Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it

reply to post by Freedom or Death


I think you mispelled your words in your avatar. It shouldn't say resist it should say racist. Come on you aren't serious with that little bit of knowledge you are trying to spew.

reply to post by Freedom or Death


response like that maybe u should run for president

reply to post by Evanzsayz

plz notice my sarcasim

Freedom or death is right.

Unless you start boycotting and trying to make a difference in such countries that you care SOOO much for...

Does it matter whether or not you care or not? Are you helping them by saying you care, or just helping your own ego?

If you truly care, wouldn't you try to do something a little bit more positive than speaking from the high horse?

Let me tell you what. I will buy you a plane ticket to Nigeria and you can start cleaning up their oil first hand. Realistically you should buy it, but I am just trying to be nice!

reply to post by Dinamo


I take it you are not in the USA.? If you are then if you don't like it noone is stopping you from leaving. And if you are not in the USA I would suggest you worry about what your country is doing right or wrong and let the USA deal with its own problem. I will also ask if your country has ever had economic help no matter what is was from the US at any time in history. If so then the USA has taken a crap in your backyard also. Why does everyone think that America has to help solve every other countries problems. I do not see anyone coming to help us in time of need now do you.

reply to post by RedGolem


Thats what happens when corporations own a government as they do in Nigeria. One of the reasons the US and Europe do nothing is because the corporations are pretty close to owning ours too. They still have to pretend to play nice here though, because we still have the illusion of democracy.

Once that is gone.....it will be a whole different ballgame.

Originally posted by bvproductions
reply to post by Freedom or Death

 

Speak for yourself, please.
The majority of the world doesn't think with such ignorance.

Majority pulls the strings.
Nigeria is #ed.
Majority cares?

Terrible story indeed.
Most gaming communities have a saying.
Pictures or it didn't happen.

And this leads into what I've been saying:

Maybe there's Hope in the Gulf

Originally posted by [davinci]

I've read all the posts here so far and while I agree that yes, ATS is a group unto itself, the overwhelming majority of the western world (and the world as a whole) is accurately portrayed by Freedom or Death's comments. We may not like it, but that does not make it any less true.

The actions of countries dont necessarily reflect the will of the people.

Americans arent uncaring about people around the world. Despite what your examples may seem to indicate. Those issues, (while they are "hot" or active) are kept from the American consciousness. The media plays a large role, like it or not, in what America is aware of. And issues like those get virtually no play in the media.

Americans and Europeans are not souless, racist people. The wars we fight are not sold to us as ways to make oil companies rich, after all, they are sold to us as ways to liberate people from dictatorships.

You can look at how our governments act, and rightfully be scornful, but dont confuse that with the sentiments of the people of those nations. It is our concern for others that often is the bait that lures us into agreeing with policies designed to harm, rather than help.

reply to post by RedGolem


Nigeria is blame for their own problems. Their government is not capable of handling things.

Whether it's the poor in Louisiana or poor in Africa, those with no voice (money) in their govt, or their voice hijacked by corporations, or no one else to speak up for them, will suffer. From 1999...

'Just between you and me shouldn't the World Bank be encouraging more migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [least developed countries]?" So wrote Treasury Secretary designee Lawrence Summers, then the chief economist at the World Bank, in a 1991 World Bank internal memorandum arguing for the transfer of waste and dirty industries from industrialized to developing countries. There's more: "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that.... I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted; their air quality is vastly inefficiently low compared to Los Angeles or Mexico City." After the memo was leaked, Summers apologized, saying it was intended to be ironic and that it was offered as a thought experiment. Later reports suggest that someone else actually wrote the memo, although Summers's name appeared on it.

article

Disgusting viewpoint. Larry Summers...hmmmmmm, now where have I heard that name before

What will disappoint the world will be the sense that if the United States, the supposedly (really illusionary) Shining City on the Hill of Ronald Reagan, the Beacon of Democracy (which tries to export "democracy" around the world), is also powerless against corporate actions, then who is on the side of the people? This is a disaster America has to get right, not just for itself.

Originally posted by desert

What will disappoint the world will be the sense that if the United States, the supposedly (really illusionary) Shining City on the Hill of Ronald Reagan, the Beacon of Democracy (which tries to export "democracy" around the world), is also powerless against corporate actions, then who is on the side of the people? This is a disaster America has to get right, not just for itself.

