Mired
...
For years in America, we have been hearing "We need less government in our lives. Let business set its own rules, since the market knows best."
I'm going to be blunt about my feelings.
What "the market" knows best how to make money for itself, and how to screw anyone or anything that gets in the way of their profits.
They knew how to dangle so much money in front of politicians that those politicians wrote laws that left the metaphorical foxes guarding the hen-houses. Rules about workplace safety were weakened. Rules about environmental protection were weakened. Anything that might cut into profit was gotten rid of.
And while this was going on, Americans sat back like a bunch of fools and pussies and let it happen.
We need our government to grow a spine, and to actually slap big big business in the face.
We Americans need to grow a spine. We've got only one world, which is being crapped up by rich bastards who don't give a damn about anything but their own profit. It's being crapped up by own own laziness and wastefulness.
And no amount of wishing and praying is going to solve this problem. We have to get off of our fat lazy asses and do something.
What are you doing to make this world a better place?
For years in America, we have been hearing "We need less government in our lives. Let business set its own rules, since the market knows best."
I'm going to be blunt about my feelings.
Fuck That.
What "the market" knows best how to make money for itself, and how to screw anyone or anything that gets in the way of their profits.
They knew how to dangle so much money in front of politicians that those politicians wrote laws that left the metaphorical foxes guarding the hen-houses. Rules about workplace safety were weakened. Rules about environmental protection were weakened. Anything that might cut into profit was gotten rid of.
And while this was going on, Americans sat back like a bunch of fools and pussies and let it happen.
We need our government to grow a spine, and to actually slap big big business in the face.
We Americans need to grow a spine. We've got only one world, which is being crapped up by rich bastards who don't give a damn about anything but their own profit. It's being crapped up by own own laziness and wastefulness.
And no amount of wishing and praying is going to solve this problem. We have to get off of our fat lazy asses and do something.
What are you doing to make this world a better place?
Comments
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/30/impact.oil.spill/index.html
Otherwise, please, please, please give some thought to how you can reduce the amount of energy (and petroleum products) you use.
Hang your clothes on the laundry line. Drive less. Don't have a television running in every single room in the house. Turn off the lights.
Lisa... I am putting out an APB for our family...we are driving down to see my dad in Jacksonville Florida next weekend...6/10 for a few days and my daughter wants to stop along the way and help somewhere. I am so proud of her. :) I was thinking along that lines too but now that SHE initiated it, I am going to see that it happens. We want to help somewhere... cleaning animals whatever... I will check out the link you posted here and if you know of anymore please let me know.
Thanks,
Joyce~*
Sarcasmo A/Q, Diana Hixson, TN
I decided to do what I do (PhD in Environmental Policy) because I couldn't agree more.
With regard to the assignment of blame, the recent Grist infographic is pretty good, I think, although the American people get off pretty easily.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-06-03-whos-to-blame-for-the-gulf-oil-gusher-we-break-it-down/
I have been saying for years now- those who scream about wanting smaller government (yes, you, republican states) are the ones who scream loudest when something goes wrong and want the government to step in and magicallly and instantly "fix things". And those who scream about not wanting to pay taxes (republican states and tea party imbicles) dont seem to understand that if you DONT PAY YOUR TAXES, the government has no money to help you with your problems when they happen. You cant have your cake and eat it, too.
My family knows quite well what it is like to not have the great privlidge of living in a democratic country, and here in the USA we vote in every election, call up our elected officials when pissed off, serve in the US military and PAY ALL OUR TAXES. We also put solar and wind on our properties when we can afford it. Big oil has never been looking out for anyone but themselves- NOT planet earth, and not you.
Whatever happened to the $4 a gallon gas when BUSH was in office? Oh, we were running out, were we? Funny how the cost drops when there is a real government funded effort to push for solar and wind development across the country!
Annalisa
But I have to disagree with equal accountability. We're all guilty of consuming petroleum and petroleum products. But I'm old enough to remember some of the ideas Jimmy Carter set forth about a green economy -- policies and notions that were promptly overturned by Reagan, as quickly as he ditched the solar panels on the White House.
We have not been given genuinely viable alternatives to an oil-based economy. I walk, bike, and live as green a lifestyle as I can in my urban context and no matter how much I cut back, my actions in this regard do nothing to stop the avarice and negligence that led to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and disaster.
Oil companies have colluded against us for decades, ripping up rail tracks, fixing prices, killing electric cars and alternative energy. I think the Grist pie chart is a fairly accurate representation, although I'd lay a lot more blame in Cheney/Bush and their secret undermining of already inadequate checks and controls.
-Diana
Dbare
If we were all to drive 10% less, the impact would be huge. If we had carless days each week (as in Meatless Monday) the impact would be huge. If we committed to walking or biking on journeys less than a mile the impact would be huge.
The trick is persuading large numbers of people to do these things. If each reader reduces driving and then persuades friends and family to do so, a chain reaction could get going.