We Are Not Victims. Are We?
by
Week Eight. Day 56. No end in sight.
Yesterday, James Carville wrote an opinion in the Times Picayune. And there has been much discussion of so many of the English pensioners whose retirements are now tanking because of BP and how callous we here in the Gulf are to those Brits. And there’s all sorts of discussions about the six month moratorium to deep well drilling. I am also in the middle of reading Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death and Life in New Orleans.
And today, five years post-Katrina, after a lifetime of having the worst schools, streets, government, [insert anything of governmental value here], I feel something I have never felt before. I am disappointed in my fellow Louisianians. Yes, things are that bad.
So let’s go item by item.
1. Carville goes through a lot of effort to explain how Louisianians are NOT whiners; we are hard workers. But that is hard to reconcile when every soundbite we get out of every citizen and local politician is bitching and moaning. Pointing fingers. I GET the frustration that is felt because BP is lying and the federal government is tied up in red tape. But how is this NEW? Did we in Louisiana learn NOTHING from Katrina but how sticky that federal red tape is? Do we really, REALLY, expect snap decisions, flowing money and quick action from our federal government? Are we still that naive and hopeful?
What I want to see from my local politicians, instead of pissing about how inept the feds are, IS ACTION. You want berms? Go dredge them. The feds own the land and won’t allow it? Let them stop you. You want the finances assured from BP? Send them a bill. Because if BP won’t commit to paying it and in the end does not pay it, who in Louisiana would not pay a $1 tax to pay for the berms? STOP ASKING PERMISSION AND TAKE ACTION. And our citizens? Join forces to support our local government to take that action. Not seeing enough cleanup by BP? GO CLEANUP YOURSELF. Get teams of our citizens out there doing it BECAUSE IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. But, NOOOO. Our folks say, “BP wants to clean it up and do it wrong? Eff em. Let them do it.” WHAT? We’d rather sit back and say I-told-you-so than take action to keep that oil off our wetlands and marshes. We’d rather be run around by the feds, playing by their rules, than bring it to a halt with action.
Victims? Maybe not. But majorly laid back. To a fault. Coincidentally, this was a theme of last night’s Treme (one character even mentions our “defective work ethic.”).
2. British Pensioners. Everyone I talk to says EFF THOSE BRITS. Live by BP, die with BP. Nice empathy, folks. These seniors are in plans; they selected a fund. That fund selects particular stocks, and in many cases selected BP. The individuals did not themselves select BP as an investment vehicle. For all I know, MY 401(k) has BP stock and I too may be having a reduced portfolio value as a result of the spill. I am not saying these folks deserve to be ranked higher on the victim list than, say, the pelicans or our fishermen. But have we gotten so detached from things, gotten so selfish, that we cannot see these pensioners, these elderly folks, as yet another innocent victim of BP? Can we not see that they will suffer, ARE SUFFERING, by the loss of value in their retirement accounts? When seniors take hits in their retirement accounts, they are SCREWED far worse than the likes of me now. If I have BP in my 401(k), I have at least another decade to let that stock rebound. Or for other stocks to make up the loss. But with seniors, many are already receiving distributions out of those plans now. They cannot sit on it for ten years til things rebound. They are dealing with a real loss. And it is shameful that Americans are being harsh to them.
3. The moratorium. I’ve already written about my thoughts on this topic, but arguments to lift it are gaining momentum. What Louisianians are saying, what I have heard local politicians explain to the media, is that Louisiana’s economy has for so very long been tied to seafood and oil (some fishermen are even offshore oil workers) that without those 33 wells being released to drill NOW, our economy will tank. And although we realize the moratorium is to address safety, we are so desperate that in order to feed our families, we need to drill those potentially unsafe wells. Because, the argument continues, if we stop, Big Oil will move its rigs out of Louisiana and <GASP> we will then certainly be doomed.
