Los Angeles Valley College Theories & Ideas Mobile Phone Essay

A major idea conflict theorists use to measure and understand society, is the means of production, and what relationship a group has to the means of production.

Marx tells us the capitalist class is the ruling class, so let’s find out just who owns some of the things we consume most.

This week identify a commodity you consume regularly and why you use it. Then, look up the top companies that produce it, list their worth and let’s see if we can start to map our material world.

DO NOT USE COFFEE as your commodity as your first assignment will be centered on coffee.

I’ll start:

1. Gas (I commute to work). I have to use gas as I live in a society with poor public transportation. I live about 30 miles form campus, so I drive weekly.

Only one of the top producers is an American company.

The top 5 companies that produce gas are as follows:

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/A-Closer-Look-At-The-Worlds-5-Biggest-Oil-Companies.html (Links to an external site.)

Saudi Aramco

Founded: 1933
Headquarters: Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Type: National Oil Company
CEO: Khalid A. Al- Falih
Revenue (2014): $378 Billion

Royal Dutch Shell

Founded: 1907
Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands
Type: Private
CEO: Ben Van Beurden
Revenue (2014): $419.4 billion (Links to an external site.) (-6.79% change from last year)
Profit (2014): $14.8 billion (Links to an external site.)

Exxon Mobil

Founded: 1999
Headquarters: Texas United States
Type: Integrated Oil Company
CEO: Rex W. Tillerson
Revenue (2014): $364.8 billion (Links to an external site.) (-7.35% change from last year)
Profit (2014): $32.5 billion (Links to an external site.)

Petrochina

Founded: 1988
Headquarters: Dongcheng District Beijing China
Type: State Owned Integrated Oil and gas Company
Chairman: Zhou Jiping
Revenue (2014): $367.94 billion (Links to an external site.) (-8.2% change from last quarter)
Net Income (2014): $17.27 billion (Links to an external site.)

BP

Founded: 1909
Headquarters: London, UK.
Type: Private Integrated Oil and gas Company
CEO: Bob Dudley
Revenue (2014): $353.57 billion (Links to an external site.) (-21% change from last quarter)
Net Income (2014): $3.78 billion