Silver Lining In High Gas Prices? Think More Local Shopping

By Rocky Boschert

It seems there is a silver lining in everything. In fact, there is a silver lining in the economic pain that high gasoline prices are causing with low and middle income consumers. What can be the silver lining in that, you ask? The answer is simple: It makes some of us think more responsibly about our consumption habits – both how we consume and where we consume.

Living in Wimberley, most of us “penny-wise, pound foolish” shoppers are used to going to Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and Office Depot in San Marcos to save a few bucks. Except now we are confronted with the specter of paying a minimum $10.00 for gasoline to do the shopping round trip. Also, we are now confronted with the type of automobile we drive. So unless you are in a business that necessitates owning one of the gas guzzlers, you don’t look too smart right now if you own a Ford Expedition or a Hummer (the new name for those vehicles is the Ford “Valdez” and the “Huffer”).

As a result, what I think is most good about high gasoline prices is that local proprietors may now get some of the business income we normally would have given to another town or state. All of a sudden the third-world, manufacturing outsourcing enabled low prices offered by Wal-Mart and the other big box retailers don’t look so good when you have to pay $10.00 or more just to get there and back. This is a good thing, although it would have been nice if smart consumer thinking was just an integral sound American economic value rather than something created by the pain of $4.00 gasoline.

My wife and I have always tried to shop locally as much as possible. Where we falter is in large purchases for our school or my business, where either the products are not available in Wimberley or the economy of scale is simply too big to ignore. We have tried to instill the “buy local” value in our 17-year-old son, who now takes it to a more responsible level by refusing to buy any clothing made in emerging economy sweatshops. In my opinion, he is a truer American Patriot that most of us because he makes his economic and consumer decisions based on what is good for our country as a whole, not just his pocketbook (or his parent’s pocketbook, in fact).

Ironically, and sadly, we have been down this energy crisis road before (back in the 1970’s). And what did we do about it? We made a token attempt to develop alternative energy but then pulled the plug on that effort when we got friendly again with Middle East dictators and supported corrupt banana republics in South America. Other than the Bush family-Saudi Arabia connection and Egypt, we don’t have that anymore. Instead, we are saddled with the painful and costly oil grab known as the Iraq invasion and occupation. Now, 4,200 American lives later and countless dead Iraqis, we still have $4.00 a gallon gasoline. Europe pays $8.00 for their equivalent of a gallon of gasoline. I wonder how much higher their petrol costs would be if they controlled the Iraqi oil fields? Yes, the surge must be working, as John McCain says.

Bringing it back home, you can conserve gasoline by getting the best lunch deal right here in Wimberley: The under $6.00 “organic” chicken salad sandwich with green salad at the new “Fresh”, across from Maui Wowi. Or you can shop at Ace Hardware or King Feed instead of Lowe’s. Or you can get your printing done at Cecil’s instead of Kinko’s. Or you can do your grocery shopping at Brookshire Brothers instead of HEB. Well, maybe we shouldn’t get carried away.

Ultimately, if the hallmark of American capitalism is the small businessperson, then $4.00 a gallon gasoline is a good reason to get back to the original reason American capitalism was so successful. No sweatshop outsourcing, no corporate lobbyists buying politicians, no crony government bailouts, no credit card company harassment, no Pentagon propaganda, no insensitive HMOs, hospitals and medical providers, and no war profiteering. We can use the pain of high gasoline prices as a good time to get back to good old local American currency bartering for goods and services that directly supports the communities in which we live.

Rocky Boschert has resided in Wimberley since 1993. He currently serves as board president of the Katherine Anne Porter School (KAPS) in Wimberley. Mr. Boschert owns and manages Arrowhead Asset Management.