I’ve been watching gas prices going crazy for a while and when a friend told me that diesel fuel went up about a dollar a gallon virtually overnight, I started scratching my head. I scratched my head because the media didn’t seem to be reporting much of anything about it.
Well, today, I saw a Facebook post from a recently retired local TV news anchor who posted a picture of four different gas chains and their rising gas prices. Her caption read: “What’s Going on Here?”. In Northeast Ohio, gas is about $3.60 a gallon and rising daily. Then I saw another Facebook post by someone else that showed a picture of two refrigerators side by side. One was full of food and had a caption of: “No Job-Welfare”, indicating that if you are on public assistance you are sheltered and will be getting the food your family needs. The other photo was of a fridge with very little food in it with the caption that read:“Hard-Working Taxpayer”, indicating that for working men and women it is a constant struggle, often doing without food items.The woman who posted the refrigerator photo is a single woman in her twenties and has two jobs (one full-time and one-part-time and just gets by).
As for high fuel prices and how much it effects people; I’ve had college students tell me that they can’t make it to school five days a week and will have to cut a day or two because they can’t afford the fuel to drive to class. Have you ever heard that reported by the government or the media?
When President Obama came into office gas prices were around two-dollars a gallon and now they’re closing in on doubling that amount. Food prices were less as well. The number of people on welfare or public assistance was less too. To President Obama’s credit many indicators have improved in a very ailing economy and the economy by most experts standards, has improved. But the fact remains many people are hurting and hurting more than they were years ago and here’s the big catch; few media outlets seem to be reporting it. Thank God, or maybe better said, thank technology for Twitter and Facebook.
We’ve all heard that Twitter and Facebook both offer much freedom and transparency throughout the world. In fact, they both brought out true happenings in war torn countries such as Libya and Egypt during their recent civil wars. Without them, the world would not have known what was truly happening in those countries.
The shame though is that it appears that in the land of the free, America, where one would think we are privy to the truth from our government and the media; Facebook and Twitter has been doing a great service. Regular people are making a difference now. They have a voice. Not only agenda driven people but regular folks who report from their blood, sweat and daily tears; on social media. They don’t have to worry about getting reelected or getting more add-dollars. They can talk about what they see and feel.
It’s a new world and it’s a good thing. Things will never be the same in America or the world for that matter. Real working people have a voice now that they’ve never had before. The powers that be, whether media or government, will have no choice but to listen.
Steve's a three-time survivor of violence in his youth, a former police supervisor and a graduate of The Police Executive Leadership College (PELC) and was also an award winning part-time college Criminal Justice instructor.
For several years, Steve did written and radio political and current event commentary and was the former host of the long running 'The Kovacs Perspective' Internet radio and TV talk show.
Steve presently owns a small businesses in Ohio--The Mayfield Academy of Self-Defense.
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