God, what have we done?

[The Old Creak]

As the Gulf of Mexico slowly dies, the reality of all our complicity in this event is occupying more and more of my mind. I live in the Florida Panhandle and the Gulf, especially fishing, has been a huge part of my life. I really raised my son on the water, teaching him not only how to fish, but also how important it is for us to respect nature and do our part to preserve it for future generations.

Now, each night as a lay my head on my pillow, I can’t escape the fact that my life is, to a large extent, built around the need for cheap energy. The article quoted and linked below says it much better than I do.

The article ends with this question:

"This is, perhaps, the most imperative question of all: If we can produce a demon of such extraordinary scale and devastation, can we not also somehow create its exact opposite?"

Dare we attempt to answer?

God have mercy on us all for what we have done.



Additional paragraphs:

snip:
"What a thing we have created. What an extraordinary horror our rapacious need for cheap, endless energy hath unleashed; it's a monster of a scale and proportion we can barely even fathom.

"Because if you're honest, no matter where you stand, no matter your politics, religion, income or mode of transport, you see this beast of creeping death and you understand: That is us. The spill may be many things, but more than anything else it is a giant, horrifying mirror."

snip:
That said, after all is said and done, it's gloomily nice to think our darkest disaster in a generation could somehow ultimately improve our attitudes, change our behavior, lighten our violent treatment of the planet. As someone recently noted, the BP spill isn't Obama's Katrina, it's actually Big Oil's Chernobyl. Meaning: a disaster so appalling and devastating it might very well alter the industry and change the course of our energy policy forever."


Here's the link:http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/06/04-7

[FirstLight]

1. Emotionally, Spiritually, Mentally...

I am right there with you...the guilt at being addicted to oil and such, everytime I drive ...and watching some of the animal pics on the tv last night had me sobbing with remorse and that same helpless feeling. How can I extract myself from that energy source when I feel like there are no other options? what do I do with that, how do we shift an entire planet that thrives on dirty energy?

don't know what the answer is...but this tragedy should spur some scientists and inventors to break through it...that's all i can think of

[fl_dem]

2. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

I too live on the Gulf Of Mexico Florida Panhandle, between Pensacola and Destin and I too wonder WTF have we done.
I am very sad, physically ill and extremely pissed off about all of this!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. What have we done, indeed...

:cry:

[BeFree]

6. We, have done nothing

BP failed to do the right thing.

BP should have spent the few extra dollars to properly drill this well.
If they had, we wouldn't even be talking about this.

[bdamomma]

13. if they through the years updated their technology and be ready

for something like this maybe we would have some control over this, but if in 30 years technology has not done anything different, all they do is change the terms from sombrero to top hat, they are so obsessed getting every drop of oil drilling to unbelievable depths in the ocean. They do not have any standards in place for the men who died on that rig, or what to do when there is a horrific accident like this to protect the environment. Strange that the Gulf has both an abundance of oil and fish resources, or strange bedfellows. The environment is resilient but in case may not be able to rally.

[BeFree]

49. Exactly

Had BP come to us, and stated on the front pages of the nation's newspapers about the gamble they were undertaking, we would have shut them down.

WE wouldn't have agreed that this was worth the costs, and we would have demanded that the technology would have to be modern enough to deal with the potential problems.

The bush admins hid from, we, the people, all discussions pertaining to deep water oil, because they knew there was a WMD down there and they now are amused at the victims blaming themselves for their screwups.

To them, DU threads like this is their comedy central.

[TorchTheWitch]

14. Amen to that - blaming ourselves takes the responsibility off BP

and the government that allowed such dangerously lax safety standards. It isn't our fault that we're "addicted" to oil products because we've been given no other alternative. WE did not do this to ourselves. WE were given no other reasonable and affordable alternative and are stuck with using what the government and the corporations who own this country decided for us whether we liked it or not, and most of us - if not all of us - have been complaining about this for decades.

