Price Gouging At The Pump
The price gouging at the pump is outrageous, especially considering that Mobil/Exxon and other oil companies made zillions in profits last year. Nobody can tell me that they couldn't put a freeze on price increases to ease the pain for so many. This is what happens when global market capitalism takes over the world. You can wave all the flags you want, but the fact remains that this nation is no longer sovereign. Since the US is ground zero for this devastating economic arrangement that has been carefully crafted over time, the people who live here are now under the command of those who seek profit and power only. There were always people seeking profit and power, but at least it used to be that those in governmental power had some understanding of their responsibility to the poor, the aged, the infirm, the young. But now statistics about impending disasters no longer matter in the face of big oil or big real estate making money.
This is what happens when you appoint only your friends to positions of power and dismiss those who really know how to do their jobs simply because they don't always agree with you. Putting idealogues where experts should be will always prove to be a fundamentally flawed policy wihen those people are put to the test in real situations. Unfortunately, we all have to suffer the consequences of such arrogance and stupidity, and some of us will suffer more than others. The level of incompetence in every department from defense to homeland security, to the interior to education to the environment is appalling, infuriating, and scary. It has also proven to be lethal for at least 100,000 Iraqis, over 2000 US troops, and untold thousands who were residing in the Gulf Coast. Still, they talk of closing bases to make the military more nimble. We can't run a government like a business, beholden to some bottom line. Governments take care of people, our defense, our education. These responsibilities must have goals driven by actual needs, not some business formula.
This is what happens when classist and racist policies are defended by an administration that calls any remark about the plight of the rising numbers of poor "engaging in class warfare," and any thoughtful critique of race relations "race-baiting" or "racist." This is what happens when you have as a president a classist and racist who makes only the thinnest of veiled attempts to portray himself and his policies as inclusinve. In fact, he has done more to place himself at the center of neo-liberals who will rest only when every dollar is wrenched away from every government program and placed in their own greedy and bloody fingers. He has aligned himself with those who clearly are separatists--white, radical dominionist Christian, rich. He has fought affirmative action, has never addressed the NAACP, and has no trouble sending people to their deaths from their prison cells, whether they are proved guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt or not. And we all know how skewed the prison system is in terms of race.
This is what happens when you have a media and a Congress that has been overtaken by corporations. How can people be surprised at this disgusting lack of resources, leadership, and will when it has been evident from day one that this administration cares not one bit for the people under their jurisdiction and only responds to market influences? Because the media has been co-opted, coerced, and corrupted by market influences.
Media has been good at one thing: Keeeping people from uniting against the powers that are sucking them dry and turning them against each otehr in culture wars that have no bearing on the real issues of democracy, freedom, and equal opportunity. Gay marriage, abortion, and showing breasts on TV pale in comparison to the quality of life issues necessary for, well, life itself: Air, water, infrastructure, and distribution of national and international wealth. If we begin talking about the real issues, we will be able to put cultural differences in better perspective and see them for what they are: Differences turned into "issues" spinned out and puffed up by public relations firms specifically hired to design political campaigns that create wedges in our society to keep us divided and weak in any effort to make meaningful change that would actually help people have better, more productive and meaningful lives.
We all have to do whatever we can. Although it seems fruitless, we all need to be in touch with our congresspeople on issues that matter. Joining in on blogs or created our own webspaces for discussion and learning is important for realizing we are not alone and for getting our own views out there.
I'm planning on going to the march on Washington on September 24 to protest the war in Iraq. I believe it's important to put my body in a place where it can be counted while it's still alive and kicking.
Currently, I'm researching organizations that may be small but will help people that may not benefit from larger organizations like the Red Cross. When I find some good ones, I'll let you know.
All this week I have been seeing those enormous planes, the C-5's flying around like they always do. Why weren't they loaded up with supplies and sent down there? I also watched the airshow overhead all last weekend and wondered about all the fuel that is wasted at those things. Granted, that was before Katrina hit, but it is still worth noting that fuel prices were skyrocketing before she hit.