No one is on the side of the people. Not around the world, not in America. Not even the people are on the side of the people. We have all been fooled into being on the side of those whose interests are diametrically opposed to our own.

We need to wake up, stop picking between one of two corporate sponsored candidates, and elect someone interested in working for us for a change. Though I think we DO need to get it right for ourselves, first. If we cant do it here, there is no point trying to do it anywhere else in the world.

its odd shell has oil spills. They do seem like a responsable oil n gas company, always exploring cew cleaner methods of burning gasoline and reducing carbon buildup.
reading the article on blacklisted news, you have to realize, its not SHell's fault..at least IF thats the actual truth. rebel military people sabbotagging the oil line. shell isnt known for lying, like exxon or bp is. Shell should though, clean up the crude tha has seeped into lcoal waterways though....in one sense they are acting corrupt..a mess or leak happens, and it dosnt make US news at least.
instead, they leave the muck thier in the water, and financially improve thier product. i feel they have a responsability when a leak happens. this is like going to a public pool....peope unfortunatley go to the bathroom in it, thats why chlorine is used* not cleaning or maintaining it, or anything for that matter, simply means you dont care*

reply to post by g146541


Was trying to post the link with pictures but it keeps editing the name of the country out of the link because it's the dreaded "N" word...good grief.

Someone who knows more about posting links and pictures in here will have to do it. sorry g146541 I tried

[edit on 31-5-2010 by SheaWolf]

reply to post by ziggy1706


I hate to disappoint you, but Shell's actions are so notorious, (including its stranglehold on the Nigerian government) that it is even explored in text books in business ethics courses. (And trust me, business classes are not set up to be anti business)

The rebels are attacking BECAUSE of the environmental, human, and political devastation that Shell is wrecking on that region. The rebels themselves are not the cause of it, they are trying to win their country back from the corporation that owns it.


Edit to add,

And Shell "seems" like a responsible oil company because of the magic of tv and advertising. They SAY they are, therefore it must be true. Television does not give you a realistic view of the world, politics, or companies. Most of the people who would like to tell you what is really going on are all but blacklisted in the American media.

(Noam Chomsky for instance)


[edit on 31-5-2010 by Illusionsaregrander]

Originally posted by Freedom or Death

Originally posted by onequestion

... a majority of the people on ATS typically have an alternative view of the world and do care.

You're deluded
No one cares about you
You are on your own
Don't expect help, if it comes you are lucky and may survive, if it doesn't you got exactlly what you expected.

Survive or die.

[edit on 31-5-2010 by Freedom or Death]

'You're deluded, no one cares about you'
Guess what? I care about him, and i know a lot of people who also care, so i guess he isn't so deluded after all.

'Don't expect any help?'
Really? I spend half my time helping other people and people help me when i need it.

Survive or die?
I didn't realize cavemen had computers?


And we wonder why the world's messed up and the elites think were useless eaters? /facepalm

Imagine in 500 years or so if people still have the same mentality. We're not going to be a very nice race, or we're going to be an extinct race.

We need to evolve. Starting with you.

Back on topic: The whole things a joke, and judging by some comments in this thread, people don't really care as long as they get their Mcdonalds and daily dose of fluoride. But it's only Africa right? :/ sigh. One day Freedom of Death might realize we all spin on the same axis.

Everything is okay.

[edit on 31-5-2010 by Sloppy]

i had know idea. we are destroying this planet daily. i found this thought everyone would like to see. big business sucks. we desevre to lose this planet.www.flickr.com...@N00/3510761062/
www.waado.org...

The main difference between the Gulf spill and other much larger spills is that those other spills are contained for the most part in that country, while the oil in the Gulf could spread WORLD WIDE when it reaches major underwater currents.

reply to post by ziggy1706


What Illusionsaregrander posted above is true.

The Nigerian people have been struggling for years to simply survive while oil companies rape their country of it's natural resources. THAT'S what the "militants" are pissed about and why they are militant to begin with. They love their country as much as anyone else, it's their home. All they receive from the big companies in compensation for the oil is devastation, starvation, and disease.

Africa is a beautiful country filled with many natural resources that should see it's people through almost any natural crisis. But companies who care nothing for the country or it's people are destroying it for their own profit.

I know people of all countries like their cars and gadgets, but seriously, oil is NOT the life's blood of the human race. While we don't have to live without completely, we don't need as much as some would have us believe.