I have no choice but to heat my home with the oil product that it's heating unit uses. I don't own the home, can't afford to own any home, and I was never given any choice on what it would be heated with. I'd rather not spend so much money to own a car, but can't be employed without one... there is no other alternative for me to get to and from work safely and timely, hauling all my gear or the precious few other places I need to go. I can only afford to buy old used cars to drive, therefore, there is no electric or hybrid car I could buy. I've already cut down my driving to the bare bones... I NEVER drive anywhere for any reason other than absolute necessity - work and the store/vet/laundrumat - that's it for more years than I can recall anymore. As a result, I essentially have had no social life or gone anywhere that would just be enjoyable for me for years, and if anyone thinks that doesn't take a toll on a person's wellbeing and quality of life, guess again. I've also cut down my home heating and cooking use to the bare bones, even when it's not good for my health either physically or emotionally.

I'll be goddamned if I'm going to take any blame for this country's dependence on oil, and I'm sure as shit not taking any blame for the fuck ups of the oil companies and the government and no fucking way am I taking any blame for BP's appauling safety standards and the government's lax regulations that caused this oily shitstorm in the Gulf.

No wonder the corporations and the government own our asses when so many people are so easily made to take blame for the extraordinarily grotesque fuck ups of our masters when they've done nothing but give us all the flying finger and laugh at us. It DISGUSTS me that anyone would be feeling guilty for what we had nothing to do with, have been refused any alternative to, and had our ongoing complaints about not only ignored but laughed off.

[The Old Creak]

15. Me Thinks

he doest protest too much:)

I just took a break from work and stood on a street corner and observed the first 100 vehicles that came by. 98 out of 100 had only one "victim" inside.

[TorchTheWitch]

23. and almost all of them were probably giant SUV's and trucks, too

Aside from commercial trucks, I've yet to see any SUV or truck on the road with more than one or two people in it or hauling anything around in it or driving it off-road. I'll never understand why so many people were sold on these gas guzzling behemoths with little maneuverability and that you can't park anywhere.

And I'm not a "he" nor do I protest too much. If anything, I don't protest enough.

[Fumesucker]

26. There are two big SUV's in my family, I didn't buy either of them..

My everyday vehicle is a motorcycle that gets 60 mpg or better..

But the reason for the SUV's is "safety", my daughter just feels safer in a very large vehicle after what to me is a minor accident in a medium sized car (Acura TL which wasn't totaled) and won't consider anything smaller. Never mind that they are much easier to turn over than a regular car.

[lib_wit_it]

44. Disagree. I'm with her.

[Scuba]

22. in case you missed it...

... my post (below) builds on yours.

Besides politicking for better government and regulations, what do you think those of us who burn gas should be doing?

Moving near where we work? Unfortunately, the current employment culture in America means you'll likely be in a new job every few years. Are we supposed to move every time?

Bicycle to work? Same problem. Many of us commute thousands of miles to work, not because we want to, but because we have to. At one point in my career I had to fly 1,200 miles back and forth each week for two years, consuming vast quantities of jet fuel that wouldn't have been used had my seat on the plane been empty, like the one next to me sometimes was.

Change careers? Pretty hard to do without burning down everything you've worked for and starting over.

Change lifestyle? Do we live better than the average European? Some of us, a little, in terms of home and PERHAPS fuel-consumption history. But the graphs showing how Amerians use more than their fair share of fuels don't show splits between military, corporate and private gasoline consumption. (Can anyone provide this breakdown? Thanks.) I suspect the average consumer may look pretty innocent with that data at hand.

Retire? Hah. I'm not in the top 20% of Americans who own 93% of American wealth. Like most of us, I have just been scraping by, saving for retirement, and then seeing it vanish when the casino my 401K's played in turned out to be fixed.

Meanwhile, note this taken from http://www.observer.com/2009/o2/yacht-update regarding Paul Allen's fishing boat. "The yacht, which houses a crew of 60, two helicopters, seven boats, a submarine, and a remote controlled vehicle that crawls the ocean floor, costs the billionaire $20 million a year (or $384,000 a week) to keep up. Maybe he can cut his fuel consumption. Maybe he could scrape by with just one of his two helicoptors.


