not connected

Every day thousands of gallons of oil enter the Gulf of Mexico. The spectacle, now surely the worst environmental disaster in US history, is making people mad. Images of dying birds, floating tar balls and once-pristine beaches covered in muck are making America angry. That much makes sense. But do these same Americans make the connection to their gas-guzzling SUV's, their oversized pickup trucks and all the miles they drive each and every day? Hardly.

When asked, people sounded frustrated, angry and upset. Their rage was directed at BP and big oil companies; their sympathies were with the fishermen of the Gulf. But did they for one instant think they themselves were playing an active role in this disaster? Did they ever sit back and think about the true cause of this travesty? Fat chance.

All the journalists heard was people explaining how they NEEDED to drive all those miles, how they NEEDED their big truck, how they NEEDED their cheap gas, how they NEEDED oil and how America NEEDED to free itself from foreign imports of oil and gas.

Well then, there is only one logical conclusion one can draw from all this: we godt what we deserved. And surely there is more to come.