So, why has the price of gasoline plummeted at the pumps? In a word, according to an article I just read on the Huffington Post site: Geopolitics.

In truth, I had suspected that was the reason before I googled the question “Why are gas prices so low?”

But there is another word not mentioned in the article that I think may be the main reason why gas prices are down: ISIS.

The terrorist organization has been largely funding its campaign through the sale of oil, and word is they are hurting for cash right now. One article pointed to the kidnapping of two Japanese men and subsequent ransom demands by ISIS as well as the release of 200 of their elderly and sick captives as proof that low oil prices are choking the group. ISIS has also seen some of its oil-producing facilities go up in smoke thanks to the West’s bombing raids.

Which, of course, is what the West, in co-operation with Saudi Arabia, is trying to do: choke ISIS to death in every way possible.

Still, while many drivers may be cheering low gas prices, we would probably have mixed feelings about it if we were told we have ISIS to thank, in part, for them — which is why, I suspect, analysts aren’t mentioning the ISIS factor when they talk about geopolitics and oil prices.

Meanwhile, most drivers are getting a break right now, but people dependent on the oil industry around the world are feeling negative effects. Profits are down, jobs are being lost, energy-producing nations are seeing less tax revenue . . . But, the majority of drivers are a little better off today thanks to lower gasoline prices.

Which all says something about the fine line between fortune and misfortune, and good and evil, yes?

Personally, I would rather pay more for gasoline in a world without ISIS, and that day will come, no doubt about it.

— Jillian