As a teenager, I remember people sitting in long lines waiting to fill their tanks with gas all so that they could get to work the next day. The reason for this is because gas stations would literally run out of gas during the gas shortage.
The year was 1973, and America was experiencing the worst energy crisis in history. The country was in turmoil. The president was telling us that the world's fossil fuel supply was nearly depleted and it was just a matter of time before the entire world runs out of oil. This crisis brought us gas thieves, siphoning tubes, and gas caps with locks. It was not unusual to hear of people siphoning gas from each other's cars in the middle of the night.
Perhaps the most significant thing that the oil crisis brought us was fear. Fear that we would no longer be a world super power. Fear that America would somehow lose its position of privilege in the world. And fear that we would no longer be able to enjoy the American Dream of abundant prosperity.
So, when we Americans heard that the Arabs had oil, we gratefully signed up with the military to go and get it. Fast forward to nearly 50 years later and we now wonder: What ever happened to the oil crisis? It was supposed to mean the end of oil.
Today, in 2016, most younger Americans rarely know of such a crisis. While most of them understand the importance of oil; somehow, the fear of running out of fuel seems to be long since past.
Did we really go through an energy crisis? Or was it all part of some elaborate scheme to raise the price of oil and lead us to unending war with the Middle East?
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