A Fifth for the 4th
I love a good fable. This is a good fable about the BP oil spill.sent by Anne Hochberg.
Like it or not, we are being politicized by events. On this 4th of July, I propose the following global definition of patriotism: Defense of earth. This is no longer an abstract moral imperative but a social necessity on which a future worth living for and in depends.
Tomorrow, consult your Communist Manifestos and read the prognosis for capitalism published the same year and place as the "Origin of the Species," in London 1849, then wonder why both books are well on their way to becoming banned reading in the U.S. of A. Marx rang as loud a death knell for Capitalism as Darwin did for its cultural proxy, organized Christianity. The crucified that has died because of, not for, our sins is Planet earth itself. There is no resurrrection in sight--hence belief in a distant realm called heaven where we remain beyond the reach of noose or cross. Salvation has, I have glimpsed, as much to do with embodiment (em-bodhi-ment) as transcendence. To save the soul is to save our common Self and sole being: Mother Earth. That's what Merlin thinks this transfigured day, mumbling within the tree where he is imprisoned. Even when he bangs on the Grail Cup locked in there with him to serve as drinking glass and midnight denture holder, few hear and no one comes near. Would you, if the voice you heard kept quoting Jack Spicer, "Nothing deserves to live"? Could the magi be having a bad day? Pray without ceasing he, and we, change our tune--soon.
Stories Change The World
BP or Not BP?
Posted: 01 Jul 2010 08:26 AM PDT
New Zealand farm
This is a wonderful, well-written blog post by my business collaborator Ian Waddelow. Ian is a European consultant who works with successful businesses around the world. He is a white knight crusading for a better world.
There are four types of people in the world:
Landowners: who control the world’s assets
Farmers: who are appointed by landowners to tend and maximize their assets
Sheepdogs: the trusted and loyal adjutant of farmers that tear around with tireless energy snapping at the sheep, keeping them under control and bending them to the will of the farmer.
Sheep: who bleat a lot but usually end up following the crowd and doing as they are told.
You can see this play out perfectly in the recent BP oil spill off the coast of America.
The Landowners – for BP: the shareholders -
for USA Inc: voters who own assets affected by spill -
for GB PLC: the voters with assets tied to BP (pension funds etc.)
According to Christopher Helman, a Houston-based editor with Forbes, the Gulf Oil Spill will cost BP more than $60 billion: $20 billion into the BP Trust Fund (recently set up after a lot of arm twisting from the Obama administration) $22bn in clean-up costs (two years at $30.6 million a day) and $20bn in penalties (and lawsuits)
It is clear to any financial analyst that such numbers seriously call into question BP’s ability to remain solvent. Were the company to liquidate, the shareholder – our landowners – would stand to lose $236bn in assets.
Naturally, they will fight to stop this from happening. US asset owners don’t want this to happen either unless it gives them the best chance of the biggest payout in restitution. GB PLC cannot afford for this revenue stream to disappear as it receive $5.6bn a year from BP in income tax, national insurance contributions, fuel duty and VAT.
To see BP go under has long-term far reaching consequences for all the landowners.
The Farmers – for BP: Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg and CEO, Tony Hayward
for USA Inc: President Barak Obama
for GB PLC: Prime Minister David Cameron
Whenever there is trouble on the farm, the farmer has to take the flak and all four are under immense pressure from their lords and masters it makes sense to come up with a deal between them.
The additional problem for Obama and Cameron is they are the appointed farmer for many landowners, some with conflicting requirements. Both heads of state are starting to realize they cannot please all their masters all the time. For Obama, he has the local population hit by the disaster desperate for restitution and punishment.
They want to see the company brought to its knees and yet 40% of BP shareholders are members of USA Inc. Pensions, investment funds, and personal savings would all be dramatically hit. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil would love to get their hands on those $236bn in BP assets for a knockdown price.
Cameron, meanwhile, was on the campaign trail when the disaster struck and has to get up to speed quickly and defend his revenue stream and one of the few remaining UK global corporations.