Perhaps the good thing that will come out of this is that those in the media now have a way to show the discrepancies between what the administration says and what it actually does (and does not) do. Those discrepancies have not been allowed to be aired concerning the environment, the economy, the war in Iraq. But with Katrina, it has quickly become obvious with no way for the administration to curtail it as of yet. I have seen and heard real anger coming from officials like the New Orleans mayor and news people like Nancy Giles on CBS. Even Diane Sawyer was pressing Scott McLellan last week at a press conference. If the press can continue showing some gumption, the rest of us will actually get to see what is going on, that that crack in the Bush veneer might start to actually show some daylight.
This is what happens when you appoint only your friends to positions of power and dismiss those who really know how to do their jobs simply because they don't always agree with you. Putting idealogues where experts should be will always prove to be a fundamentally flawed policy wihen those people are put to the test in real situations. Unfortunately, we all have to suffer the consequences of such arrogance and stupidity, and some of us will suffer more than others. The level of incompetence in every department from defense to homeland security, to the interior to education to the environment is appalling, infuriating, and scary. It has also proven to be lethal for at least 100,000 Iraqis, over 2000 US troops, and untold thousands who were residing in the Gulf Coast. Still, they talk of closing bases to make the military more nimble. We can't run a government like a business, beholden to some bottom line. Governments take care of people, our defense, our education. These responsibilities must have goals driven by actual needs, not some business formula.
This is what happens when classist and racist policies are defended by an administration that calls any remark about the plight of the rising numbers of poor "engaging in class warfare," and any thoughtful critique of race relations "race-baiting" or "racist." This is what happens when you have as a president a classist and racist who makes only the thinnest of veiled attempts to portray himself and his policies as inclusinve. In fact, he has done more to place himself at the center of neo-liberals who will rest only when every dollar is wrenched away from every government program and placed in their own greedy and bloody fingers. He has aligned himself with those who clearly are separatists--white, radical dominionist Christian, rich. He has fought affirmative action, has never addressed the NAACP, and has no trouble sending people to their deaths from their prison cells, whether they are proved guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt or not. And we all know how skewed the prison system is in terms of race.
This is what happens when you have a media and a Congress that has been overtaken by corporations. How can people be surprised at this disgusting lack of resources, leadership, and will when it has been evident from day one that this administration cares not one bit for the people under their jurisdiction and only responds to market influences? Because the media has been co-opted, coerced, and corrupted by market influences.
Media has been good at one thing: Keeeping people from uniting against the powers that are sucking them dry and turning them against each otehr in culture wars that have no bearing on the real issues of democracy, freedom, and equal opportunity. Gay marriage, abortion, and showing breasts on TV pale in comparison to the quality of life issues necessary for, well, life itself: Air, water, infrastructure, and distribution of national and international wealth. If we begin talking about the real issues, we will be able to put cultural differences in better perspective and see them for what they are: Differences turned into "issues" spinned out and puffed up by public relations firms specifically hired to design political campaigns that create wedges in our society to keep us divided and weak in any effort to make meaningful change that would actually help people have better, more productive and meaningful lives.
We all have to do whatever we can. Although it seems fruitless, we all need to be in touch with our congresspeople on issues that matter. Joining in on blogs or created our own webspaces for discussion and learning is important for realizing we are not alone and for getting our own views out there.
I'm planning on going to the march on Washington on September 24 to protest the war in Iraq. I believe it's important to put my body in a place where it can be counted while it's still alive and kicking.
Currently, I'm researching organizations that may be small but will help people that may not benefit from larger organizations like the Red Cross. When I find some good ones, I'll let you know.
All this week I have been seeing those enormous planes, the C-5's flying around like they always do. Why weren't they loaded up with supplies and sent down there? I also watched the airshow overhead all last weekend and wondered about all the fuel that is wasted at those things. Granted, that was before Katrina hit, but it is still worth noting that fuel prices were skyrocketing before she hit.
Perhaps the good thing that will come out of this is that those in the media now have a way to show the discrepancies between what the administration says and what it actually does (and does not) do. Those discrepancies have not been allowed to be aired concerning the environment, the economy, the war in Iraq. But with Katrina, it has quickly become obvious with no way for the administration to curtail it as of yet. I have seen and heard real anger coming from officials like the New Orleans mayor and news people like Nancy Giles on CBS. Even Diane Sawyer was pressing Scott McLellan last week at a press conference. If the press can continue showing some gumption, the rest of us will actually get to see what is going on, that that crack in the Bush veneer might start to actually show some daylight.
posted by FranCroaker at 5:28 PM
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