“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.”
As is apparent from my recent blog posts, I have been thinking a lot about the oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico lately. Over the last week or so I've been so appalled with all that I've read that I couldn't find the heart to write a post about it. I do know, however, that even though there is decent media coverage of the disaster it is mostly local media and the vast majority of people are getting a watered down version of the crisis that is unfolding.
So, I'd like to begin by providing a few links to stories as well as to news sources where you can find information on the disaster.
Articles:
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Yes, Mr. President, It Was Your Katrina - Three Weeks Ago. Now it May Be Your Chernobyl By: Robert Redick http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/24-5
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Oil Oozing Up On Shore Despite Best Efforts Of BP, Coast Guard To Contain (PR) Fallout: http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/05/19/oil-oozing-up-on-shore-despite-best-efforts-of-bp-coast-guard-to-contain-pr-fallout/
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BP Witholds Oil Spill Facts--And Government Lets It: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/18/94415/bps-secrecy-keep-facts-on-gulf.html
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Norman engineer has own idea about how to stop Gulf oil leak http://www.newsok.com/norman-engineer-has-own-idea-about-how-to-stop-gulf-oil-leak/article/3462317?custom_click=pod_headline_national-finance-news
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CT inventor proposes solution to Gulf oil leak: http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news13241.html
Links:
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A livestream of the oil geyser: http://www.livestream.com/wkrg_oil_spill
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Coast Guard says "It's BP's Rules, Not Ours" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb4JWgUuSEE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Fgreenman3610%23p&feature=player_profilepage
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Radio out of New Orleans talking about the spill and what is REALLY going on down there: http://www.wwl.com/pages/1050632.php
One thing that really strikes me about this whole disaster is that it seems most people are assuming that BP is corrupt and the government is in on it. Citizens who identify themselves as right wing, left wing, or just trying to survive know that the current system (call it capitalism, call it Western Civilization, call it anything you want) takes care of corporations more than it takes care of individuals. This is a given. The author Derrick Jensen asks this very question at many of his talks "How many of you think the American government takes care of people over corporations?" (Approximate quote.) No one ever raises their hand.
So, we are living in a system that doesn't take care of people. This system is quickly filling the gulf with oil, but this isn’t the first time the oceans have been killed by oil. There have been the obvious oil spills, but there are also the indirect effects oil has on the oceans. The pollution, the plastic, the wars, the global warming. Fossil fuels have been killing the oceans for a long time.
Citizens of the United States know that corporations are killing their land and their livelihoods (and even the people themselves in many cases like the cleanup workers in Louisiana getting sick: http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/05/26/oil-spill-clean-up-workers-report-feeling-drugged-disoriented/ )
So what are we going to do? Are we just going to sit back and take the abuse and watch as the planet and we are slowly killed off by profit-hungry criminals? Or are we going to fight? Fight for the land, for our rights, for the rights of non humans? How much sludge will it take on the shore before we not only admit that corporations are taken care of better than individuals but rise up and fight against that fact?
BP can kill an entire coastline and get no punishment, yet an "eco terrorist" can be sent to prison for 20 years for setting an empty SUV on fire. This is insanity. It's time to rise up and fight. Sure, boycott BP, boycott all oil. Demand that no drilling is opened up that isn't already open and that a plan be put in place for shutting down all offshore drilling practices.
But most of all end the system that is destroying the planet.
"A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government" -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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