So, prior to the great economic collapse in 2008, the United States endured a summer of extreme prices for fuel based on the speculation of oil futures. The price crept up and up and up and before you knew it, groceries and goods cost more as well. Businesses that relied on travel (such as tourism) were taking a hit too. Then suddenly all around us, the house of cards hit the floor.

Now, you can make a case that people taking on housing loans that they couldn’t afford created the economic downfall of 2008, which in turn exposed the weakness of a banking culture playing hot-potato with sub-prime mortgages. But isn’t it possible that some of those people could afford these loans until incidental expenses started to skyrocket on the back of record profits for the oil industry?

By the way, we pointlessly subsidize that oil industry. Which is to say, we give them free money. As in: for nothing. But worry not, as some Americans receive large sums of that money back in the form of political donations to Republican congressmen.

Now that our economy is starting to recover, how long do you suppose this returning vigor will last as the oil industry has once again begun to suck from the vein of the middle class? Do you really think the unrest in the Middle East is truly responsible for the gas prices you’re paying?