Aren't we all going a little more than a little crazy over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? It seems like nothing can stop the flow of the oil, as all efforts have either failed or have been able to recapture only a portion of the leaking goo. Meanwhile, sections of our coast have been fouled, ecosystems have been badly compromised or destroyed, and the our economy will take a hit of unknown magnitude as a result.
There has been no shortage of posturing; that's for sure. Everyone wants to know who's responsible for what, looking to make a few heads roll. But really it's our eyes that should be rolling, because there's no push for substantive change - just more of the same, only cosmetically different.
I just saw a "poll" online. One could vote on whether or not
President Obama is to blame for all this. Well, sure he is - for not overturning some of the policies crafted by Bush/Cheney that condoned the unsafe practices that allowed this disaster to happen.
(Here is an article by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about those practices that will raise a few eyebrows.)
But it's not so much a question of who is in the White House. It's more about who really runs the country (corporations) and what can be done to change it. The corporate world does not have the interests of the common people at heart. Period. If we want things to change, we have to wake up and change them ourselves. But voting out the incumbents is an overly simplistic approach. The system has to be changed, not only the people who have been seduced by it.
Alternative energy is one key. Getting informed is another, but listening to talking heads of whatever stripe does not help us to get informed. All it does is soothe us via voices that tell us what we want to hear so that we can continue to sleep.
This is the latest opportunity to wake up and make necessary changes. Not only to the government and to corporations, but to ourselves. We need to get off our ample behinds, turn off the corporate media, and take some positive steps. Eat better, get informed, think for ourselves, connect with each other in meaningful ways, and stand up for what will benefit all of us - not just the guys in the suits whose short-sighted strategies care only for the bottom line.
While I mean every word I've just written, I'm going to get off the soap box for now. I'm getting a nose bleed. But I will leave you with this link. It was prescient (1976), to say the least.
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