# Can a Gas Strike really bring down the price of Gas????????????? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2000, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830 "2000-04-04T01:37:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quisling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47c2d/32.png) [@Quisling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quisling)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/1 "2000-04-04T01:37:00Z")
Alright here we go SD’s the best question ever 🙂 And yes I submitted this to Cecil but as yet there is yet to be an answer and the time is at hand so lets see what all of you out there think!!! Ok Here we go everyone who reads this has probably gotten the email about how a supposed Gas Strike will bring the gas prices down again like it did on last years. Only this time we are going for 3 full days. Ok here’s how it works: Everyone who receives or hears about this is supposed to not buy gas for a period of 3 days. The same 3 days of course and by the combination of millions it will hurt the gas cartels profits hugely from the loss of gas sales on said day(s). Last year it was just one day and they claimed it worked. I am betting on coincidence and that this gas strike does about ZILCH!!! Heres why: I think that if I actually bought into this crap and didn’t buy any gas for 3 days what would I do??? Thats right the day before the strike I would fill my tank and maybe even some cans to be sure I had enough gas to last the whole 3 days right?? So am I the only one that sees a serious problem on the intelligence of this??? Thats right people THE GAS STILL GETS BOUGHT AND USED!!! Sure their sales may hurt big time on those days. But on the day before and the day after the strike sales would be record high in contrast to the record low evening everything out right? The only way I see this strike Idea ever actually working if not only did everyone strike on said day(s) but also did not use any gas by driving around anywhere or only in extreme emergency. Alright people lets hear what YOU have to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/2 "2000-04-04T02:15:00Z")
Courtesy of snopes: [Gasout I](http://www.snopes.com/ephemera/gasout.htm) [Gasout II](http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/gasout.htm) Gasoline is _cheap_. ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/3 "2000-04-04T02:45:00Z")
NO * * * The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it. (Karl Marx, 1845) ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/4 "2000-04-04T02:46:00Z")
ditto. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/5 "2000-04-04T04:40:00Z")
I disagree. A gas strike will definitely work. But it’s gonna have to be for a hell of a lot longer than one day. Basic supply and demand. The prices go up because demand is high and supply is low. If demand drops, so will the prices. (Prices will also drop if supply increases.) The problem is this one day strike will have no effect at all. Nearly anyone involved in it will surely make up for not buying gas that day on either the day before or the day after. Net result: no change in demand. If the American public wants gas prices to go down, there’s only one solution. Quit driving so damn much, and buy more fuel efficient vehicles. You wanna protest, you’re gonna have to make some sacrifices. * * * _God is my co-pilot. Blame Him._ ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/6 "2000-04-04T04:57:00Z")
**Sacrifices!?!** What!? You mean, to get what we want, sometimes we have to give something up? That’s \*unAmerican[i/]! I’m going to go curl up in an $800 Eddie Bauer afghan and read Oprah’s book of the month. : :pppttttthh:: –Tim * * * You can’t accidently create a handicapped baby whilst smoking pot. - **Coldfire** ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/7 "2000-04-04T04:58:00Z")
**DAMNIT AND TARNATION!** In all the months I’ve been doing UBB, that is the FIRST time I’ve ever screwed it up. DAMN! –Tim * * * You can’t accidently create a handicapped baby whilst smoking pot. - **Coldfire** ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2000, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/8 "2000-04-04T12:50:00Z")
OK, **Homer,** up against the wall! Ready– Aim– Fire! Is that better now? 😃 * * * “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen ---
**Author:** ![Quisling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47c2d/32.png) [@Quisling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quisling)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/9 "2000-04-05T08:34:00Z")
Well it’s nice to see the teeming millions out there haven’t been duped into believing this junk. And no ,Mr Know it All, there is no way a strike would work unless you stopped driving to. Supply and demand doesn’t quite work the way it does with most items when it comes to gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/10 "2000-04-05T11:27:00Z")
Alright, Q. I’m willing to listen. Why not? I maintain that the reason gas prices are so low in this country (and they are) is because of high supply. This has kept inflation from affecting them the way that they have affected the prices of other goods. What’s wrong with my reasoning? * * * _God is my co-pilot. Blame Him._ ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/11 "2000-04-05T13:23:00Z")
**Quisling** and **MrKnowItAll** , it looks from the sidelines as though you two might have a violent encounter over something that comes close to being a semantic debate. A gas strike would, indeed, work. If we stopped using gasoline, prices for gas would fall. The issue is how long such a strike would be needed to bring about that effect. **Q** is right in noting that we are not in a position to simply stop using gasoline, so a genuine strike would be extremely difficult to maintain. **M** , however, is completely correct that over the long term, we _could_ impose the effects of a strike. (Whether we would ever demonstrate the will to do so is another question.) **M** never said that the silly “gas out” would work. A “gas out” is foolish and stupid. Switching our driving habits to smaller cars, using more public transportation, saving all our errands and shopping for a single day of the week rather than running to the convenience store every time we discover that the Mocha Fudge is low, moving back into the inner ring suburbs and the cities to reduce the drive to work (and make public transportation more feasible), etc., _ad nauseam_ will reduce demand on gas and lower the prices below even their current prices (or those of last summer). I don’t see us doing anything similar without some sort of catastrophe, but _if_ we actually lowered our consumption, we could lower the price. * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/12 "2000-04-06T00:17:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by MrKnowItAll: > **If the American public wants gas prices to go down, there’s only one solution. Quit driving so damn much, and buy more fuel efficient vehicles.** > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Quisling: > **And no ,Mr Know it All, there is no way a strike would work unless you stopped driving too.** There ya go. * * * rocks ---
**Author:** ![emarkp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@emarkp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emarkp)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2000, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-gas-strike-really-bring-down-the-price-of-gas/9830/13 "2000-04-07T05:21:00Z")
I’m grateful someone asked this. I forget it starts tomorrow. I’ll be sure to fill up one of those days, since the lines might be shorter.