pilot, I'm not sure if we're speaking in the same direction or not, but I couldn't agree with you more on unity.
My point was more along the lines of this thought process...
Unfortunately, real change typically only occurs when "the majority" is directly affected by whatever situation. 9/11 is a perfect example. The days and weeks after 9/11, this country was more united than it had been since WWII. The American flag was everywhere. But, for a majority of the country, life went on as expected. Soon, people forgot, and the unity was lost, and the bickering began.
On the other side of the coin, look at our parents/grandparents' (depending on your age!) generation. The Great Depression... affected essentially everybody in some way shape or form, and that generation is still, to this day, extremely frugal. We have clients (I'm a financial planner) worth millions that still worry about a few dollars extra here or there - and I mean really worry.
My point is that human nature is to be a little bit fickle and to base our opinions and views solely on our experiences, rather than critical thinking and mature/unifying discussion. It's unfortunate, but it seems, historically, that it takes an event or situation of drastic proportion to truly change the way "the majority" thinks and acts.
We are on the same page
Boo hoo hoo. I'll buy gas from whatever station is selling it the cheapest. Boycotting a company is not going to prevent another accident. Are you still boycotting Exxon over the Valdez spill? Ford or Firestone for the tire blowouts 10 years ago? Wal-Mart and Nike for using sweatshops in the past? The list could go on forever. (I know these examples are on a different scale as the current event but the point remains)
Pretty soon you're gonna be riding a bicycle to work, or walking, barefoot because of boycotting companies over scandals or accidents
I'm sure HP may have done some shoddy things in the past but I still bought their computer because I like the product.
You have a point, not on the boo hooing but that it would be hard to boycott a major corporation. You would have to find out what other companies they have their hands in. For example BP also owns castrol, am/pm, a coffee shop, and the sandwiches in a lot of the convenient stores. If you boycott a bp gas station you are only hurting the family that is a franchise owner, the owner feels the sledge hammer and bp feels a pluck.
Boo hoo hoo. I'll buy gas from whatever station is selling it the cheapest. Boycotting a company is not going to prevent another accident. Are you still boycotting Exxon over the Valdez spill? Ford or Firestone for the tire blowouts 10 years ago? Wal-Mart and Nike for using sweatshops in the past? The list could go on forever. (I know these examples are on a different scale as the current event but the point remains)
Pretty soon you're gonna be riding a bicycle to work, or walking, barefoot because of boycotting companies over scandals or accidents
I'm sure HP may have done some shoddy things in the past but I still bought their computer because I like the product.
Isn't that the point, people don't care enough to make a difference, so things like this happen again, and again, and again.
When you have and know people that live in the area that it is affecting you don't look at this as a "Boo hoo hoo" event. Boycotting would work if EVERYONE did it...but that will never happen.
my views in red, but to continue what I am saying, major corporations are hard to boycott because they are so big that they have their hands in many companies. If you look at all the companies they help in one way or another, you may soon find out that in order to truly boycott all support for bp, you may have to boycott your own job.
My company goes through jet fuel like crazy. The airline industry took a BIG hit from the fuel crisis. The reason why they are nickel and diming you for every thing is because if they dont they would not survive. Airlines are one day from bankruptcy where they have to fly to stay a float. We had two big crisis, 9/11 and the fuel crisis back to back. A company like mine (lets just say they relied on bp for fuel) could not afford to just stop using bps fuel with out cutting jobs, passing more fees to the customer, or going under. THe point is we are so reliant on energy. We need it to power the computers, fax machines, trucks that deliver supplies, goods and food, it powers all the facilties that employ billions.
It is a sticky situation. Its easy to boycott tyson chicken, just stop buying it. But to truly boycott an energy source is easier said then done. What you going to quit your job, no you cant because irony is a b....., you lose your job, benefits, seniority and go to a less paying job who use more of bps energy. But you have no choice now its the only place hiring.
So what can we do, we can unite and tell each side to stop the bickering and ensure that regulations do not get overlooked again. But that will only last until it gets inconvenient.
I think we serve better by finding a solution the boycotting because it is impossible to do. But I do not think we can ignore the livelihoods affected by the accident. This economy depend on every one. Fishers dont fish then we dont get fish, that causes problems for restaurants, which effects tourist, which effect people traveling, and pumping money into the economy.
But we will recover, hopefully we learn from this and not allow this to happen 30 years later.