Class and Gas Companies

Description

A gas pump found in Regina.

Sociological Interpretation

Gas companies have commonly been said to be sneaky, cunning, and cutthroat. For an example of this, one only has to look to the Enron debacle to see that this statement is at least somewhat true. Class paradigms; specifically elite and conflict theory, explain this phenomenon fully. Gas companies and the people that run them use their considerable economic and political power to further their own position, to the detriment of the consumer.

Because of North America’s dependence on oil and gas, gas companies can easily set the price at whatever will sell. This ensures that money flows out of the consumer’s pocket, and into the company’s. In exercising this economic power however, the companies create conflict with the consumers, who are understandably angry about the high prices. In dominating the economically less favored using their substantial monetary means, gas companies keep themselves in a favorable position, to the detriment of the groups below them. Conflict theory states that ruling classes “have attempted to impose their views and ideals about the world on the entire society” (Knutilla, pg343). From this statement, it is clear that from a conflict perspective, gas companies are definitely a ‘ruling force’.

In addition to the companies’ economic means, the link to political power also comes into play. Through aggressive lobbying, as well as backing high-ranking politicians, gas companies have achieved a high degree of political power. One of the basic principles of elite theory is that the ruling class uses primarily political power in order to control the less dominant classes. This can be easily seen in the case of gas companies, as constant political dealings exploit the North American public, who most likely don’t have much of an idea some of these deals are even occurring. For an example, in the US, one politician running for congress was offered upwards of $200,000 to allow oil companies to drill. He turned them down, and made the deal public (source:http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2010/03/green-party-congressional-candidate-tells-gas-company-go-frack-yourself/) However, how many of these ‘deals’ are still going on, and how many politicians accept them? According to elite theory, a great majority of politicians would, as the top group of ‘elites’ are said to create policies that benefit themselves, even to the detriment of the lower classes.

Looking from the sociological lenses of both conflict and elite theory, gas companies are seen to use both their substantial economic power as well as their political clout to influence the market and policies, in order to enhance/keep their position in society.