I don’t know how many independent US fishermen and shrimpers were working in the Gulf of Mexico at the time of the Macondo well blowout. I would guess they were a large percentage of the total. When I visit the Galveston area I do not see much evidence of a large corporate presence. Many of the smaller local seafood buyers working for restaurant chains buy their goods at or very near dockside. (I am not sure where the largest suppliers, such as Sysco, buy theirs.)
I see no reason Wall Street operators will not utilize the Macondo disaster to drive the independents out of business so that large corporations will eventually achieve monopoly control of the entire Gulf of Mexico fishing business.
For them to do so, of course, the Gulf would have to one day “come back.” This is a phrase we’ve repeatedly heard about New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city. Now that we once again see tourism ads promoting New Orleans, people say it is back, but we know the city has been transformed in a middle class direction as thousands of lower-income people have been permanently removed.
Just as the Wall Street bankers are willing to gamble on world war to assure their profits keep coming in, they should have no compunction about gambling on a permanent ecological disaster if one possible outcome is that “it isn’t that bad,” it will come back, and they will be left in complete control.
I do not say the Macondo blowout was a conscious conspiracy to ruin the Gulf of Mexico in the interest of seafood monopolists. Far from it. It merely seems obvious that, the disaster having happened, it will not be allowed to go to waste in the service of profit.
Charles H
Texas, USA
18 July 2010
On “BP ‘claims czar’: No compensation for most victims of oil spill”
I was exposed to diesel fuel oil while working at a NYS-run group home. The state knew the tank was leaking but did nothing about it. I am suffering from what is called a multiple chemical sensitivity and it has ruined my health as well as my social life. I am being denied worker’s comp, disability payments (I pay for this policy) and am being threatened by my employer with disciplinary action for letting the family members know what was going on. The people exposed to this BP oil spill can expect to have health problems and BP should be required to have a compensation fund for them.
Lisa L
19 July 2010
David Walsh’s exchange with a reader provided a great format for an insightful read.
One of the things I got out of it was that the ruling elite want people to rely on a kind of corporate “pragmatism” instead of principle because the elite, given their ability to effectively control the outcome of events nowadays—especially political ones—know that if they can get people to base their convictions on the “pragmatism” or likely outcome of those events then they can pretty much dictate what convictions people hold.
And that explains a lot when it comes to liberals and others on the fake left. Thanks!
Greg
California, USA
20 July 2010
On “Hundreds of school rebuilds scrapped by British government”
It is so ironic that governments can find money to purchase arms by the billions of dollars and send their young ones to go and make wars but they can’t even provide the necessary tools to educate their own people. It is indeed lunacy...
JLV
Quebec, Canada
17 July 2010
On “New York State budget crisis will mean draconian cuts for public education”
Isabelle’s article neatly ties together the multiple attacks on education that are perpetrated by the corporate elite and their government. Education involves so many facets of class society and the opposing core values of the capitalist and working classes that Governor Paterson’s cuts and the unions’ collaboration make clear that the "DEformers" first priority is the profit system.
In New York City, teachers, parents, and students should not be surprised that the Department of Education is creating conditions to go ahead with closing 19 schools, despite the temporary political cover the appellate court had given Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein by ruling that hearings on the schools were not conducted fairly. Just as with the bank bailout, the wars, and Obama’s handling of the BP oil spill, corporate interests are the controlling factor. As Isabelle states, “a mass party of the working class must be built to fight for a socialist program that reorganizes economic life to meet the needs of the vast majority.”
Harvey L
New York, USA
20 July 2010
Joseph H is not the only one having a problem with Medicaid, nor is the Michigan woman who died after being cut out. I’ve been trying to get help with my teeth for two years and got nowhere. I have asked Medicaid for an appeal because they denied the work to save my teeth, and they denied the appeal as well. The only dental work they will approve is to have my bottom teeth extracted. I tried to explain that having my teeth pulled could put me at risk of getting oesteonecrosis (dead jaw) because I have been taking fosamax for several years, which has been reported to have devastating results with oral surgery.
I had written a letter to senator Harry Reid asking for help, and he forwarded my letter to Nevada governor Jim Gibbons who suggested I buy dental insurance and gave me the name and address to contact.
I actually thought that the health care reform would help every American citizen because that’s what president Obama promised during his campaign. The way I see it is that the health care BS reform is to enrich the insurance giants!
I am originally from Belgium where health care for its people is the best, along with France and Holland. Most European countries have excellent health care because they CARE! The US rating keeps going down as the worst. When I tell my family and friends in Europe about what I’m going through with my teeth they have a hard time believing it because the US has been known to be a compassionate country. Of course they are, they gave billions of dollars to all the investment brokers to bail them out, that’s compassion!
Imagine living that long in the US of A and being taken out by teeth problems!
I keep a daily journal of my activities and forward it to my family and friends throughout Europe so that they will realize what the Obama health care reform is doing to the poor in the US.
Monica S
Nevada, USA
17 July 2010