Anyway, I want to help. Please suggest some alternatives on how I can change the world by not buying $30 bucks worth of gas a week. Thanks

[TorchTheWitch]

30. absolutely - we were never given any choice

I'd love to be able to take a sledgehammer to that piece of shit car I have to spend so much to own and may some day likely get me killed by some shitheaded bad driver I have to share the crappy falling apart roads with. Us little people don't own cars just because we enjoy driving so much we're willing to spend nearly as much (or even as much or more) than we have to pay to keep a roof over our heads for fuck's sake - we don't have any damn choice.

[happy_liberal]

36. nice response!

:applause:

[chervilant]

92. Hear, hear!

Amen to that.

[tiptoe]

43. Cheney offered BP a $500K safety equip exemption & BP was greedy+myopic+reckless to accept...

...kind of like the company's CEO, Tony Hayward, with his lies about underwater plumes, the safety of corexit dispersant, and his "out of sight, out of mind" PR efforts to cover-up instead of clean-up.

[Doctor_J]

50. Cheney's Energy Task Force made the proper procedures VOLUNTARY,

whereas in non-fascist countries such regulations are mandatory. Our culpability is in not removing Bush, Cheney, Rove, and Limpballs from office forcibly.

[BeFree]

53. Indeed, our failure lies there

And you can bet Cheney is laughing his ass of at threads like this, knowing he has turned the slaves against themselves.

And banking the most $$ he can as the homeless are forced from their midnight shelters.

[rhett o rick]

66. The question is why didnt they spend the few extra dollars? The answer is as always

profits come first. We cant and shouldnt expect corporations to have morality. If one does, it will be out performed by those that do not. The failure here isnt just that BP cut some corners the failure is that we as Americans have allowed BP and the other corporate giants to buy our Congress. The results is that Congress lets them cut corners.

This disaster should prove beyond a doubt that we the people do not have control of our country.

[BeFree]

68. Yeah

If we insisted on democracy, we might have some.

As it is, we have let the fascists buy control.

But had they even asked us our opinion on deep water drilling, after giving us the facts, what would we have said?

[The Old Creak]

75. Excellent Question

:applause:

[rhett o rick]

82. Great question. We would have said that no drilling without proof of adequate safety standards,

at least one proven method of containing a blow out, and equipment and up to date techniques to clean up after a potential disaster.

All of the oil companies' investment monies goes to improving drilling techniques and none goes to new methods for disaster prevention and control.
They are decades behind in clean up technology.

We failed to keep them getting into this situation. They will do it again and again unless we reign them in.

It is time for BP to die a bad corporation's death.

[Ron Green]

4. I'm afraid the fix is too painful and politically impossible, and that The Rapture

will become a more likely alternative.

[rhett o rick]

84. "Rapture" is that a brand of vodka. nm

[shimmergal]

89. I don't think it's politically impossible.

In fact the current trend to oust incumbents is probably the only way most people see to have any influence over the lobbyists' bribes of Congresspeople etc.

The trick is figuring how to make this impulse work for good, and find some way to combat corporate-speak's brainwashing of the tea party types.

[Oregone]

5. We've done the universe a favor by our very nature

Human nature is either poised to destroy existence, or destroy itself. It seems the later is happening.

Thats life and life only. No worries.

[gateley]

7. I feel like I've stood by and watched somebody being murdered. nt

[happy_liberal]

38. you know what- we've done that too. Over one million Iraqis murdered...

and those numbers were years ago. If we instead invested that money, used our technology for the greater good...we would have enough windmills and solar panels to power the country by now. Who knows what new technologies are yet to be discovered, or pulled from the burn pile...

[gateley]

42. Yes, good point. nt

[chervilant]

93. hmm...

Murder is exactly the word for what the military/industrialists have wrought in Iraq.

[Individualist]

8. Unrec for another blame the victims post.

[The Old Creak]

10. So....................

we're the victims, huh? So I guess Dr. Frankenstein was a victim too.

[Myrina]

45. I didn't realize the OP is a pelican or a dolphin!

THEY are the true victims in this catastrophe. We - as 2 leggers, as consumers, as 'thinking people', never ever never stood up and truly demanded a feasible alternative to our cars, our plastics, everything that relies on big oil. We never placed their lives and their existence above our need for $1.99 a gallon. So no, sorry, humans are NOT the primary victims here.

[Downtown Hound]

9. You all need to remember that you are only one person

In a world with over six billion people, and that your power is very limited. Yes, we are all complicit to some extent, but we are also victims.

