I have to write about this BP oil spill. It has been tugging at my heart a lot lately. I feel paralyzed when I see the pictures of the wildlife covered in oil. It's strange, because I'm not generally an over-the-top animal lover, but this just seems beyond criminal. Here are these birds and turtles and dolphins who were just minding their own business swimming through the water being awesome, not bothering anyone, and THIS is what happens to them. And it was preventable.
I've been thinking a lot about what I can do. I mean, I've boycotted bp to the extent I know where their products are, which isn't saying a lot, because I don't think we have a lot of their oil in Arizona. And I post info on my facebook page to raise awareness, and I frequently share my opinion. But all I'm really doing is putting more negative energy out into the universe. It's really easy for me to look at what everyone else did wrong--and believe me, I'm not interested in ANY mercy for the corporate execs and government officials who got us here--but that lets me off the hook pretty easily and really just perpetuates the blame game. So what else can I do? I can take a look at my own dependence on oil, but (a) that seems really, really insignificant in the grand scheme of things and (b) although I am conscious of my carbon footprint and continue to reduce it, I am also very clear that I'm not willing to end my dependence on oil and I'm not sure that's 100% bad--the things we are are able to do and accomplish in this day and age, including covering lots of distance and seeing the world, are pretty amazing and I'm not willing to give that up. So where does that leave me? It seems too big to tackle, yet I can't get the images of those animals out of my mind.
I find myself thinking back to the Holocaust. And let me be very clear: NO, I am not comparing pelicans to humans. But I might be comparing parts of our government and corporations to Nazi Germany. So what could have made things different during the Holocaust? And what DID make things different? I think the people who really made a difference, really saved lives, and contributed to the tragedy not lasting any longer than it did, were the ones who didn't buy in to the propaganda. Hitler's propaganda started at least as early as the 1920's, and the rise of the Third Reich and the idea of a master race was gradual. I think most people who were not his targets went along with it. Gradually. That's generally what we people do. There were some, though, who didn't. They hid Jews in their homes and risked and even gave their own lives, because they could see the insanity of what was being propagated and they didn't buy in. The same can be said for most if not all human rights disasters throughout history. During the United States' slavery era, slavery was accepted. Most people, southern white people at least, bought in to the idea that slaves were property because that's the way it was. But some didn't. There were people who, from the very beginning, did not buy in. They recognized the insanity of it and they weren't afraid to say so. Some died because they refused to buy in to the lies. Those people didn't stop slavery. Many of their names will never be known. But I believe they made a difference--a big difference. They saved lives. They prevented suffering. They eventually became the majority, so it was no longer popular to buy in to the suffering created by slavery and racism. That's a huge shift.
So I'm starting to look at the lie I've bought into. Our culture, our society, our values are largely based on propaganda. I shudder to think how deep it runs--I may never get to the bottom of it. I can, however, start to identify it and stop, or at least minimize, my buy-in. For the record, I think reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (to which I owe the title of this post) is a good place to start. I don't buy in to the fact that working a 40+ hour week makes you a good person or a hard worker or valuable. I don't buy that Americans, or even Westerners, are a superior people. No, no one says it out loud, but it's THERE. You know what, I don't even buy that humans are a superior species. Try that one on. I don't buy in to the subtle message out there that the world is ours to exploit as we damn well please, and that our value is based upon how much we can conquer and attain. I'm going to keep looking at what I'm buying into. I'm scared to find out. But I'm more scared not to.
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