Let me start this entry by clearly stating that I do not care who is in office right now. As far as I am concerned this is NOT a political issue but an issue being made political. So please, let's take that off the table. And, as always, I do not have an agenda, these are my thoughts and opinions.
Why do we as a collective give the impression that money will make everything okay then feign outrage?Shouldn’t the flow of oil in the Gulf be stopped (or at least significantly slowed) and the well capped before talking about restitution for damages? At the very least, shouldn't a plan or strategy that is not a guess be in place?
At this point, who cares how many millions of dollars are being offered? And, you mean SO FAR, right? Will offers of another damage offer and another damage offer after that offer be made? It seems to me that at this point an "offer" for anything else but to cap the well, support the immediate clean up and survival of the gulf’s people and animals at this point is premature. And, no one knows that number yet or what it could be so how can that be "offered". The only way to begin to know is to stop the unobstructed flow so please keep the entire focus and energy towards that.
For me, it seems this situation is the equivalent of a person bleeding out in the operating room while the attorneys representing the estranged family members are on the other side of the theater door hurling accusations and blame at each other while putting a value on the estate and laying claim to the damages before fully understanding the current diagnosis. It is not even clear if the person has the appropriate care available to them to survive and yet negotiations are in full swing regardless of the possible outcome.
I am hard pressed to understand how giving validity before understanding these huge numbers of monies brings any type of comfort to the people who live and breathe in the affected regions. All they know is that regardless of the digits, they are screwed. That is their truth. Tossing around large numbers may give a false sense of accomplishment to the larger community; “See, now we are getting somewhere! We are talking about money! It must be close to being finished”.
To the people in, say, the state of Washington, who are not ignorant of the situation but do not have first hand experience of how the people of the gulf are living day to day may think this is good. These Washingtonians know that there will be a residual component of this crisis that will effect them personally but it really does not appear on their immediate or long-term radar since they are on the other side of country. Subconsciously, they may even see the publication of these numbers as a positive sign. It’s not.
I know that by my living another state I do not understand but a personal experience a few years ago assures me that I although I may think I am able to empathize, I am not. Not even close. My husband and I lost our home and all our possessions in a flood. We, with our 3 dogs, had to walk away with only what we were wearing. Insurance, bullshit and red tape drastically changed our lives for 4 years. Financially it was a nightmare; emotionally it was a nightmare but was it the end of the world? No. Did it suck? Absolutely! It sucked for a very long time. We have since rebuilt and were blessed that there was no loss of life. During the whole process, I truly appreciated everyone’s support and good wishes but no one honestly understood how difficult of a time that was for us. They couldn't unless they lived through it themselves. After the initial crisis phase, our friends and family went back to their lives (understandably so) while we did not have our normal life to get back to. And our situation was super small on the scale in comparison to this or the recent flooding in the South or Katrina, etc!
The reality is that life goes on for everyone; only some lives take longer to rebuild and some will never be the same. So when I hear about situations such as these, my heart melts just as yours may, but I feel it from a first hand point of view. It will be fine; it will be different, but it will be fine. And if all are lucky it will be a good different BUT the problem has to be fixed before any of the this can be started.
And please, STOP talking about alternative energies AT THIS MOMENT. This is like someone suggesting that you did not have enough smoke alarms as you stand in front of the last burning embers of your childhood home. DO NOT DISTORT OR DETRACT OR USE THIS CRISIS! I want to talk about today, right now, this circumstance. Don't give me scenarios for hypothetical situations that are currently not an option AT THIS MOMENT. Conversations about changing fuels so that 20 years down the line I will not need the oil flowing out in the waters at this moment does not alter the fact that there is OIL FLOWING OUT IN THE WATERS OF THE GULF TODAY. Everyone knows hindsight is 20-20 but these are 2 different conversations. I hate, hate, HATE that they are being brought up in the same sentence. It makes me crazy to think that we may have already become so apathetic that we are able to move on to the next subject without fully realizing or doing out best to fix this one.
Whew! Where did that come from? I think I feel a little better though.
I will get off my soapbox now. Sorry for shouting.