Those that are truly responsible are a few white guys with way too much money and power.

[Jamastiene]

11. I truly wish everyone would take one solid hour to go to a park,

forest, lake, creek, pond, desert or anything that passes for nature where you live (for those that live in the city) and just sit down for that hour.

That's it. Just sit there for an hour.
Do nothing but sit there and take it all in.

1. You get a sense of connection with nature.
2. You realize just how our society has disconnected us from that beauty.
3. You get to see and experience something that our own fast paced society is slowly killing.
4. You may see an endangered species that is currently not listed yet. What is that and why isn't it listed as an endangered species yet? The human race just hasn't gotten around to killing off that species yet. Pick a species. Any species. We just haven't gotten around to killing it off yet, but if we continue at this pace, we will.

I'm serious. Even if you do not think about much of what I wrote here about the endangered species, you will experience something beyond divine. There is nothing else in this world like just taking nature in.

I would also recommend everyone watch The Last of His Tribe too, but it really cannot compare to connecting with Mother Nature, in person.

[Scuba]

12. Yes, we're the victims....

Quit kicking yourself. You didn't bribe regulators with whores and drugs to get them to "pencil whip" the permits.

Besides politicking for better government and regulations, what do you think those of us who burn gas should be doing?

Moving near where we work? Unfortunately, the current employment culture in America means you'll likely be in a new job every few years. Are we supposed to move every time?

Bicycle to work? Same problem. Many of us commute thousands of miles to work, not because we want to, but because we have to. At one point in my career I had to fly 1,200 miles back and forth each week for two years, consuming vast quantities of jet fuel that wouldn't have been used had my seat on the plane been empty, like the one next to me sometimes was.

Change careers? Pretty hard to do without burning down everything you've worked for and starting over.

Change lifestyle? Do we live better than the average European? Some of us, a little, in terms of home and PERHAPS fuel-consumption history. But the graphs showing how Amerians use more than their fair share of fuels don't show splits between military, corporate and private gasoline consumption. (Can anyone provide this breakdown? Thanks.) I suspect the average consumer may look pretty innocent with that data at hand.

Retire? Hah. I'm not in the top 20% of Americans who own 93% of American wealth. Like most of us, I have just been scraping by, saving for retirement, and then seeing it vanish when the casino my 401K's played in turned out to be fixed.

Meanwhile, note this taken from http://www.observer.com/2009/o2/yacht-update regarding Paul Allen's fishing boat. "The yacht, which houses a crew of 60, two helicopters, seven boats, a submarine, and a remote controlled vehicle that crawls the ocean floor, costs the billionaire $20 million a year (or $384,000 a week) to keep up. Maybe he can cut his fuel consumption. Maybe he could scrape by with just one of his two helicoptors.

Had we spent the billions in tax breaks Bush/Cheney gave to Big Oil (the most profitable industry in the history of commerce) on a new energy "Manhattan Project" we might very well be driving hydrogen-powered, electric or some other non-fossil fueled vehicles.

[jayfish]

16. You Just Won The Thread.

I've been trying to come up with a way to say what you just said for the whole day. Well done and well said.

FSH

[Scuba]

17. Thanks. I believe...

...the "blame the victim" approach is a diversion to keep us from focusing on Big Oil's criminal behavour.

[jayfish]

20. Combine your post with TorchTheWitch's above and you'll have...

a magnum opus.

FSH

[The Old Creak]

21. I think it is highly unlikely

that attention will be diverted from BP, but to suggest that we have no option but to eat the crap thrown our way is sad, and further reinforces my view that we share an addiction.

[Scuba]

27. Sorry, the alternatives you posted were somehow not visible...

...please repost. Thanks.

[The Old Creak]

34. I'll get back to you

with Sustainability 101 text after my grandchild is done with it.

[Bluenorthwest]

31. The guilty are guilty. Sorry kid.

No one here is buying your collective guilt/addiction garbage. Addiction is not the same as a lack of alternative to serve a necessity in a market fixed by corruption of every kind, for generations now. An addict, when shown an actual alternative, would refuse it. "I don't want a car that runs on solar, I want a gas car." That is an addict. What are the alternatives you speak of, available to people and families?
You are just pushing a message that favors the criminal element that harms us all. And not a thing more than that.

