intervied not if you have transportation, but if you have a
car, which is an illegal interview question but they get away with it.
and if you do not own a car (nevermine thatyou live across the street
and would walk anyway) they will not hire you.
I used to walk back and forth to walmart five and six days a week
(worked full time there) and it was hilariously five miles to the t from
my car to the parking lot at walmart. Now A lot oare going to say
"grroooaann not hte five miles one way uphill both directions story
again" lol, but it is true. I walked five miles one way there and back.
Once I got my second pay check (first went to rent) I bought a bike and
biked it. My point is, we should all be doing more of this. Not
neccesarily five miles, although an hours walk wont kill most people,
but walk or bike back and forth to work. and employers need to get
their heads out of hteir asses (generally speaking I know not all
employers are like this) and stop worrying about wether the employee has
a car. hire them if they dont. if they dont make it back and forth to
work on time, fire them for missing work. Has nothing to do with car.
If we cna get this one thing accomplished, I garuntee we could make a
big statement to oil companies.
Also, back to my needing my car for work. I pay my own fuel for the
patrols. at roughly three dollars a gallon, ten gallons a tank, and 10
miles to the gallon (one hndred miles ot the tank of gas) this gets very
very expensive. I make 700 a month gross (before taxes). If the cost
keeps going up I am going to be out of a job because I can not afford to
work it.

actually i had an employer back home attempt to fire me due to my
vehicle breaking down and i missed 2 days of work. There was no LOCAL
BUS that would drive that far out of town and I had purchased a new
vehicle when mine finally went out. It really broke MY heart watching
that employer EAT IT and have to pony up and pay my unemployment.
LMAO!!!!!

OH! and daniel i agree with you. Your right on the money here for sure.
It all boils down to GREED.

A saying pops into mind "all that the market will bear". However, this
is not give one a whole picture as it seems to pertain to what is
suspected - greed.

The cost of living rises for many reasons. Here is an example.
Once we lived in an open range environment. There were farms
virtually right next door. Large animals were herded through town, by
somewhat transient cowboys, cheap labor, to the slaughter or to be sold
at auction to be slaughtered by butchers. The towns grew, animals could
not trod thru town so slaughter houses were built on the outskirs of
town. PRICE INCREASE. Then the railroad began shipping herds right to
the back door, because the ranges were more distances away, as the town
people did not want them near. PRICE INCREASE Then came the peoples
complaint of child labor and the serious injuries that children suffered
in dangerous work enviornments and the government heard the outcry and
children are not allowed to work under the age of xx, and only during
certain times, and bla bla bla. PRICE INCREASE Then, people started
becoming ill, due to unsanitary conditions, the FDA was the government
responce to the peoples outcry - PRICE INCREACE. Then technology came
up with bigger and better farming tools to make life easier and work
faster, sorry no price increase, let the farmers pay for that
themselves. Then the farmers got smart, they used their leverage as food
producers and pretty soon the government was paying all kinds of farm
relief, good for the farmer as it kept them farming and kept food in our
stores but - you guessed it - PRICE INCREASE. Then the old slaughter
houses went by the way side in favor of better working conditions and
more asthetic ways to kill by drugs, and truckers offered a better
shipping solution leving the trains to the poeple - PRICE INCREASE.
Now the science got involved and soon industry came along that created
special food to make animals big and fat faster and hormone shots and
steroids for more and faster food availibility - PRICE INCREASE

ON and on, but what you will not see, in an increase in the middle class
farmer, trucker, field hands, they are all still middle class and
fighting to stay there.

End of history 101