First of all, why is BP NOT responsible for this moratorium? Can’t the oilmen file a claim with BP for lost wages? BP takes the position that the moratorium is NOT their doing, that such claims are “indirect” and they will not honor them. Yeah, well, that isn’t good enough, BP. You broke it, you bought it. We’ll see you in court. What, you can’t wait years to see justice done so as to feed your family today? Then, for five months, maybe you need to consider filing for unemployment benefits. This argument for drilling is insane. America is addicted to oil. We ADMIT that. We MUST shift to other power sources. We KNOW that. Louisiana oilmen, you are NOT entitled to a job, even if it’s the only one you know. We simply CANNOT stay on Big Oil’s teat so that you can stay unchanged in your career. Maybe you could take this as a wake-up call to brush up your resume. Just as we had to adjust to the death of other industries in the course of economic evolution. This is akin to us having the ability to shut down crack cocaine but keeping it in circulation because the drug dealers (Big Oil) and rehab centers would suffer economic loss if we did so. It’s time we face the music. Step One: Admit you have a problem.
Second, we are, AGAIN, talking about THIRTY-THREE WELLS. Yes, I get that this will impact support service companies too. It’s a lot of jobs. I. GET. IT. But it’s SIX MONTHS, of which ONE has already passed. And finally, someone please explain to me how Big Oil taking its rigs to other countries for those remaining five months will be the death knoll of oil drilling in Louisiana. Won’t that untapped Louisiana oil these companies left be, yanno, SITTING THERE WAITING to be tapped anew in five months?
My problem is the perception we are giving the rest of the country. Here we are, a community of hard workers (per Carville) sitting idle for six months with no idea how to get food on our tables. We are sitting around waiting for BP to clean-up and waiting for the feds to knock BP’s skulls to get the spill capped and the waters cleaned. We want BP to pay us to make us whole. While at the same time we judge those British pensioners as cocky for having the audacity to complain about their financial loss being tied to BP.
And the cherry on this shit sundae is the tone of Nine Lives. I haven’t finished this novel yet. And I have been told by so many people that I simply HAD to read it. I am not sure WHY yet. About one-third into it and I wonder why the hell I live here. It depicts the blacks as all living in the Ninth Ward and the whites as uber-rich and untouchable. It seems to suggest we revel in being lazy, of having no ambition, of valuing our Carnival-related genealogy and private clubs more than our own self-preservation. This is NOT my New Orleans; it never was.
And now I feel we’ve allowed ourselves to become victims of our own creation. Prepare little for the future. After all, didn’t Katrina teach us we could lose everything in the course of a storm? We have such LOW expectations now. Even of ourselves. We may not be whiners, but we sure are coming off as NEEDING NEEDING NEEDING.
It’s time we brushed ourselves off, stopped listening to every NO we’ve been getting from BP and the feds. It’s time we wrestled control of our lives out of the hands of folks that don’t care about us and put it back into our own hands.
WE can do it. Louisiana WILL survive. We ARE hard workers. And maybe a bit too trusting. But it never fails that when ALL ELSE FAILS for Louisianians, we pull through for ourselves. And it’s time we start thinking as survivors. And stop coming off as victims.
Great post. We need to stop blaming and start DOING something. What, I’m not sure. But I’m positive that someone out there smarter than me knows what we can do. My opinion is that going out and de-oiling a single crab will do more good than all the protests in the world.
You make a great point about our local politicians, and I hope they take heed and take action. Honestly, I completely agree with everything you’ve written. So glad someone is saying these things out loud.
I’m trying hard to be as optimistic as you are, but I’m not convinced we learned anything at all from Katrina, and I’m pretty sure I can’t watch the world end all over again. Let’s go colonize Detroit. They could use some help, I’ve heard. There’s plenty of room (abandoned buildings), and an ocean full of oil will surely have some impact on the climate, so maybe the weather in MI will be warm enough for us sometime soon. It’s a viable plan–what else can we do?
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we must hold our heads up and be prepared to fail if all the oil companies leave. something says they wont- they may be willing to implement higher safety standards and share more revenue than before in order to access this oil. the oil companies are fueling this economic panic, just as they have done all along. no other state will allow big oil to rape us like they have. where else will they go to drill baby drill?
great post. but i have to argue not everyone feels ‘victimized’
i know i don’t – i’m a survivor.
