Who knew until just a few weeks ago that Big Oil had a contract with God? BP, the self-proclaimed poster child for corporate social responsibility, got their right to dig one mile below the surface of the sea direct from above.
Yup, that is just the way it is. Nothing any of us can do about it. Because if God gave them the right to drill baby drill, who are we mere mortals to question their authority?
How else would the American government, the international maritime agencies, and oil industry regulators have allowed this one profit-driven company and any oil digger out there, the right to destroy our God-given eco-system? It must have been the Big Guy, or Gal, herself.
You don’t believe me? It says so right in the Good Book. Look it up.
Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Okay, so what happens after that?
Chapter 1, Verse 28: “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
So human beings, i.e. governments, private profit-driven oil companies, industry regulators, have determined they were given the right to “subdue and rule” over the earth and sea from the highest authority. That must be why Big Oil believes that off-shore drilling is its Divine Right. How else would these shareholder companies have the opportunity to drive their drills down five thousand feet underwater to annihilate our fish of the sea, birds of the sky, and every living thing that moves?
Do you get it now? We can’t blame BP. They get their mandate to destroy the eco-system from a higher authority. They do it all in the name of the Almighty. In the case of global oil companies, that higher authority is the Almighty Buck.
That means for BP and Big Oil, Buck is God himself. Or for all practical purposes in the United States of America, God is the Almighty Buck. Yup it has to be. Otherwise why would we worship it over Creation?
We would never let anything less than a Supreme Being take from us our rightful heritage. No human being would have the ability to trade our eco-system for profit. It just couldn’t be done—because we understand that nature itself is sacred.
We live in a shared world. No single person, group of people, corporation or nation has the moral, ethical, or legal right to rape, pillage and plunder what belongs to the living and yet unborn. Not unless it was given away by the Creator itself. So that must be the Almighty Buck.
Now I feel better. The Oil Spill in the Gulf at the hands of the inept and dangerous BP must be an act of God – like an earthquake or something. The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh away. For Big Oil, Buck giveth and taketh away.
So I ask you as you grumble, moan and wring your hands in despair at the great tragedy in the Gulf, WHO GAVE BRITISH PETROLEUM OIL COMPANY THE RIGHT TO DESTROY THE SEA?
Almighty Buck. Buck is in charge. Buck is the one who decides who lives and who dies, who thrives and who perishes. You did not create the universe. You cannot determine how to use our earth. That is Almighty Buck’s job and only He decides who has dominion over earth and sea.
Right now that is BP.
You thought a mere oil company would not be free to poison the seas that belong to you, me, our children and theirs.
You thought that nature was so grand and awe-inspiring in design that no person or institution should be allowed to tamper with its majesty.
You believed that human beings were given the privilege of protecting and preserving our natural world.
You thought wrong.
Our sacred covenant with the earth is not to protect and preserve it after all. BP and our oil drilling laws have shown us that the covenant with Almighty Buck gives human beings the right to strip the earth of its abundance and leave behind environmental devastation for posterity.
The earth and seas are under the rule and dominion of private profit-driven international corporations. The global community decided long ago that this is how it should be. Common economic ideology dictates that our natural resources should serve only short-term human needs. Our governments, even the most enlightened among them, are convinced that profit is more important than people, that shareholder value is greater than nature’s value.
In the name of freedom, free markets and that Holy Grail called “Enterprise” we have forsaken our own eco-systems—those that sustain us. In the process, we have forsaken humankind.
Somehow we cannot see a way to value life and money at the same time. We cannot find a way to profit without endangering the delicate balance of the earth. We cannot imagine a comfortable existence without sacrificing our natural surroundings for it.
We continue the call for off-shore drilling. Almighty Buck wants it that way. We will not “kick our addiction to oil,” or so he says. We are not willing to sacrifice convenience for longevity. So we are told.
As we watch the billions of gallons of toxic oil plumes deadening our sea life, the majority of us would gladly inconvenience ourselves for an end to this destruction. We are willing to forgo shareholder dividends for peace of mind and a greater future on this earth.
It takes our business, political, religious, and global leaders to say “enough.” By ourselves, we do not have the power to stop “off-shore drilling.” We do not possess the engineering skills to create a green car, cheap solar power, or replace our national oil dependency with eco-saving alternatives. Yet we can imagine it; speak of it loudly and boldly for all to hear.
To effect real change, we must join forces in large numbers and say no more to the savage raping of our earth and sea. No more to off-shore drilling. No more to threatening our eco-systems. No more to profit over people and life itself.
There is another way.
We can hold a vision, a dream perhaps, of a balanced life where the earth and sea serve us as we preserve them. Our vision includes a symbiotic relationship with nature – where She provides for us and we protect Her.
In the meantime, we watch in agony the destruction of the Gulf coast, the livelihoods of those that live by nature and the unbelievable toll of perishing sea life. We recognize our vision remains a “pipe dream.” (No pun intended.)
Yet it does not have to be. Nature should not be trumped by private interests. People need not take second place to profits.
If you are looking for someone’s “ass to kick,” you might try finding Almighty Buck.
Monika Mitchell - Executive Director editor@goodb.net
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