Thought for the Day

Now that the second great depression has even threatened the European Union and has put millions of American out of work, I hope that the dirty bastards whose greed caused this epic in our economic history are proud of themselves. Unfortunately, they probably haven't time to even think about it because they are so enjoying their incredible wealth, earned as it was by f__king over the rest of the world. Ah, Capitalism. You've got to love it, don't you.

Oil

Since my discussion with LongShot seems to have ended, I think that I will step aside from political debates and comment, instead, on the current media frenzy associated with the oil catastrophe in the Gulf.

First the media spectacle. As usual, the media is all over this --- this side, that side, and the under-side. Poor dears, they love situations like this because they can just go at it 24/7 and it's really easy pickings.

Second the resentful environmentalists. Now, I don't mean to come down too hard on environmentalists (because I am one) but I can't stand environmental activists who just want to throw torches without really knowing what they are doing. So BP has another deep-water well (Atlantis) and I heard one hysterical environmental activist suggesting that BP should be forced to shut down that well. Of course, this person knows nothing about the possibilities inherent in shutting the well down. For instance, would BP be able to do that without causing the exit-pressure of gas and oil from blowing the top of the well? Just because we're peeved, doesn't mean we are well advised to call for action.

Third is the host of people who want Obama to personally take charge and let the army take over the operation. If the President and the army had been drilling for oil for the last decade and had successfully capped off numerous wells, that might be a reasonable suggestion; BUT that is not the case. While BP may be at fault in the present situation, there is little doubt that they have more expertise, more resources, and more motivation to get this under control. What our government needs to do is make sure that BP is totally responsible for the cleanup of this mess.

And finally the regulatory issue. Can you imagine what the Gulf would be like if oil companies were drilling all over the place without any form of national regulatory authority? Would local groups do much good in controlling things like this? The problem is not the principle of regulation but rather the fact that eight years of oil-owning presidency and vice-presidency created a situation in which there was no effective regulatory authority. Republican administrations do not typically remove regulations; they just make the regulatory agencies impotent either by taking away their funding or by staffing them with the same people they are trying to regulate.

The System

I have read and re-read the last two posts on my blog and there is little there that I would want to retract. What is needed is clarity --- definition.

What is interesting about the present political scene in the US is the remarkable tendency toward extremes. And what are these extremes? They are, as I've suggested, idealistic visions. And, as such, they are mostly so far away from the realities of our situation that they are largely meaningless. What I have been asking myself is who profits from this; hence, what is it that stabilizes this situation.

The answer, it seems to me, is very clear. It is "the system" that profits from this bizarre fighting among extreme positions. The more heat the better! That's because, the more heat is vented between the opposing extremes, the less anyone will seriously notice what really is at work in this country and, for that matter, the world. In point of fact, it is close to irrelevant who is president or what party is in office. Indeed, the more extreme the differences between parties and candidates, the better off the system is --- because the less we will take cognizance of who it actually is that wields power.

Liberals and conservatives, libertarians and anarchists, democrats and republicans, greens and independents would all be a lot better off if they would stop arguing among themselves and would start focusing on the larger system that controls the realities of their world. In my opinion, one does not need to look far. Just look at the very small number of people in the world who own the enormous majority of the world's wealth. Then, try to figure out how they are all tied together. That is "the system." In my opinion, politics is irrelevant; it is simply a way in which the system keeps us all tied into its own stability. So long as we think that we exercise some kind of control, the system is safe. It can continue to function underneath it all.