Benjamin Franklin once said, “You will observe, with concern, how long a useful truth may be known, and exist, before it is generally received and practiced on.”
He was actually talking about the damaging effects of lead, which is yet further proof that he was well ahead of his time.
For much of our talk presently about remaining true to the vision of the Founding Fathers, we have ignored this simple truth of these true words of wisdom uttered from the lips of Franklin. Indeed, it takes a long time for useful truths to be established and known, even when they have existed for quite some time.
Still, we have known about some of the environmental disasters facing us for a very long time now. Even when we put aside the apparently controversial scientific consensus that human activity is largely responsible for climate change, we have a long list of enormous environmental disasters that have undeniably been to the detriment of countless American citizens.
The latest such big story is of the non potable public water for the people of Flint, Michigan, all so that the government could save literally a few hundred dollars.
Not surprisingly, it seems that we are seeing that Flint, Michigan is only one of a number of communities that have seen their water supply compromised.
Of course, that is what happens when you emphasize how evil the government is at every turn, that government can do nothing right, and that the emphasis needs to be on deregulation.
This is the product of deregulation.
We are learning that corporations are worse, even far worse, than governments. That at least governments are elected by the people, and serve the people, even if they make mistakes.
Corporations certainly make mistakes, but they do not even pretend to serve the people. They do not have to and, it is becoming increasingly clear that they do not put anything, not even what is best for the country, anywhere near as much of a priority as they do short term profits.
We are a worse country for it.
There have been some real horror stories of corporate irresponsibility affecting the health of communities across the map of the United States, to say nothing of it on a global level. From Three Mile Island and Love Canal in the 1970's, Centralia and Times Beach in the 1980's, Rocky Beach that actually made headlines over a period that spanned across decades, the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989, the corporate irresponsibility of Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Hinkley, California, that was now famously fought by Erin Brockovich, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the undrinkable water in West Virginia a few years ago and Flint just a couple of months ago. Now, we are hearing stories leaking out of similar polluted public water in other parts of the nation.
With all of these revelations, you might think that people would finally wise up to the fact that deregulation has been a disaster for the country, and is designed specifically to help out irresponsible corporations at the expense of the American people.
Unfortunately, we are only really beginning to learn about some of these horrors. If Rachel Carson's Silent Spring awoke us to the reality that we could not do whatever the hell we want, however the hell we want to do it in this world, than the proof has been forthcoming ever since. And much like with police officers being increasingly videotaped, the reports for environmental abuses by corporations is beginning to be revealed more and more over time. Erin Brockovich is saying that this incident in Flint is just the tip of the iceberg, and that there are surely more such instances that we will learn about ahead. Unfortunately, there is a good chance that she is right.
This reminds me of a quote by Norm Chomsky that I very recently encountered, about privatization.
"That's the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don't work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital."
Indeed, it is true. And what is worse, it is working precisely in this manner. Corporate irresponsibility always seems to prevail, to reinforce the message that Americans always seem all too eager these days to swallow whole, that privatization is the way to go. Do you think this will hurt private sellers of water? Do you think this will help the case of government oversight to provide clean, safe, healthy, and free water for all?
I will not suggest that this was designed. However, I will echo Norman Mailer's words following September 11th, that the right wing might not have orchestrated it, but they sure jumped on the opportunity afterward to capitalize on it. The same thing will surely be true for private, corporate water seller like Nestle.
That seems to be the state of the world today, as no matter what happens, good or bad (mostly bad, it seems), everything seems to be literally capitalized on by major corporations who focus exclusively on privatization, and the result is more and more wealth in fewer and fewer hands.
Sounds a little like a new form of feudalism, does it not?
Welcome to the future. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
According to Erin Brockovich, Flint, Michigan is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
No comments:
Post a Comment