The destruction of Earth and the rise of Corporate irresponsibility

[Nerull]

Quite a lofty title but it something that needs to be said (by me anyway).

There seems to be a growing divide between government and business around the world. The various governments around the world are slowly, but surely beginning to wake up and find that there IS a limit on most of our resources. In light of this they are wanting to start having some fairly drastic changes to the day-to-day life of most people. Some are simple like being fined for not recycling or more fines/imprisonment for fly-tipping and industrial dumping.

Others are a lot more wholesale such as the encouragement of one child families (some coutries will only provide finacial support for the first-born) and an increase in the numbers of "eco-friendly" houses being built (I personally want a Hobbitt hole). Even then we will still have fossil fuel burning power stations burning up 1000's of tons a day so that we can leave our TV's and PC's on ALL night just because we're too lazy too switch it on again in the morning.

At the heart of this, for me, is the insistance of corporations that we need "specially imported blah..." or "bigger, faster more powerful...". Why do we need 4x4's (interstingly 4x4 = $x$ when holding shift !!) when the most off road they see is parking on the grass outside their house ? Does anyone really need to have their apples flown halfway accross the world when local produce is better and cheaper ?

Again the only reason we have a percieved need for these things is due to pressure from corporations via advertisements and product placement in virtually all media. Why do they create need in us ? To sell that same stuff back to us but what we've forgotten is that we didn't want it before and we have been bombarded by media & advertisements until we have found (or justified) a use for it.

As individuals in governments try to stand up and challenge corporations about their practices they are either ridiculed, harrassed or threatened by these corporations so that they are viewed in a negative light by the rest of the world/country/town etc. and their (often valid) P.O.V. gets forgotten about.

Sorry to rant but having been responsible in the past for being of the "Oh that won't affect me; it's gonna happen 50 years from now" mentality. (Oh and if that is your current mentality - what about your kids in 50 years ? Or their kids ? Or what about your folks ? Being elderly all that smog and $#!~ is going to have a detrimental effect on them.)

Here's a couple of examples of organizations/individual cases of the problem:

http://www.offthebooks.org/
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/exxon-valdez-disaster-15-year

[Jill Monroe]

i think another problem is that alot of times companies and "government" are often in bed together without the general public realizing it.


people are finally realizing how companies (like the mega telecome company AT&T) have long made it a practice to influence government policy and its REALLY INFURIATING to know that the so called democratic process or "government" can be influenced by companies and special interest groups.

in america alone, the oil companies Exxon and BP are now listed by Forbes as the most POWERFULL companies in the world. they are now larger by themselves than the five largest companies listed on Forbes list and they are raking in BILLIONS of profits.

they tout the fact that government SHOULDNT step in to regulate gas prices because of the capitalist system but at the same time...if the government would TAX the profits that these companies bring in..we would see gas prices DROP SHARPLY and QUICKLY but that won't happen anytime soon because our current president is FROM "big oil". its what his family is built on and who he is in bed with so he's not ABOUT to sell them out like that.