Time for Passion

I have heard it said that liberals in general, and compared to today's tea party movement in particular, are not passionate enough about their positions and beliefs. My stock answer has always been that a thoughtful and well reasoned position considers all viewpoints before reaching a conclusion and allows for a change of mind when facts are encountered that prove the original viewpoint incorrect. Conversely, a passionate perspective is often based on emotion, a feeling, or a faith in something not provable with logic. It can be unshakable and uplifting when correct but blind to information that contradicts its veracity. At least for today however, I will toss away the constraints of reason. 

I AM MAD. Actually, outraged would be a better word. Outraged that more than 5 weeks have passed since the explosion on the deep sea drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent release of literally millions of gallons of oil into the water. Outraged that BP would ever place profit above the lives of those working on that rig, above the lives of millions of sea creatures and above the livelihood of thousand of Americans who are dependent on the sea. And I am mad at our president, not because I believe it is his fault, but because he has missed an opportunity to talk to us, on national TV. To tell us how many other deep sea rigs are in use today. To tell us how the regulators we depended on to defend our interests against the oil giants failed at this responsibility. To tell us that he will not rest until the leak is capped and accountability is determined. To assure us that this will never happen again, even if he has to close down all those deep sea wells until their safety is assured. And to ask us to redouble our efforts to conserve gas by car pooling, bicycling, walking, using mass transit and yes, driving a bit slower which he would then mandate by reducing the speed limit on our highways to 55 MPH.

And I am mad at the republicans who have the audacity to try to deflect the blame being accorded to BP as if they don't know that we just spent the first 8 years of the new century with a "business is great" president and a "big oil is the greatest" vice president. As if they don't know that the problem with the regulations is the regulators who weren't doing their job, or worse, were acting under the assumption that they weren't supposed to do their job. And while I am at it, I am mad at the Supreme Court for their decision a few months ago which seemingly granted the right of individuals to corporations. Gee, do you think that more or less influence will be heaped upon our representatives by special interests whose only concern is that their company gets a tax break or a loosening of regulations? 

And I am especially mad at those driving the economy of this country. People who have been fortunate enough to have been born with great intelligence, superior knowledge of business and economic influences and who used those gifts to make as much money as they could for themselves to the detriment of everyone else. I can't help but wonder how anyone who makes such decisions can sleep at night. Is that all they have gleaned from their life, that money and possessions is all that matters? The Scrooges of our times. 

But I am most mad at my fellow citizens who are clearly not interested in the ecological catastrophe that is taking place. Where are the protests and boycotts of BP products? When I recently drove to New York City on I-78, I set my cruise control on 65 and watched in dismay as I was passed continuously, sometimes on the left and right, by my fellow travelers. Even people with PA Wildlife license plates whizzed be me. I am mad at them for handing over their money to the sharks, demanding that they produce double digit returns and then acting shocked when the hedge fund managers had to make up financial instruments to satisfy that demand and who consequently created nothing more than gigantic Ponzi schemes which they then bet against! We created the monster to feed our own greed and are paying the price for this deal. 

But more than anything I am mad at Americans for taking their democracy for granted. Less than 60% voter turnout at the last presidential election! Perhaps 35% turnout at the recent round of primaries! Wake up!! This is your government. There are people being killed in other countries as they fight for the right to vote, American men and women dying to defend our rights and you don't have the time to vote every four years!! I don't know who first said this but you get the government you deserve. We are neck deep in a situation where corporation bottom lines trump their responsibility to provide Americans with livable wages and safe products and our government oversight regulators have traded their responsibility to intervene on our behalf for sporting event tickets and vacations in the Bahamas. So, which is it? Are we disillusioned that our individual actions can't make a difference or do we just not care anymore?