67
been experienced in the past. The oil shortages resulted in the U.S. government
considering the possibility of re-introducing gasoline rationing. Small test batches
of official gasoline ration coupons were even printed up by the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing (better known for paper money) but were never issued. These are now
considered rare and prized collector’s items. The gasoline shortages experienced
during the 1973–1974 energy crisis did result in major changes to U.S. domestic
and foreign policy, but none of those changes were what OPEC had intended to
achieve with the oil embargo.
Although the oil embargo had been imposed for clearly political reasons, official
U.S. government support for Israel never wavered. Instead, American citizens saw
the withholding of oil exports as a terrorist act by rogue Middle Eastern countries,
and many people felt that the United States was being “held hostage” by foreign oil.
The embargo had in fact backfired on OPEC because rather than forcing the U.S. to
change Middle Eastern policy, the prevailing view in the United States at the time
was that the energy crisis was a technology issue that could be solved with more
technology. America was still on a high tech high from the recent success of the
Apollo moon missions, and a common saying was “If we can land a man on the
moon, we ought to be able to figure out how to fuel our cars.” Some of this sentiment is still with us today.
One reason the oil embargo had such a significant impact on the lives of everyday Americans was due to the demographic changes that had occurred after the
Second World War. In the latter half of the twentieth century, many people in the
U.S. moved out of the inner cities and into post-war suburban housing. A large
group of customers for the “American dream” of single-family home ownership
were WWII military veterans who had postponed plans to get married and start
families until after the war. This pent-up demand was being met with new housing
stock that had been hastily constructed in previously rural areas adjacent to city
limits and featured relatively inexpensive, cookie-cutter designs. Many veterans
were able to purchase new houses under the Veterans Administration (VA) home
mortgage loan program authorized in 1944 as part of the GI Bill (and still active to
this day). The VA loans greatly expanded home ownership in the U.S. (https://www.
va.gov/about_va/vahistory.asp accessed 9/10/19).
Beyond the availability of new housing stock, reasons for the migration from
cities to the suburbs were multiple and complex. One was the so-called “white
flight” from the northern cities to the suburbs. Large numbers of African-Americans
had arrived in these cities during the 1940s to take wartime manufacturing jobs, and
stayed on. Many of these people had earned enough money from factory work to
become first-time homeowners, and demand soared. In order to provide a supply of
housing stock, some real estate agents practiced “blockbusting,” which is now illegal. Unscrupulous agents would play to the racist fears of many urban whites, urging them to sell out and move to the suburbs or risk declines in property values once
“the blacks” moved in, along with an increase in crime. Sometimes every home in
an entire city block would go up for sale at the same time, hence the name. The real
estate agents themselves weren’t necessarily racist. They received their commissions no matter who bought the house.
4.2 We’re Out of Gas
been experienced in the past. The oil shortages resulted in the U.S. government
considering the possibility of re-introducing gasoline rationing. Small test batches
of official gasoline ration coupons were even printed up by the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing (better known for paper money) but were never issued. These are now
considered rare and prized collector’s items. The gasoline shortages experienced
during the 1973–1974 energy crisis did result in major changes to U.S. domestic
and foreign policy, but none of those changes were what OPEC had intended to
achieve with the oil embargo.
Although the oil embargo had been imposed for clearly political reasons, official
U.S. government support for Israel never wavered. Instead, American citizens saw
the withholding of oil exports as a terrorist act by rogue Middle Eastern countries,
and many people felt that the United States was being “held hostage” by foreign oil.
The embargo had in fact backfired on OPEC because rather than forcing the U.S. to
change Middle Eastern policy, the prevailing view in the United States at the time
was that the energy crisis was a technology issue that could be solved with more
technology. America was still on a high tech high from the recent success of the
Apollo moon missions, and a common saying was “If we can land a man on the
moon, we ought to be able to figure out how to fuel our cars.” Some of this sentiment is still with us today.
One reason the oil embargo had such a significant impact on the lives of everyday Americans was due to the demographic changes that had occurred after the
Second World War. In the latter half of the twentieth century, many people in the
U.S. moved out of the inner cities and into post-war suburban housing. A large
group of customers for the “American dream” of single-family home ownership
were WWII military veterans who had postponed plans to get married and start
families until after the war. This pent-up demand was being met with new housing
stock that had been hastily constructed in previously rural areas adjacent to city
limits and featured relatively inexpensive, cookie-cutter designs. Many veterans
were able to purchase new houses under the Veterans Administration (VA) home
mortgage loan program authorized in 1944 as part of the GI Bill (and still active to
this day). The VA loans greatly expanded home ownership in the U.S. (https://www.
va.gov/about_va/vahistory.asp accessed 9/10/19).
Beyond the availability of new housing stock, reasons for the migration from
cities to the suburbs were multiple and complex. One was the so-called “white
flight” from the northern cities to the suburbs. Large numbers of African-Americans
had arrived in these cities during the 1940s to take wartime manufacturing jobs, and
stayed on. Many of these people had earned enough money from factory work to
become first-time homeowners, and demand soared. In order to provide a supply of
housing stock, some real estate agents practiced “blockbusting,” which is now illegal. Unscrupulous agents would play to the racist fears of many urban whites, urging them to sell out and move to the suburbs or risk declines in property values once
“the blacks” moved in, along with an increase in crime. Sometimes every home in
an entire city block would go up for sale at the same time, hence the name. The real
estate agents themselves weren’t necessarily racist. They received their commissions no matter who bought the house.
4.2 We’re Out of Gas