Has anyone seen an oil executive cleaning up the gulf?

July 17, 2010 at 9:03 pm (buddhism, creative writing, culture, education, environment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, humor, journalism, life, politics, random, satire, Writing)
Tags: buddhism, Carl Safina, compassion, ethics, fuedalism, gulf of mexico, human values, kirstyfliesfree, Oil executives, oil spill, serfs

No, that’s not a sarcastic question in this post’s header. It’s a serious inquiry. Has anyone seen an oil executive doing physical labor to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico –or in Peru or in Nigeria or in Ecuador? Who are these people who create and run the oil corporations that so readily rape our world for their own profits? We know their logos. We know the names of their corporations–BP, Chevron, Shell etc. But we don’t really know the individual people who really are the brains running these business. We don’t see them in public trying to placate the people whose livelihoods they’ve destroyed. We don’t see them out trying to win public opinion ratings by spin talking. We don’t see them out cleaning up tarballs or saving the turtles or birds or dolphins.  They actually prohibit concerned “small people” from trying to save the wildlife their decisions and actions are killing. One of their hired spokespersons referred to the “small people”—and that says it all. That one phrase reveals everything “we” need to know about how corporate executives view “us”.  “We” are the little people who make the wheels in their worlds go round with every gallon of gas we burn, with every gas guzzling SUV we buy and drive, with every plastic item we purchase and toss into the trash. We are the new serfs in the feudal lands overlorded by corporate oil executives. Now the thing about corporate executives is that they are biologically human just like the “small people”. Oil executives and managers catch colds, get cancer, have accidents and die just like all the “small people”. They really are human–on this level. I’m not so sure on other levels though. Kirstyfliesfree recently raised the point of showing these executives compassion because they don’t enjoy and value the natural world as much as some other humans do.  I’ve been wondering about this compassion issue. It is a big issue for a buddhist. It’s a tough one to be compassionate to very uncompassionate people who bully their employees and who are destroying so much without any whiff of accountability beyond some money that cannot and will not compensate anyone for what is being lost in the Gulf of Mexico. Offer a dolphin some cash for the destruction of its home and see what sort of response comes forth.  Perhaps compassion is possible because these people are clearly lacking in certain values and that is an unfortunate state of being. But does that mean they should not be held accountable for their actions and decisions? Does showing compassion mean that the “small people” forget what corporate executives DO intentionally  to other people and the environment? Does it mean corporate executives get off scott free just because they are “executives”—or BIG PEOPLE?  Because the executives are BIG PEOPLE aka feudal lords they seem to enjoy a certain impunity that no “small person” aka serf would ever experience.  Are corporate executives capable of receiving or giving compassion? It looks doubtful so far. Who are these people? Do they have families that proudly proclaim, “My parent runs BP and I’m so thrilled for all the great toys their big profits buy for me!” Do they?

Much thanks to Kirstyfliesfree for posting the Carl Safina video: 

http://www.ted.com/talks/carl_safina_the_oil_spill_s_unseen_culprits_victims.html

If anyone sights any BP–or other big oil executives or managers or other BIG PEOPLE actually doing something POSITIVE–or even in public near an oil spill, please post a link to the photo or video. Afterall, we ought to KNOW who our Feudal Lords & Ladies are, shouldn’t we serfs? How else will we know who to bend the knee to if they ever are on the same beach with “us”?

Some names and faces for reference:

http://www.bp.com/managedlistingsection.do?categoryId=9021627&contentId=7040960

http://www.bp.com/managedlistingsection.do?categoryId=9021626&contentId=7041219

Have you seen these folks?