[The Old Creak]

32. Quite a few recs

as well as other postings seeing some truth here. So, I guess "no one" means something else than I thought it did. I am not covering for the criminal types, I'm simply stating a rather obvious point. But we all know that denial is the hardest thing to overcome for an addict.

By the way, I'm 62 years old, so I greatly appreciate the kid reference:)

[Scuba]

39. Damn, I thought he was referring to me as 'kid'... I'm only 61

[The Old Creak]

41. You young whippersnappers!

[Scuba]

33. OK, I've read your post three times....

...and I still can't make sense of it. Are you suggesting that I would refuse to drive an electric car because I like to burn gas?

In any case, the "message I'm pushing" is that many of are stuck driving because we have no alternatives. I'd be delighted if we'd used the billions in tax breaks Bush/Cheney gave to Big Oil for a Manhatten Project for alternatives.

But I don't think it's the fault of the guy buying gas at the pump that Big Oil bribed the regulators, drilled in an unsafe manner, put profits ahead of the environment and their employees safety, and undermined every effort to find a better way.

[The Old Creak]

35. I'm not sure

what the "message I'm pushing" comment comes from. Driving is only one part of our dependence. I have no desire to blame you, or any "guy buying gas at the pump". However, to not see the total addiction we have: plastic, fertilizer.......on and on, is simply not realistic. Just walk around your house. Everywhere you look you see petroleum. Let me be fair, when I walk around my house, that's all I see.

[Scuba]

37. OK, I agree....

...we're way too dependent on fossil fuels. But I see a cabal of moneyed interests making sure we have no alternatives. Ergo, I hate seeing the guy at the pump take the blame.

Thanks for your response.

[The Old Creak]

40. I don't think

we're that far apart. Big Oil, and corporations in general, are sucking the life out of us. Thanks for the rational discussion, that's why I joined DU.
PEACE & LOVE,
The Old Creak

[RedRoses323]

47. Truth......Words of wisdom

:kick:

[Roland99]

63. There's much more oil used by us than by burning gas

The plastic in your computer

The plastic in your car

The rubber in the tires on your car

The plastic in your TV

The plastic in your home phone and cell phone

The plastic in your CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays


etc

etc

[deaniac21]

18. It would be better if there had never been any humans. If we had

any sense of honor we'd all commit suicide this minute!

[Scuba]

28. Mankind doesn't deserve this beautiful planet.

[laundry_queen]

19. " can we not also somehow create its exact opposite?"

Only if there are millions or billions of dollars of profit in it, apparently.

[Doctor_J]

51. Or if we want to use the one thing that's still abundant in the US,

guns, to take back our government.

[Odin2005]

24. This is our Dust Bowl.

:(

[Kievan Rus]

62. It's more like Chernobyl

[Odin2005]

65. I was meaning that the effects on American society would be like the Dust Bowl.

Expect mass migration of people away from the Gulf coast because the tourism and fishing industries there are dead.

[CountAllVotes]

64. it is far worse than the Dust Bowl

it will go on forever. No end in sight. :(

[Hempathy]

25. Agricultual run-off has been killing the Gulf a lot longer than the Deepwater Horizon.

just sayin'...

[Scuba]

29. good point.

[stuntcat]

61. yah. ALL parts of the oceans, in fact.

We're making dead zones and trash continents, But no one cares because they think the oceans too big for us to kill. And they can't see the problem anyway.. Outta sight, outta kind.

[scentopine]

46. We've done the same thing we did with outsourcing and wall street

let the fancy talk of MBA dickheads convince us that reckless and unregulated free market behavior will guarantee prosperity to all - even those of us with a sense of morals, principals and ethics.

Centrist democrats and republicans at this very minute are pressuring congress to let them keep drilling in the Gulf and else where and MMS is at this very minute approving wells near wildlife refuges in the Gulf.

Remember, most people in the world don't live near the Gulf. Its not in their backyard. BP execs and fat cat senators get on a corporate jet and in a few hours, they are back to pampered lives as multi-millionaires. They won't have to live with their consequences. So in free market terms - there is no incentive for them not to pollute the Gulf.