The Sheepdogs – The PR men
This is trial by media and so any good farmer will have some loyal and efficient sheepdogs rounding up the press and controlling public opinion. Obama’s team were the first to coral them, demanding summits and capturing the green moral high ground.
They positioned BP as ‘the evil baddy’ in the story, negligent and uncaring and put a white Stetson firmly onto Obama’s head.
Cameron was yet to walk through the door of Number 10 so could do little without a clear mandate to act.
Unfortunately, Tony Hayward’s sheepdogs watched the sheep wander all over the place and in irritation started snapping at the heels of the flock leaders. Despite spending $50m on PR, his team made a series of gaffes, including:
initially saying the impact would be ‘very modest’(enraging Gulf coast landowners and US politicians).
going sailing while the disaster was at its height
pledging on a nationally broadcast TV advertisement that “We will make this right.”
posting a public apology for the oil spill on the BP website and promising to clean up every drop of oil and “restore the shoreline to its original state”.
telling the people in Louisiana, where oil had begun to reach parts of the state’s south-eastern marshes,. “We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives. There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.” The statement was particularly criticized given that eleven people died in the drilling platform explosion that caused the spill.
stating in an interview with Sky News that he was not overly concerned by the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. “I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest.”
insisting to a Guardian reporter that the leaked oil and the dispersant being released into the sea should be put in context: “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.”
telling NBC that BP was not at fault for the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon or the subsequent oil spill. “The drilling rig was a Transocean drilling rig. It was their rig and their equipment that failed, run by their people and their processes
advertising on the web for any ideas on how to stop the oil leak
spending the $50m on these statements – allowing Obama to cry “What I don’t wanna hear is when they’re spending that kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising that they’re nickel and diming fishermen.” It also allowed Obama’s chief of White House staff and loyal right-hand sheep dog to chime in and say Mr. Hayward “wouldn’t be working for me after any of those statements”.
A sheepdog that doesn’t round up sheep is not a sheepdog.
The Sheep – all the stakeholders living on the farm
Life as a sheep is ultimately one of powerless frustration. Their world is filled with death, suffering and devastation but what to do? The sheep have every right to be incredulous. They are suffering but they are also just playing the game.
The solution is also not simple. You try just tightening a nut with a robot, with no purchase, 1,500 metres below the surface of the ocean. While the sheep make suggestions to stop the leak (ranging from ice plugs to nuclear weapons) they are powerless to act.
The sad thing in all of this is that had BP cut the riser during the first week and installed a second blowout preventer, a massively heavy stack the size of a five story building, then we may have been applauding Hayward for averting an horrific natural disaster.
What pains the sheep the most is it is their lives that are ruined and can do little to avert the problem. Big problems are generated by big entities and in many cases these corporate entities are bigger and more powerful than governments.
They, therefore, are the only ones capable of solving the problems that they make.
The suspicion is that the BP landowners and farmers are in a collusion of greed. They ignored the signs that their golden goose was sick and, instead of paying for a vet, decided to simply shoved their arm inside the bird to pull out whatever gold they could lay their hands on.
Modern day landowners are short term. They want their jam and bread today. They are not interested in handing over the assets to future generations but surely global companies are one day going to realize – no globe, no company.
It is time for shareholders to think bigger and longer and appoint farmers who think the same rather than maximizing their exit after three years of starving the golden goose.
So if you are a landowner or farmer, be wary for being too judgmental of Mr. Hayward. Everyone from railway companies to airlines, from pharmaceutical companies to utilities are cutting corners and the farmers that are appointed are the ones who turn a blind eye.
If you are a head of state like GB Inc you will see that selling off all your land leaves you at their beck and call. You will never be more than their hired hand.
As for the rest of us, the sheep, what to do? We appoint farmers who have sold all our assets to wealthy corporate landowners and plunged us deep into debt. Shall we just bleat?.
Are we just going meekly like lambs to the slaughter or is it time to ensure that the meek truly inherit the earth and build some new assets for us all?
