The Oil Volcano and the Hole in My Heart

It's not a spill; it's a volcano. And as each day passes, our hearts break a bit more. It is not only the ongoing horror of millions of gallons of crude poisoning the waters and killing every living thing in their vicinity; it is the knowledge that this is just another accident based on greed and shortsightedness and that those in power do not seem to learn the necessary lessons, no matter how great the tragedy, so we can expect many more "accidents" to come and many more deadly responses, such as pouring poisonous chemicals into the already toxic brew. We are in a race between ignorance and survival. The Horizon Deepwater event and the simpering response to it by the oil industry and the government put ignorance in the lead.

I propose that we create a worldwide network called Boycott Power (a double entendre) that would implement immediate boycotts of companies that put life at risk, and that includes wildlife. Of course, we would have to use this system for special cases; otherwise we would be boycotting most corporations all the time, which would not sustain. It would be fairly easy to organize as a community committed to viral communication. We could start with BP and also include a couple of the top advertising companies on Fox News for good measure. It takes very little to scare corporations when profit is at stake. And a boycott that represents even 7% of a population is a large leverage tool. As a longtime student of Gandhian strategy, I can imagine it is what Gandhi might have done.