Until the oil washes up on capital hill or creates a shortage of caviar, nothing will happen to stem the flow of bad energy policy decisions and bad politics out of washington - putting us (the non-rich) all at risk.

[ismnotwasm]

48. Thank you

"What have we done" sums it up nicely. It's not just about cars and gas, it's everywhere, plastics and such. I can't stand to look at the pictures of the horror, mostly I think, because I don't want to think about my part in it.

I was having an argue with a conspiracy theorist friend of mine (he's nuts, but I can't help but like him) He was going on and on about "banking cartels" my counter argument was that it wasn't that he was wrong--exactly--but the rot in our society goes much deeper and these "big corporations" are our personal Frankensteins.

Perhaps the problem is a basic and destructive lack of "we" and too much "I" and "you"

Welcome to DU

[The Old Creak]

71. Thank YOU!

[jazzelle]

81. THANK YOU

great

[phasma ex machina]

85. It's Not Me, It's You.

Regardless of the reasons for our insanity, the biggest and most destructive lie of all is the one about those/they/them being the evil perpetrators and me/us/we being the innocent victims. We cannot see, let alone conceive, that living among and within our secret lies, self deceptions and illusions is what's driving us mad and thus how false the perception of "us" and "them" are. We're all part of a living breathing economic and social system and while on the surface there are definite distinctions, we're all co-dependent. ...

I'm Certified Sane. What About You?

To deny that this cultural insanity is a part of us, to deny that it must be recognized and then treated collectively by us is equivalent to claiming that the open cut on our arm isn't our problem because we didn't ask for it, didn't cause it and don't want it; thus we most certainly aren't responsible for it. So we ignore it as it progresses from open cut to festering wound to stinking puss filled gash to gangrenous mass to agonizing death. Since everyone else acts the same way, the herd reinforces our individual and collective behavior as the one and only proper conduct allowed and acceptable.

We'll ride our righteous indignation, which we concoct to rationalize and justify our inaction, all the way to our grave, screaming at the top of our lungs as we reach for the white light at the end of the crazy train tunnel "See, I told you I wasn't responsible for it". Madness! This is madness masquerading as normalcy. And perfectly understandable when you consider that the madmen with the butterfly nets, meaning you and I, are making the rules and running the show. Why would we possibly endeavor to stick our heads out of our protective shells long enough to be decapitated. The genius of our insanity is breath taking, both figuratively and literally.

Welcome To The Insane Asylum – Our Collective Psychosis - Chapter 2

[The Old Creak]

87. OMFG

AWESOME!!!!

[MrMickeysMom]

52. I therefore MUST ask-

why, why, WHY hasn't our President responded with more force? This was and IS no time to hesitate to bring in any and all of our national forces with their technology to address this ineffective response from YET ANOTHER corporate entity, who will coincidentally devote millions to rebrand themselves as well as pay out to their shareholders.

WE NEEDED SOMETHING BETTER FROM HIM!

[DesertDiamond]

54. Excellent! Many of us know we need to change something that we do. But many of us have been wanting

or even trying to change and still not able to do what we know we must do to save this planet. Why? The truth is, deep self reflection and the defeat of our own darkness by our enlightened nature is the ONLY way to save this planet. I start every day with my spirital practice to battle and defeat my own darkness, and I go on throughout the day to help others fight theirs. Many will not immediately grasp the ultimate power of this kind of effort to create the kind of happy, healthy world we dream of. But it is really, truly the only way to really enable health and happiness to win.

[grahamhgreen]

55. Uh, I don't have a car and I ride a bike and lobby for renewable fuels.

It's the upper echelons of the private sector that keep us from moving into renewables that are to blame.

Don't blame yourself.

The technology is here - the will to implement it is thwarted by those who profit from dirty fuels.

[GentryDixon]

57. Never a more true statement.

The technology is here - the will to implement it is thwarted by those who profit from dirty fuels....

Just like the Pharma's who are keeping us sick to line their pockets. I will never believe there is not a cure for most of the real illnesses out there. Let us not even talk about the contrived ones to "ask your Doctor about".

