War is never pretty; it’s a gut wrenching byproduct of differing ideologies and unbridled self-interest. The U.S. bombed Iran and now they’re retaliating like a cowardly bully by bombing their neighbors. Chances of an attack on our soil is extremely slim. Likelihood that they don’t sell us anymore of their oil supply for awhile and continue shell regional container ships is high.
The probability of oil prices rising ever higher has freaked out the markets this week as foreboding price escalations loom on an increasingly smoke-filled horizon. But before you hop into your Nissan Leaf and whirr to your solar-powered home smugly surmising that your eco-fortress is impenetrable to a conflict on the other side of the planet, remember that oil is a component in 70% of everything that’s produced.
Don’t let the silent Amazon delivery-truck-facade fool you; 100% of the stuff we buy at a retail store or get delivered to our Welcome Mat has journeyed here on a giant ship, an airplane, and/or a semi that relies on archaic fossil fuels to make its way into our consumption-giddy paws. And the Middle-East produces more oil than anywhere else in the world.
Adding insult to injury, this threat of an oil-induced inflation cycle has already driven interest rates 1/4% higher this week, just when they were coming down. So if you’re dreaming of buying a big-ticket something in the near future, you should buy it now. Especially if you want to buy a house. Used electric cars have been selling for a song and this skirmish may swiftly shift sentiment. But more importantly, you should definitely buy that house sooner than later—solar powered or not.
If you wanna buy toilet paper, you should totally wait a few hours so I can get to the store too. I was a day behind the last wave of everyone stocking up on everything essential and had to make do with single-ply for what felt like forever.