.. but that’s not to say i’m not devastated by this terrible mess BP has put all of us in – i am.
but no, i don’t feel victimized.
.-= termite´s last blog ..monday monday =-.
Termite, I don’t feel victimized either. My worry is that we are coming across as victims (again) or whiners (even worse) on the media. And it is my theory that we need to stop complaining abt all that everyone is doing wrong with us and take that old bull by the horns. Kick some ass and take names. Then worry about the cost. We need to protect those wetlands AT ALL COSTS. And time is against us on debating on the front end who will pay for it. In the end, LOUISIANIANS will pay the ultimate price if the marshes are forsaken as we fight over it.
The pensioners maybe victims, but not of the oil spill. Their investments were poorly diversified if this is effecting them more than the crappy economy. They are victims of stock brokers.
.-= Ryan Waldron´s last blog ..Products Of The South: NOLA Couture =-.
The Daily Hurricane blog, presided over by an oil industry veteran, has a very good article written by its proprietor (http://is.gd/cQkTB) on why the moratorium needs to be kept in place. Arguments include: We were lucky this was BP; it is only one of 4 companies out of 12 operating in deep water with the assets to pay for the spill. Other companies would already be bankrupt and taxpayers would be cleaning up. Therefore, take the time to put in place systems to ensure this won’t happen.
The author then lays out what needs to be in place from a drilling and safety engineering standpoint, as well as having containment technology that actually works pre-marshalled for quick deployment in the event engineering systems fail and there is another massive discharge.
Needless to say, as someone pointed out yesterday and you touched on, is that the oil “ain’t going no where.” If these companies leave and don’t come back to collect it, someone else will. And by the volume of this well’s spew so far, it’s obvious there is A LOT of oil in these deepwater formations; we need to figure out a way to handle the immense pressures it is under, which is another reason the moratorium is not inherently a bad idea.
Seriously, I’m shocked that you wrote this. No one dare call anyone from Katrina a whiner,but yet ppl who have been doing this work for generations & some just pulling out from Katrina are the whiners, now? I’m sorry this not a natural disaster nor man made, but a government & corporation fuck up. Go down the line & pick & choose the many fuck ups, because of government greed.
And really you would have nothing to say if the local government went ahead w/o approval? I wouldn’t but I also know how things work. And are u advocating ppl risk possible legal action by entering w/o BP’s authorization or untrained ppl cleaning & having BP declaring interference therefore claiming no responsiblitly b/c of carelessness of the untrained folks furthering messing up clean up efforts? Who will represent them for free? You?
As for those Brits whose retirements are hurt, shouldn’t they take your advice, as well? Shouldn’t they have been more careful of where their money was invested? Investments are risky, you took a risk. Your part in that riskiness is getting a job when u expected to retire. That is not a unique problem.
How would feel if your life’s work & debt was destroyed & someone said,meh, just found another one? Easier said, then done.
I agree we are strong ppl, but considering what we have been through in the past 5 yrs, I think we deserve some answers & a bit of anger.
SoMo, First, I am NOT saying we are whiners. I am saying we are allowing ourselves to be portrayed as such (or victims) through the media.
My bigger point is that this man-made disaster is impacting our marshes, something bigger than oil, jobs, economies. There are natural laws that are at play here, that we are up against now, and that we are ignoring as business people and governments fight over who pays. The time for those discussions is OVER and action is NEEDED NOW to save what’s left of the wetlands.
Re: pensioners, in many cases, they did not select BP stock any more than I select particular stocks in my 401(k). As I said, you select a FUND based on risk level and whether international or stock heavy or whatnot. The Fund then selects stocks that go into it. All I said is that they too are victims.
Re: My job going away? I am sorry but have I NOT been screaming about the disappearance of the FEDERAL ESTATE TAX? And Louisiana’s Inheritance tax is gone now too. My job is VERY different than it was even two years ago. I didn’t WHINE about it. I didn’t shrivel up and die on the vine either. I ADAPTED. Because that is what survivors do. I am now doing different things in my law practice.
