Should we nationalize the US oil companies?

';Nationalizing the oil business would be socialism,'; but aren't we already drinking socialized water?





Aren't we policed by socialized cops?





Isn't socialized natural gas heating your home?





Isn't socialized electricity powering your home?





Isn't socialized mail what delivers letters from Grandma?


The list is endless.





(thank you bartcop)Should we nationalize the US oil companies?
YES we should absolutely nationalize the oil industry, and transportation, and medicine.





Cut out the profit factor. Socialize the needs, privatize the wants.





Edit: I figured this idea wouldn't go over too well on the right wing infested YA, but if it were to happen I bet all they would all benefit from it.Should we nationalize the US oil companies?
Never in a million years!





Policing and upholding the law is the principle job of the government.





Natural gas companies are NOT government run!





Electrical companies are NOT government run!





I remember hearing that the USPS is not run by the government and thus privately owned.





We are not even close to being considered a socialist nation. Socialism is the collective and state ownership of production (the economy) and the redistribution of wealth.
Natural gas and electricity are not socialized. They are delivered by regulated utility companies, most of which are for profit corporations.





Police forces are the means by which civilized society exersizes its monopoly on using force to compel compliance with laws.





Mail is delivered (in the US) by the USPS, which has long ago been privatized.





If you intend to nationalize oil companies, remember the Takings C lause of the US Constitution. You would have to pay the current owners (shareholders) thereof at the market rate. Good luck with that.
No, but it wouldn't hurt to have a national oil company.....





You can have capitalism and nationalized companies compete....its just the free-market companies are ardently against it because their goals are profit where a nationalized co's goals would be affordability and solvency.





I don't think we need to nationalize the oil industry anymore than we need to nationalize the healthcare industry. We just need to increase the regulation to ensure that no funny business is going on, and that includes FUNDING the reguators.
No


No


No


No


No





Socialism is evil. We have laws against monopolies, why would you want to make a government monopoly? The police is a function of government (law enforcement). They are employees just like our legislative representatives. And everything else you listed there is competition for in the private sector.


Social Security is a good example of socialism because it is mandatory participation and is not a function of government.





The answer is free markets, just like you have the choice of Wal-mart or Target. Get the government out of the oil business. Government is not the answer, it is the problem.
When we want the results we don't use the socialized label.


In fact, until the arguments for universal healthcare I only recall people labeling others communists when they didn't like a solution to a problem.


This is one of those times when in order to get the results they all say they are looking for...low gas prices, our oil for our country, we should drill more oil, we should be energy independent...all good aims, we would have to nationalize or at the very least, create the capacity to join as a country with the oil companies to get what we want.


As it is now, we, as a country only sells leases, we do not drill drop, we do not even have the equipment to drill, nor do we own the oil that comes out of our land. It belongs to the oil company, they are under no burden to sell it to us cheaper than they can get it on the world market.


So, while out one side of our mouth we are screeching about giving up more of our federally owned lands to the oil companies, we have no way of getting oil any cheaper. Supply and demand will have gone up by then, or they wouldn't pump as much from another source. Whatever they do, they would look to maximize profits.


You can't have it both ways, either you want some form of nationalization and its lower state controlled pricing, or you want free market, and all that will mean is higher prices.


The government runs things at least as well a public owned businesses. Like the airlines for instance, or the banks, or the hedge funds or Enron, or....well I could go on but you get the idea.


When the government ran the postal service Grandma got mail delivered twice a day, and her social security check is still in the email box with great regularity.
not nationalize, but split them up like they did Standard Oil in the early 1900's.





we are down to 3 major american oil conpanies. they have merged and acquisitioned for years. they have a near monopoly.





not too many years ago we had about 15 oil companies. competition is needed in this situation.





for those who didnt know, BP, Shell and Citgo are foreign companies.
In the 2005 United Nations World Drug Report, the value of the global illicit drug market for the year 2003 was estimated at US$13 billion at the production level, at US$94 billion at the wholesale level, and US$322鈥?400[5] billion based on retail prices and taking seizures and other losses into account.





Let's Nationalize the drug trade first.
Yeah, so the government can regulate and ravage the profits and run everything into the ground.








You know how great a success Social Security has been, and Medicare, etc... and after all, those are nationalized programs. (I say this sarcastically.)
Yes. America needs control over it's energy, and it needs to do it for all Americans, not just a few elite who make incalculable profits as the price of gas goes through the roof.
gas, electricity and the post office are privately owned and the majority of security is provided by private companies. the government is lousy at business.
cops are a business? and the post office sucks, what are you trying to say? the government cant run anything right. not a single thing
Ah, you should probably move to a socialist country and get socialized medicine for your condition.
I don't believe we should nationalize them, no. I support nationalization of certain things, but not this one.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo............


we are not communist or socialist !we are liberal capitalism , please respect to our ideology
Lets nationalize sub-par liberal arts teachers.
that is an absolutely insane idea