Up, up, and away!
go gas prices... and Biden's blame from himself
If you remember from my previous newsletter, the current Russia-Ukraine war is really a strategic political move. Russia currently supplies 45% of the EU’s natural gas. So Biden is trying to increase the market share of Western multinational natural gas companies, and in order to do this, he needs a valid excuse to call for a ban on Russian imports. And by helping to provoke this war through pushing NATO troops closer to the Russian border, Biden got exactly that: the White House announced on March 8 that the U.S. is banning imports of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal on the grounds of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
[But] we are united with our Allies and partners in working together to reduce our collective dependence on Russian energy and keep the pressure mounting on Putin, while at the same taking active steps to limit impacts on global energy markets and protect our own economies.
What the White House conveniently fails to declare is that by “reducing our collective dependence on Russian energy” another source will have to take its place. Who will? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the huge U.S. fossil fuel corporations that lobbied for Biden’s current actions in the first place. As People’s World explains:
The fossil fuel contingent of the ruling class in the West will likely emerge as the biggest winner in the Ukraine war. The invasion has solidified the determination of the European political establishment to speed up the long and difficult process of cutting ties with Russian energy producers, and the U.S. government is playing its time-honored role of chief advocate for the capitalist class on the world stage.
And when these U.S. fossil fuel monopolies win, the working class around the world loses. Obviously, the people of Ukraine have already lost their homes, peace, safety, and for a growing number, their lives. This may seem shocking, but it’s simply the nature of capitalism: a socioeconomic system built on and fueled by the exploitation of the masses.
It also explains why gas prices in the U.S. are soaring, which Biden keeps deflecting responsibility for. Yes, the pandemic contributes to inflation, but so does outright price gouging and the war he has helped spark. But of course, with an already low approval rating and midterm elections coming up, Biden doesn’t want you to think that. So he’s pinning the blame on Putin, quite directly, or as direct as a Zoom meeting with 30 teen TikTok stars can be. While that may sound like an SNL sketch—well, it did become one—it actually happened on March 10. Biden succeeded in converting the social media platform into yet another propaganda outlet as you can see in Ellie Zeiler’s video below, which has already racked up 761K views and 87.1K likes.
According to FOX Business—yes, I know, obviously very biased and untrustworthy, but they are the only ones who highlighted direct quotes from the call that expose the blatant narrative the White House is trying to construct, so forgive me just this once—Rob Flaherty, White House Director of Digital Strategy, and Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, were both in attendance and fielded questions from the TikTokers during the hour long call.
Zeiler had asked the officials specifically about inflation and what it means for the future of the country and for young people. Psaki fielded the question, attributing the inflation to several factors – supply chain issues, the pandemic and the rising cost of energy, which she initially conceded had begun its climb before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. But when it came to gas prices, she singled out Putin specifically.
"It’s his actions, President Putin, that is prompting the rising gas prices," Psaki said in part of her lengthy response. "That is what is happening."
Clearly, they had an agenda with this meeting, and are taking advantage of the pro-activism attitude most of Gen Z has. (Gen Z for Change, an activist-influencer group, was literally in attendance.)