Any Cali Members have any input on this?

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by TPA5

That's crazy. Disgusting, even. I'm sure the CEO's of big oil are still cruising in private jets and their precious sports cars.

Given that they pretty much have us over a barrel literally and figuratively, oil companies should be able to charge enough for gas to have huge profit margins...gouging us. The net profit margin for Exxon Mobil for Fiscal Year 2011 was 8.68 percent. Apple Inc.'s net profit margin for the same period was 23.95 percent. Shouldn't people be nearly 3 times as pissed off at Apple as they are at Exxon Mobil? Why doesn't Apple lower it's prices to 'get with the program' and not be so 'greedy'? Why doesn't Apple have 3 times the 'static and noise' from protestors that Exxon Mobil does? (and an argument could be made that Foxconn's treatment of workers is as bad as Exxon Mobil's environmental slip ups). Why aren't people many more times as pissed off about Apple CEO Tim Cook's compensation as they are about Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson's much smaller compensation? A reporter stopped an Occupy Wall Street poster (who was typing on a MacBook Pro) and asked her why she was using a Macbook Pro given her stance. She didn't have a cogent answer. IMO, one of the answers to these questions is that many people think Apple is cool and Exxon Mobil is not. Also, people don't like to pay what they feel is a high price for something that they need that evaporates. One could make the argument that Apple products are somewhat like cigarettes or alcohol. Not a physical addiction like the other two, but some people seem to be nearly as obsessed. People don't need them, but some people seem to be nearly addicted to Apple products. Apple realizes this and can charge what they charge. People keep 'paying the fare'. Also, many people have oil company stock in personal accounts and retirement accounts. I just think the harping on oil company executives gets a little tiresome sometimes. FWIW, the only connection I have to any oil company is a very small fractional share of an oil lease that my grandfather inherited from a friend of his and I gross about 40 dollars per month in income from this fractional lease....and this is through a small company, not a big oil company. I just have the opinion I have. It isn't influenced by 40 dollars per month.