Reply #22: The citizens one of the richest countries on the planet complain about $4 gas...

[GliderGuider]

The US has 4 times the GDP per capita of the world as a whole.

Europeans pay $8.40/gallon right now (1.5 Eur per liter). Canadians pay $5.50/gallon ($1.40 CAD/liter). That means that the average Canadian pays 10.6% of their income for fuel, the average Frenchman pays 18.5% of theirs, and the average American will pay only 6.4% of their income for fuel at $4/gallon.

Looked at another way, after paying for fuel the average Frenchman will have $28,000 a year left over, the average Canuck will have $35,000 and the average Yank will be left with $44,000.

It's tres chic to get your hate on for Exxon, but if their entire $10.7 billion profit were turned back into lowering the cost of American fuel, it would bring it down by less than 4 cents a gallon. You spend damn close to a trillion dollars a year on oil.

Hate Exxon all you want, but don't try to throw up smokescreens based on their profit numbers and the poverty of Americans. It's an innumerate and self-centered argument.