The people of the United States are rightly up in arms about the ecological disaster that is unfolding off the coast of Louisiana. As important as the lessons to be learned about off-shore drilling are and as important as the debate about whether to allow off-shore drilling is, they really are secondary to the more important issue: the dramatic institutionalization of financial greed into the American character.
Although British Petroleum is technically a British corporation, businesses around the world long ago integrated the American business model into their operations, thus it is still an example of the corruption of the modern capitalist model. It is clear from the evidence that has been shared to date that BP and its partners on the Deepwater Horizon rig put profits ahead of the safety and well-being of their employees and the American people. This has become the standard and expected practice of American business as the nation has come to worship the almighty dollar above all else.
Do not misread my criticism as condemnation of capitalism, it is the best economic model ever conceived. However, capitalism in its original and pure form never placed profits above morality, safety and community. The capitalism practiced by far too many American businesses today is a prostituted version that views profits as the ONLY concern, especially among the large national and multi-national corporations. It is not limited to off-shore oil drillers. Mining companies ignore the hundreds of safety violations in their mines, ultimately resulting in the deaths of dozens of miners. Trucking companies regularly and knowingly run trucks above legal weight limits, playing Russian roulette with the lives of ordinary people who share the highways with trucks that are exponentially more dangerous as they move farther overweight. Even companies that once were known for their commitment to consumer safety have changed their ways and put profit ahead of everything else. Compare the response of Johnson & Johnson to the Tylenol contamination in 1982 to their response to similar problems in 2010 to see how the morality of business has changed in the last generation.
Where is the outrage among the American people? Is this the kind of economic system we want to be known for? Are we really willing to exchange greater short term profits for decreased consumer safety and greater worker mortality? Where is the leadership in this nation that is charged with representing and protecting the interests of the people (oh, yeah, their beholden to the contributions of the business interests!). And where is the American church that seems so concerned about the morality in my home, yet seems so unconcerned about the morality that actually affects peoples lives?
If there is outrage to be reflected in the Deepwater Horizon crisis, it should be directed at businesses who sell out the well-being of the American people for a few more dollars. Only a dramatic change in perspective and business practice will ever prevent future industrial disasters.
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I join you in your outrage, Jeff, but I don't know what to do with my anger. Greed has knit itself so firmly into the value system of our society that attempting to reverse it feels like an immense load. And so we hang out here in apathy-land...
ReplyDeletePerhaps my perspective might shed some perspective on why more American's aren't outraged. On one hand, I'm well aware of the absolute greed practiced by some (not all) large corporations. BP invested heavily in PR, marketing, finding new oil, and even on corporate lobbying, yet, in all this spending BP's leaders decided drilled a contingency well was not "cost effective"? The very same contingency well now being drilled to stop the leak is legally mandated when drilling off shore in Canada. The US Department of the Interior and Congress have allowed BP and other big oil multinationals to drill without contingency wells in the Gulf. If these people were representing our interests they would not be taking huge campaign contributions from big oil. In this regard this was a failure of policy and of the greed of our politicians (both D and R).
ReplyDeleteSo, as I see it, massive corporations lobbying Congress for less oversight are partially to blame, but, on the other hand, there is the thoughtless greed of the American consumer funding huge oligopolistic corporations. Each and every day we buy our gas while the oil market exhibits near price in-elasticity. As consumers we get a less than efficient market operating as a monopoly. When we buy gas are we really making a conscious, informed, market-driven choice or are we just feeding an addiction that we were sold on years ago?
All of this brings us to the question of solving our addiction to oil. Who's going to stop it? The politicians aren't. The population isn't. We're likely going to drown ourselves in the rising cost of fuel or have the plug pulled by some sort of international logistics disturbance. If the middle east supply of oil was disrupted there would be about 3 weeks of oil for the US before we would run out.
Some are advocating a permanent ban on offshore drilling. Banning offshore drilling means we import crude from Middle Eastern states. The last thing we need is to continue our reliance on foreign oil with our balance of trade in its current condition. This is where big oil, and the lack of real choice is suffocating the US consumer. We buy BP oil that comes from Saudi Arabia or from off our shores. Both choices have severe consequences for our country.
I agree with all that has been said. As consumers we have to take responsibility for what we demand. However, we our energy choices are limited right now. Hopefully, that will change. I am outraged that the oil companies put people's lives in jeopardy to save money. They show an appalling lack of responsibiliy. And, our government was neglegent in their oversight. How can we trust either one? Why can't individuals (us), and individuals within companies and government just do the right thing??? Our responsibility lies in doing the right thing with the choices we have.
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