[lonestarnot]

60. You've got that right! We should have seen the biggest push the world has ever known toward green

renewable energy, starting the day the rig blew and the gusher erupted. :hi: Sustainability for now and forever forward!

[bhikkhu]

56. Very well said. And the greatest evil, it might be added -

is where people become convinced that someone is in charge other than themselves, and they are powerless to change anything.

People lie to themselves about cause and effect continually, and "blame" is the most malleable and critical issue to the self-deceived.

As a culture, we have been living like teenagers whose parents are gone for the weekend; now its Sunday afternoon and the house is wrecked, and the options are:

A) accept responsibility, change, live differently and begin to fix things

B) find a scapegoat to blame it on, hope daddy fixes it, and party on.

Needless to say, I've lived long enough to see much of the beauty of this land wrecked, and I have been a part of it, and I am doing my best to change for the better. I don't have a lot of hope for the whole, but in my corner at least I can make a difference.

[smoogatz]

58. Who the fuck is "we," white man?

I was ready to convert to solar and wind and electric cars in 19 freaking 79. Carter was right--I knew it then and I know it now. I didn't vote for that asshole Reagan, or the oil barons that wrecked the country in the 00s. So what the fuck is this "we" shit?

[CountAllVotes]

67. We = us = the world IMO

and I didn't vote for that evil bastard Reagan either and I agree, Jimmy Carter was absolutely right.

BIG OIL has had their hands on the reins for far too long. We have become their slaves as noted in the gulf. :mad:

:kick:

[The Old Creak]

74. My Apologies

I certainly did not mean to offend. My post isn't about politics, its about our Country's Addison to all things oil. If you have actually put it down, my hat's off to you.

[smoogatz]

76. I'm not offended.

I'm just saying--a lot of us saw the current climate disaster coming thirty years ago. A lot of us are old enough to remember the oil spill disaster at Santa Barbara and elsewhere. Us tree-huggers were right then and we've been right all along, so I'm damned if I'll participate now in the universal guilt-a-thon. Could I have done more? Sure--everyone could. Did I do a hell of a lot better than the morons who voted for Reagan, Bush I and Bush II and the petroleum-based economy they insisted on? Yes, I did.

[The Old Creak]

80. It's A Shame

more of us didn't see it. No argument here regarding Rayguns and the Shrubs.

[The Old Creak]

77. Make that "ADDICTION":)

[G_j]

59. a giant, horrifying mirror nt

[keep_it_real]

69. The American people are powerless; we are just along for the ride

American people have no power over government or big business. Politicians, both sides, Dems and Repukes and brought and paid for by the corporations.

[bhikkhu]

79. Government and big business vanish overnight, without participants

Convince yourself you are powerless and you don't have to change a thing, you don't have to take responsibility for any part of your actions, just sit in your chair and gripe on about who's to blame.

There's a whole political party based on that, but it isn't this one.

[NAO]

70. HP Lovecraft - "I say to you againe, doe not call up Any that you can not put downe"

Some advice to an aspiring necromancer in H.P. Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward":

"I say to you againe, doe not call up Any that you can not put downe; by the Which I meane, Any that can in Turne call up somewhat against you, whereby your Powerfullest Devices may not be of use.

[The Old Creak]

72. On a MUCH lighter note

check-out my post about Psycho Bitch in The Lounge:evilgrin:

[suzie]

73. +1

[upi402]

78. "it's actually Big Oil's Chernobyl"

I will never forget how the media propagandizes. It will ruin even this corporate-lite Whitehouse.

[Orsino]

83. The laws of thermodynamics dictate...

...that it is much, much harder to create the opposite of this demon.

[The Old Creak]

86. Some how

we've GOT to find a way.:banghead:

[The Old Creak]

88. There's Another Post

of an oil soaked baby manatee in the Keys. Watch it at your own peril. :cry:

[The Old Creak]

90. I'm Drunk

that's the only way I could sleep tonight. I just want to say thanks to the founders of DU, and all you 1000* posters for what you have done. This place is AWESOME!!

[stuntcat]

91. good idea

I've clenched my jaw all day.. felt numb sometimes, cried sometimes. I want to knock myself out.

(also Welcome!)