Bob Herbert: Our Epic Foolishness

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/opinion/01herbert.html

If a bank is too big to fail, it’s way too big to exist. If an oil well is too far beneath the sea to be plugged when something goes wrong, it’s too deep to be drilled in the first place.

When are we going to stop behaving so stupidly? We nearly wrecked the economy and we’re all but buried in debt. But we can’t break up the biggest banks, and we can’t raise taxes. Now we’re fouling the magnificent Gulf of Mexico and ruining entire communities along the southern Louisiana Coast.

And, by the way, we’re still fighting a futile war in Afghanistan that we’ve been fighting with nonstop futility for nearly a decade. (I’m sure the troops saddled with this thankless task were thrilled to see fans and teams demonstrating their undying support for their efforts by wearing fancy baseball caps on Memorial Day.)

For a nation that can’t stop bragging about how great and powerful it is, we’ve become shockingly helpless in the face of the many challenges confronting us. Our can-do spirit was put on hold many moons ago, and here we are now unable to defeat the Taliban, or rein in the likes of BP and the biggest banks, or stop the oil gushing furiously from the bowels of earth like a warning from Hades about the hubris and ignorance that is threatening to destroy us.

[tblue]

1. Oh man is that spot on.

Love Bob Herbert!

[tabatha]

2. Bush, Cheney, wars and oil.

[scentopine]

5. Obama and East Coast off-shore drilling...

there is more than enough blame to go around in both parties. If I thought that Obama would start spewing "drill, baby, drill" (albeit in much more flowery language) I never would have voted for him or spent a dime supporting democratic party.

With war, and torture, and wire tapping, and trillions for wall street and tax credits as "stimulus" and out-sourcing and health "reform" that makes wall street even richer while doing nothing to contain costs, this is a fucking nightmare.

As much as republicans complain in public, they have little to complain about in private.

[RandomThoughts]

3. Yea that is a poignant thought. And there are things that need fixing I agree.

Hence why I found posting thoughts and music seems to be something to do, since it seems people did not want the way I thought of things in the business world when I tried to work in that area. What else can a person do?

I it seems pretty obvious what needs to be corrected. But some don't do it, and that is weird...

:shrug:

Might as well find joy in life.

It seems he points out many things in that article, and at the end of the article a hopeful note also, and there are many places to find hope, in the thoughts and feelings of many people.

And now that I think about it, still today, in my observations even the simple things have not been done. So why worry. Although many things in society have been done, some for the better.

[ProSense]

4. "We also need a carbon tax."

However and whenever the well gets capped, what we really need is leadership that calls on the American public to begin coping in a serious and sustained way with an energy crisis that we’ve been warned about for decades. If the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history is not enough to bring about a reversal of our epic foolishness on the energy front, then nothing will.

The first thing we can do is conserve more. That’s the low-hanging fruit in any clean-energy strategy.

It’s fast, cheap and easy. It’s something that all Americans, young and old, can be asked to participate in immediately. In that sense, it’s a way of combating the pervasive feelings of helplessness that have become so demoralizing and so destructive to our long-term interests.

People have talked about energy conservation for the longest time. But we have dawdled on making vehicles more fuel-efficient and weatherizing our homes and insisting that commercial buildings be more energy efficient, and so on. Turn those thermostats down a couple of degrees in the winter and up in the summer. Figure out ways to have a little fun while doing it.

We also need a carbon tax. The current crisis is the perfect opportunity for our political leaders to explain to the public why this is so important and what benefits would come from it.

[Goldstein1984]

6. We're only harvesting what we've planted

Moderate Democrats and Republicans meeting in the middle for a neoliberal lovefest of deregulation, globalization, privatization, militarism and peasantification of the working class.

And the situation is worse than we yet know.

We haven't yet admitted that our tombstone is about to be added to the graveyard of empires.

We haven't yet realized the damage that has already been done in the Gulf of Mexico, and there is still so much more that will be done before the discharge is stopped.

The only good news: The worse things get, the less likely we will be to return to business as usual when it's over.

[pmorlan1]

7. Don't forget Monsanto

We're also allowing multinationals like Monsanto and Bayer to destroy our ability to grow our own food and possibly contributing to if not causing the demise of the honey bees and other pollinators. The greed of a few are harming us all.

[boobooday]

8. So, so right and wise

Everyone in America should have to read this. Even if they will just try to deny it.

[paparush]

9. America has perfected the art of Embracing Denial. nt

[blueworld]

10. Bob Herbert is a National Treasure

One of the most frequent & most common ways the mega-corps defeat initiative & enthusiasm in the grass-roots movements is by constantly asserting that the "entire" energy problem can't be solved with hybrid vehicles & lowered thermostats. Keep the sheeple confused & depressed & make them feel they can't make any real difference. To which I say a resounding "bullshit". I keep thinking of the Brits during WWII. They made a huge difference, even when they ultimately needed our help. We can make a huge difference also.

It doesn't have to be 100% solved immediately or within 5 years. A successful strategy will take decades to implement.

But with 300 million people using lightbulbs & thermostats in this country, how much could we save by a little daily sacrifice? QUITE a bit over a year. If businesses stopped receiving tax credits for business travel & used teleconferencing instead of airplanes & hotels, how much more could be saved? Recycling, fewer pesticides & herbicides, using local produce rather than shipping mini-mangoes during all seasons? Just mild, cheap daily sacrifices would make a significant difference immediately as we follow Herbert's recommendations. It would kick BP (& others) where they live & ultimately bring our soldiers home. We don't need Saudi Arabia's sunshine. Petroleum overuse is the biggest threat to National Security.

[butterfly77]

11. Kicked&Recommended!!!

:kick:

[Doctor_J]

12. Foolishness by the proletariat. Willful malevolence among the Ruling Class

This was an "accident" only in the timing and scope. The destruction of the Gulf was inevitable to happen eventually

[inna]

14. After giving it some thought, I have to (mostly) agree with you on all 4 points.

"Foolishness by the proletariat. Willful malevolence among the Ruling Class."

Agreed.


"This was an "accident" only in the timing and scope. The destruction of the Gulf was inevitable to happen eventually."

Partially agree, but not entirely convinced. If you're implying that the Gulf specifically was targeted for destruction, I'm not convinced at all.

Would love to hear more from you on that.

[Doctor_J]

16. Gulf was not specfically targeted

of course. But the complete deregulation (which actually means removal of laws) made major disasters a foregone conclusion. Just as the mine disaster a month earlier was bound to happen, so was this gulf catastrophe. and there will be more as long as corporations don't have to obey any laws.

[XemaSab]

13. 100% accurate

n/t

[Enthusiast]

15. When are we going

to stop behaving so stupidly? Not in the foreseeable future. Not that I can see. Don't believe me, just turn on Fox News and you will quickly be convinced.

[swilton]

17. Barbara Tuchman

captured this scenario perfectly in THE MARCH OF FOLLY......covers everything from the Trojan War through the Rennaissance Popes, to Britain and the Revolutionary War and culminates with the US and the Vietnam War. In each case Tuchman examines acts clearly contrary to the self-interests of the group or organization pursuing them.

http://www.stoneschool.com/Reviews/MarchOfFolly.html