Paolo Martini
Milan, Italy
So I can feel the squirming discomfort from all the way over here in the Mediterranean: none of the convenient enemies (the commies, Colombian narcos, the Arabs) are available to take the fall for this one. It comes straight from the heart of the capitalist system, big oil. There's no conspiracy, no subtext except oops, we goofed! And there's no solution in sight except to hope it stops gushing on its own. At least it provides a graphic illustration of what happens when corporations are allowed to pursue profit without regulatory bodies protecting the public interest, though I doubt the Tea Partiers will change their tune. Small government means government by multinational corporations and groups like Goldman Sachs.
I feel terrible for the people of the Gulf Coast, who face a disgusting decade (at least) and perhaps the end of a way of life (bye-bye fishing, shrimping and oysters for the foreseeable future). And let's hope the rest of the Caribbean doesn't follow suit. Obama can't be blamed for this, any more than the Arabs or the commies. Twenty years after glasnost, the West is proving that it needed the Soviets to strike a balance. The unfettered global financial system and multinationals are wreaking more havoc than the Bolshies ever did.
20.6.10
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1 comment:
Do you remember when former University of Colorado at Boulder professor Ward Churchill drew wide condemnation for calling the 9/11 attacks chickens come home to roost? Well, the connection between American foreign policy of decades past and the tragic events of 9/11, aside, I think it more appropriate this time around to look in the mirror. The gulf oil spill is a human failing that has nothing to do with fanaticism and everything to do with a simple surrendering of common sense and duty to convenience and greed. Yes, BP is a large corporation that wields tremendous political influence; yes, the groundwork for this catastrophe was laid largely in the rarefied backrooms of government and boardrooms of business. But we are the ones who voted these clowns into office. We are the market demand for deep sea drilling. The true way out of this mess is not merely the deus ex machina of governmental regulation or some fantastic new technology in the hands of the private sector. What we need at this juncture is a genuine accounting of society. We as Americans need to take stock of who we are and what we value. It is not enough to rail against big government or big business. "They" are not the problem, because there is no "they." There is only "us." The sooner we recognize that, the sooner we'll heal this nation.
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