A friend of mine; Aly, has a drunken nickname: Tell It Like It Is Aly….meaning when she drinks enough she starts to tell it like it is and not hold back. Well Aly, I'm stealing your name for the snappy title of my post….all I can say is, copying is the highest form of flattery, you're welcome.
Anyway, last week on Tuesday I posted about the TPP, so I figured I might make another post about government atrocities in our time. Let me be clear; I do like the government, but I think it has become so corrupt, that it is not "for the people, by the people" as our founding fathers intended it. If anything it is now "for the corporations, by the corporations." Also, do not misconstrue my words to say I am anti-business; I'm not. I'm for capitalism, but I am also for government regulation that guards people from being taken advantage of by big corporations that have more power than they should. If we are going to have a capitalist society, we need a strong public sector to balance it out. The public sector keeps the private sector in check and vice versa. Right now, I believe our system is very unbalanced and the private sector is far outweighing the public side.
With that said, the main point of my post last week was that our democracy is no longer the system it was set up to be. The TPP is one example of how we have lost control over our system and that large corporations have most of the control, unless if we guard them closely. Another example I wanted to bring up was this movie:
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com
In Gasland and Gasland 2; Josh Fox documents the hydraulic fracking industry taking over most of our rural areas. For those of you that don't know, hydraulic fracking is the process by which oil companies get natural gas. It is true that natural gas, when burned, causes very few fumes, only a fraction of what our regular gas causes today. BUT, what they fail to tell you is that the process by which they acquire the natural gas is far more dangerous to our environment, not just the air, but the land and water as well. So gas companies will market it as a "clean" energy, but it is far from the truth.
Despite the environmental challenges it causes, it also causes destruction of water, land and property value to private home and land owners. People that live in communities near drilling sites are getting sick at alarming rates, cannot use any of their water, and basically loose all property value in their house, because who wants to buy a house with no usable water?
My point is not to talk about the problems of the practice at this time, my point is to talk about how they have so much power due to the lobbies and money they have in Washington, that many of these people get no retribution for their loses and the government does nothing to protect them. When they appeal to the EPA to get some protection, very little and inconsequential help is given. Also, if you were to watch the documentary you would see that Josh Fox has trouble getting into a government hearing about hydraulic fracking. Government hearings are supposed to be open to the public. The very foundation of our system is that people have the power to know the actions the government is taking and to have a voice in those actions. But, the lobbies have found a way to keep public opinion out.
The main thesis of his documentary, and what I am also trying to highlight, is that our democracy is stolen right now. Hydraulic fracking may be a terrible thing, but its also a symptom of a deeper problem; our elected officials are bought. Of course I highly recommend seeing both movies; the latter is on HBO OnDemand now. But, either way, realize that there is a bigger problem and the mishegas on TV news is meant to keep you distracted from the real problems.
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