Like it or not, we are being politicized by events. On this 4th of July, I propose the following global definition of patriotism: Defense of earth. This is no longer an abstract moral imperative but a social necessity on which a future worth living for and in depends.
Tomorrow, consult your Communist Manifestos and read the prognosis for capitalism published the same year and place as the "Origin of the Species," in London 1849, then wonder why both books are well on their way to becoming banned reading in the U.S. of A. Marx rang as loud a death knell for Capitalism as Darwin did for its cultural proxy, organized Christianity. The crucified that has died because of, not for, our sins is Planet earth itself. There is no resurrrection in sight--hence belief in a distant realm called heaven where we remain beyond the reach of noose or cross. Salvation has, I have glimpsed, as much to do with embodiment (em-bodhi-ment) as transcendence. To save the soul is to save our common Self and sole being: Mother Earth. That's what Merlin thinks this transfigured day, mumbling within the tree where he is imprisoned. Even when he bangs on the Grail Cup locked in there with him to serve as drinking glass and midnight denture holder, few hear and no one comes near. Would you, if the voice you heard kept quoting Jack Spicer, "Nothing deserves to live"? Could the magi be having a bad day? Pray without ceasing he, and we, change our tune--soon.
Stories Change The World
BP or Not BP?
Posted: 01 Jul 2010 08:26 AM PDT
New Zealand farm
This is a wonderful, well-written blog post by my business collaborator Ian Waddelow. Ian is a European consultant who works with successful businesses around the world. He is a white knight crusading for a better world.
There are four types of people in the world:
Landowners: who control the world’s assets
Farmers: who are appointed by landowners to tend and maximize their assets
Sheepdogs: the trusted and loyal adjutant of farmers that tear around with tireless energy snapping at the sheep, keeping them under control and bending them to the will of the farmer.
Sheep: who bleat a lot but usually end up following the crowd and doing as they are told.
You can see this play out perfectly in the recent BP oil spill off the coast of America.
The Landowners – for BP: the shareholders -
for USA Inc: voters who own assets affected by spill -
for GB PLC: the voters with assets tied to BP (pension funds etc.)
According to Christopher Helman, a Houston-based editor with Forbes, the Gulf Oil Spill will cost BP more than $60 billion: $20 billion into the BP Trust Fund (recently set up after a lot of arm twisting from the Obama administration) $22bn in clean-up costs (two years at $30.6 million a day) and $20bn in penalties (and lawsuits)
It is clear to any financial analyst that such numbers seriously call into question BP’s ability to remain solvent. Were the company to liquidate, the shareholder – our landowners – would stand to lose $236bn in assets.
Naturally, they will fight to stop this from happening. US asset owners don’t want this to happen either unless it gives them the best chance of the biggest payout in restitution. GB PLC cannot afford for this revenue stream to disappear as it receive $5.6bn a year from BP in income tax, national insurance contributions, fuel duty and VAT.
To see BP go under has long-term far reaching consequences for all the landowners.
The Farmers – for BP: Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg and CEO, Tony Hayward
for USA Inc: President Barak Obama
for GB PLC: Prime Minister David Cameron
Whenever there is trouble on the farm, the farmer has to take the flak and all four are under immense pressure from their lords and masters it makes sense to come up with a deal between them.
The additional problem for Obama and Cameron is they are the appointed farmer for many landowners, some with conflicting requirements. Both heads of state are starting to realize they cannot please all their masters all the time. For Obama, he has the local population hit by the disaster desperate for restitution and punishment.
They want to see the company brought to its knees and yet 40% of BP shareholders are members of USA Inc. Pensions, investment funds, and personal savings would all be dramatically hit. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil would love to get their hands on those $236bn in BP assets for a knockdown price.
Cameron, meanwhile, was on the campaign trail when the disaster struck and has to get up to speed quickly and defend his revenue stream and one of the few remaining UK global corporations.
