Who controls the future?

Mel Gibson had it right when he said, "Whoever has the biggest club... in more ways than one. One they can bash you with and one you can belong to." Depressing. Especially in terms of how applicable it is to the depth and breadth of power and influence exerted by the American government. The revolving door between government and corporate money is absolutely ridiculous; it’s so transparent and obvious, I wonder, are we, the public/consumers that stupid? Blind? Powerless? The tides of people that move back and forth between executive corporations and lobby groups and the government are governed not by public opinion, demand or the moon (what would that be like?); they are governed by money (moon-y! ha!) and by what seems to be an almost inseparable bond between the two. Immediately a predictable Hollywood movie script comes to mind: small group (individual, company) decides to take on a big group (government, big corporate power) and wins in the minor league but loses in the big leagues. There are dubious characters that shadow the small group, and he/she/it is given several stern warnings before the house gets trashed, the car gets bombed etc. A few movies with this storyline actually do come to mind: Erin Brokovich, The Insider (Russell Crowe), and, well, there must be more. Perhaps these are bad examples because they actually beat the big guys and then had their stories made into Hollywood movies that now line Blockbuster’s deep grave of forgotten flicks. So, the questions is, if your priorities aren’t in line with the priorities of the Heavy Hitters, what are your options?

You’re probably wondering what prompted this anti-government blip – I’ve been writing about fishing and painting. We watched Who Killed the Electric Car tonight and it completely flabbergasted me. If you haven’t seen it, rent it! Or get it out of the library. The new-ish marketing and global warming combat push to develop technology that will enable us to have cleaner cars on the road is old news! In the 90s there were a small gamut of cars (and infrastructure) available in California that were 100% electric, and chargeable at home and at power stations. Perhaps this is news only to me but … really!? I don’t want to explain the movie or re-ignite my disbelief and incredulity as a duped consumer but … wait, I am. I don’t think I have to set up an equation between the rich and getting richer oil companies/barons etc., the automakers and car companies and the government. The research that I’d need to do to thoroughly explore this blows my mind – in the 2008 election cycle, over $19 million has been contributed to election campaigns by oil and gas alone (with 25% going to the Democrats and the rest being sopped up by the Republicans). What’s even more scary is that this large contribution doesn’t even make the top ten: oil and gas is 16th in total campaign giving as an industry. Agribusiness is also a big giver, but it doesn’t look like either of these industries compare with the the Finance/Insurance/Securities sector; I haven’t cracked that egg and I don’t plan on doing so anytime soon. The revolving door of the agribusiness world was delineated in a good, digestable book – Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I may be repeating myself but … well, I guess I don’t have to. Revolving door. Money. Power. The same people that are Corporate Execs and Lobbyists end up working for the federal government and the federal government in turn works for them, and works policy to work for them. My next question is, are things better in Canada? I don’t think so: July 26, 2008’s “Transport Canada finishes off the Electric Car” (Vancouver Sun) headline was doesn’t seem encouraging, but there is a lot out there. Vancouver has an electric vehicle association, people are converting cars on their own and there are electric cars for sale. Out there. So, to conclude (ahem), as a small fish in a big pond, the only thing to do is live in line with you priorities and ethics, and hope that all of the actions of the smalls will add up to something. Enough deep thoughts for now, I have to get back to painting and de-purpling.