It's the subtle things that influence us...and the blatant ones for the denser among us. We are herded along the path that forces larger than ourselves desire us to follow. We are told that global warming is going to kill the planet, but then we learn that maybe it is simply the cycles of heating and cooling that have been going on for eons. We are encouraged to "think green" and to ignore the ratio of Americans to the global population. If we buy a hybrid car, we will save the world or at least the polar bear clinging to the last melting ice cube of the arctic. If 300 million Americans stop using toilet paper, the other 6 billion humans won't have to either.
How do we get caught up in this? Are we so malleable that we get misled with little effort? Consider the BP blow-out for a moment.
It is not a good thing. It is a mess. But are we fully cognizant of the magnitude of the mess? A friend sent an email this morning that asserted that "all of the Gulf states are effected..." Are they? Or are we being led to think that. Is there any influence felt yet in a state other than Louisiana? If so, I've missed it.
Well, yes, but Louisiana's wetlands, fisheries, coastline, beaches, tourism and industry have been destroyed. Have they? Yesterday Gov. Jindal was pleading for Corps of Engineers approval to get working on sand berms to protect OFFSHORE islands while there is still time. Has oil reached some isolated marshlands? Absolutely! Is it bathing the coast of LA? Not quite.
Wow, some analysts are now saying this spill is exceeding the Exxon Valdez disaster. I suspect that is very probable. Is there a difference though? Well, yes there is. Exxon Valdez was a big one for the US, but not for major oil spills globally. In fact, the EV spill doesn't rank in the top 10. The leader was the Gulf War!
Lots of Spillage Globally
Why then do we think this is the end of civilization as we know it? A few minutes ago on Fox News (you probably already knew in your heart that I watch FN), I heard the talking head solemnly declaring that the spill already covers area as "large as Delaware and Maryland combined!" I've actually got to feel a bit relieved by that info since DE and MD would be dropped into most states West of the Mississippi without causing a splash.
Is there a motive for shaping our perceptions this way? How about the enviro whackos desire to get us all to live in caves and wear sack cloth and ashes while we atone for consuming fossil fuels and building civilization?
1 comment:
A thing that always comes to my mind whenever these people get their panties in a wad about oil spills. How many oil tankers were blown apart and sunk right off the US coast, from Texas to New York, by German U-boats during WWII? In many cases I'm sure the hulks are still lying on the bottom seeping oil. And yet the world did not come to an end. I'm not aware of the figures, but surely a single modern spill isn't very significant in comparison.
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