The Sheepdogs – The PR men
This is trial by media and so any good farmer will have some loyal and efficient sheepdogs rounding up the press and controlling public opinion. Obama’s team were the first to coral them, demanding summits and capturing the green moral high ground.
They positioned BP as ‘the evil baddy’ in the story, negligent and uncaring and put a white Stetson firmly onto Obama’s head.
Cameron was yet to walk through the door of Number 10 so could do little without a clear mandate to act.
Unfortunately, Tony Hayward’s sheepdogs watched the sheep wander all over the place and in irritation started snapping at the heels of the flock leaders. Despite spending $50m on PR, his team made a series of gaffes, including:
initially saying the impact would be ‘very modest’(enraging Gulf coast landowners and US politicians).
going sailing while the disaster was at its height
pledging on a nationally broadcast TV advertisement that “We will make this right.”
posting a public apology for the oil spill on the BP website and promising to clean up every drop of oil and “restore the shoreline to its original state”.
telling the people in Louisiana, where oil had begun to reach parts of the state’s south-eastern marshes,. “We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives. There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.” The statement was particularly criticized given that eleven people died in the drilling platform explosion that caused the spill.
stating in an interview with Sky News that he was not overly concerned by the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. “I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest.”
insisting to a Guardian reporter that the leaked oil and the dispersant being released into the sea should be put in context: “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.”
telling NBC that BP was not at fault for the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon or the subsequent oil spill. “The drilling rig was a Transocean drilling rig. It was their rig and their equipment that failed, run by their people and their processes
advertising on the web for any ideas on how to stop the oil leak
spending the $50m on these statements – allowing Obama to cry “What I don’t wanna hear is when they’re spending that kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising that they’re nickel and diming fishermen.” It also allowed Obama’s chief of White House staff and loyal right-hand sheep dog to chime in and say Mr. Hayward “wouldn’t be working for me after any of those statements”.
A sheepdog that doesn’t round up sheep is not a sheepdog.
The Sheep – all the stakeholders living on the farm
Life as a sheep is ultimately one of powerless frustration. Their world is filled with death, suffering and devastation but what to do? The sheep have every right to be incredulous. They are suffering but they are also just playing the game.
The solution is also not simple. You try just tightening a nut with a robot, with no purchase, 1,500 metres below the surface of the ocean. While the sheep make suggestions to stop the leak (ranging from ice plugs to nuclear weapons) they are powerless to act.
The sad thing in all of this is that had BP cut the riser during the first week and installed a second blowout preventer, a massively heavy stack the size of a five story building, then we may have been applauding Hayward for averting an horrific natural disaster.
What pains the sheep the most is it is their lives that are ruined and can do little to avert the problem. Big problems are generated by big entities and in many cases these corporate entities are bigger and more powerful than governments.
They, therefore, are the only ones capable of solving the problems that they make.
The suspicion is that the BP landowners and farmers are in a collusion of greed. They ignored the signs that their golden goose was sick and, instead of paying for a vet, decided to simply shoved their arm inside the bird to pull out whatever gold they could lay their hands on.
Modern day landowners are short term. They want their jam and bread today. They are not interested in handing over the assets to future generations but surely global companies are one day going to realize – no globe, no company.
It is time for shareholders to think bigger and longer and appoint farmers who think the same rather than maximizing their exit after three years of starving the golden goose.
So if you are a landowner or farmer, be wary for being too judgmental of Mr. Hayward. Everyone from railway companies to airlines, from pharmaceutical companies to utilities are cutting corners and the farmers that are appointed are the ones who turn a blind eye.
If you are a head of state like GB Inc you will see that selling off all your land leaves you at their beck and call. You will never be more than their hired hand.
As for the rest of us, the sheep, what to do? We appoint farmers who have sold all our assets to wealthy corporate landowners and plunged us deep into debt. Shall we just bleat?.
Are we just going meekly like lambs to the slaughter or is it time to ensure that the meek truly inherit the earth and build some new assets for us all?
posted by David Federman @ 8:18 AM
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