Getting a law degree, and LLM even, does NOT entitle my government to keep me employed with its laws. THAT IS ABSURD. And these oilmen have been hearing of our need to shift our dependence off oil for years now. Maybe they should have heeded those warnings. But NO, let’s blindly keep on Big Oil’s teat. And NOW? NOW! You are saying that they are OWED their job because they went into expecting to retire from it? NO WAY. Are you suggesting that BP pay these fishermen for the balance of their careers b/c they can no longer fish? Even if a fisherman is, say, 40 years old? Does not the individual have ANY RESPONSIBILITY ANYMORE for his own future, even when man-made disasters happen? You haven’t cut off the arms and legs of these men, or their minds, or even their egos. I would hazard a guess that they’d rather find work, even in a new field–with help from BP to get them re-established–than be on the Dole, BP’s or the government’s.
And why is it that I am getting opposition from “smaller government” folks and not the scary heavy-government-Left? Oh, yeah, the Right can’t admit this is a sin of capitalism. Dare not criticize businesses. We have gone mad.
Really, this is a sin of capitalism? Maybe you haven’t heard from the Liberals because this whole mess proves that there just let government handle it won’t work. The government has regulations in place and then failed to enforce them. As far as I see it, if the government wants it’s hands into regulations then they better well do the job and not let greed over take them. Hey, I want smaller government and would rather government stay out of business, but that is not reality. And that doesn’t mean that I am on the side of BP, they need to do what is right.
I am pointing out that you were upset with anyone who mentioned that you should move from New Orleans after Katrina, but you are practically asking the same of the people affected by this oil spill. This is just not fishermans and oil workers, it is whole communities that will need to find work. Should they change their way of life or move just because of this.
I am all for people doing for themselves, but you mentioned it is no problem for them to go on unemployment. Well, many working people don’t want to just sit and wait for a check. They want to work and considering that this didn’t have to happen, I can understand their frustrations.
Find you adapted, but your job didn’t totally go away. Sure these people can and probably will find a new line of work, but it doesn’t just happen in 2 months. Especially, when the government and BP haven’t been exactly up front about the reality of the situation and have been stringing all this people along. What do you suggest they should go out into an already down economy and find a job? This oil spill just added a ton more people to the unemployment lines in a government that is not helping that crisis either. I am simply pointing out that your suggestions are easier said than done.
And with that, you want to come over for pizza and ice cream, tomorrow?
.-= SoMo´s last blog ..Yoga Time with Evie =-.
SoMo, yes, this is a sin of capitalism. Capitalism would say let the industry regulate itself–you don’t need government regulations. In essence, the industry had just that. And viola. FAIL.
Re: jobs. Everything you say about the jobs impacted because of the spill, I am with you. My only carve-out re: jobs were those of the oilmen who want the moratorium lifted. Those people have had warning their industry was dying. Those people don’t want to go on unemployment to wait out the five remaining months to be sure the rigs are safe. I did not address the others–they are nothing but victims. And many are already shifting gears to find new work. At least the ones I know of personally. But the oilmen? NOOO. Can’t stop drilling. That’d kill our economy! Well, that very drilling is what killed our wetlands AND our economy. Let them sit it out and have the rigs inspected as is reasonable.
I agree with you 100% on your comment about this as a sin of capitalism. I truly honestly believe that this has little to do with the government or it’s involvement, because at the very core is our need for our own oil, so that we can continue to be a world leader and not rely on other countries that have more oil in environmentally safer places.
We didn’t want to be tied to oil sources abroad (including Canada, where they have ridiculous amounts of oil sands that would present a much less significant risk to the environment), and so we’ve gone and done this. Nevermind that we aren’t encouraging alternate fuel sources or cars that run on electricity or other possibilities, and I cannot for the life of me understand why except because so many powerful people have their hands in the pockets of oil companies.
I don’t think it’s whining, I think it’s frustration. It’s being unable to control a situation that has such a profound impact. It’s wanting to fix something that is nearly unfixable, even by people who have the power and education to figure a fix out.
Feeling helpless is a terrible thing.
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