With the recent oil leakage in the Gulf, I have been thinking a lot about oil. I think that the long-going dispute over oil illustrates a lot of what is wrong with our country: an unwillingness to compromise among ourselves.
Let us examine the situation. Right now, gas prices are rising again. We are in the middle of a war with the very countries that we import oil from. Instead of tapping our own resources, we are transporting the gas overseas, which increases what our own citizens have to pay for petroleum products.
We are also in the middle of cleaning up this great oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which is a risk of drilling off shore, instead of drilling on our own soil where it is safer for the environment and for the economy. How much life in the ocean has been affected by this spill? There are only guesstimates, but it is obviously significant enough to cause worry. How much has our economy suffered? I can tell you that the states that border the Gulf have suffered greatly. Fishermen are having a hard time in the Gulf cities and tourism has dropped because no one wants to visit a black oily beach.
According to the USGS in 1998, Alaska had between 5.7 and 16.0 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil. I would say that is a significant amount. Environmentalists do not want to drill this because it is on a wildlife refuge. Well, the wildlife refuge itself is 19,000,000 acres, and the area in question is only 1.5 million acres of that. I know that's a significant chunk, but instead of refusing to drill it altogether, can we not proceed drilling with great caution. On the environmental side, there would be regulations to ensure that the risk was as minimal as possible, and on the economical side, we would be saving money by drilling on our own soil. Instead, the environmentalist are whining because they want all or nothing, and the economists are angry because their interests aren't being considered. This is only one example of the many untapped oil reservoirs that exist in the United States. We have the means to support ourselves as a nation. We shouldn't be leaning on another nation.
So let's face it: America is dependent on oil, so we might as well face it. As terrible and un-green as it sounds, we need to drill oil, and we might as well do it right.
By drilling on our own soil, we would decrease our dependency on the Middle East. That's common sense, you should not be dependent on a country you are at war with. When are forefathers came to America and the British taxed their tea, they boycotted tea. We need the same attitude today. We used to be united as a nation, and our pride was too strong to let anyone tell us how to be. We need to get into that mentality once more if we are going to unite and fix the downward spiral that our country has fallen into.
Drilling our own oil would also create American jobs. A lot of people are out of work right now, and instead of looking for ways to generate revenue, the government is spending more money trying to regulate the oil industry. Instead of supporting Middle Eastern workers, we should be supporting American workers. The people of the Middle East can take care of themselves. We need to take care of ourselves. It's illogical to let our own country suffer to help another country.
Drilling on our own soil would also decrease the risk of spilling oil into the ocean. Oil spills on land would also be a lot easier to control than those on the ocean. On the ocean, strong waves, wind, and storms can carry spilled oil for hundreds of miles. On land, the oil would move much more slowly and it would be easier to contain the spilled material.
As far as I am concerned, the argument that we are preserving wildlife by importing oil and drilling offshore doesn't fly for two reasons. One, we import oil from foreign countries who drill on their own soil. What, the wildlife over there doesn't matter? Two, oil spills in the water can be way more disastrous than those on land, so it confuses me that environmentalists advocate off-shore drilling when this can be the most hazardous.
The environmentalists' response to the oil spill on the Gulf was "we need more regulations." Well, that's not going to help the economy either. The harder you make it for someone to do their job because of all the hoops they have to jump through, the more time they'll take...and, well, time is money. Plus, you can regulate something as much as you want, you aren't going to prevent accidents from happening or disaster striking. You aren't going to prevent people from being idiots either. Sometimes, someone just doesn't do their job. That's a sad fact that we have to face and no amount of regulation is going to fix that. I'm not saying there should be no regulations. On the contrary, but they need to be reasonable.
Environmentalists, economists, put your egos, and your whining, and your political bull cookies behind you. Realize that you are never going to agree completely, but for the good of the country and for the sake of being unified, learn to get along. Find a happy medium. Environmentalists, stop whining because you aren't getting everything you want. Economists, let the environmentalists have their opinions and respect that they wish to keep a wildlife reserve. It's time for the selfishness to end. We are in desperate need of some American spirit.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
On Being Free
As today is July fourth, I found it appropriate to honor the tradition of celebrating American independence by examining what exactly it means to be free.
Definition of Freedom: 1)the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. 2)exemption from external control 3)the power to determine action without restraint 4)political or national independence...13)the right to frequent, use, or enjoy at will.
(Webster's College Dictionary. Random House. New York. Copyright 2001)
I suppose this pondering about being free began with a conversation with a Lebanese exchange student. I asked him how he liked America so far, and his answer surprised me. He said "Eh, is okay, but I come from a country where we are free. Here you are not free." This jarred me, because I had always thought that we were a free country.
Are we free? Well, we certainly started out so. As a young country, America had a stable, but small government, and every American citizen was entitled to certain rights. I think the most important ideal that helped shape this country was that every man was equal. By this I mean that every citizen of the United States of America had equal opportunity to pursue his own happiness. Whether this was found in starting a business or participating in politics, each person had the equal opportunity to do so by law. The government simply served as a guide in the least oppressing sense. The government was simply there to protect the rights of its people.
We may still have the rights that we did as a young country on paper, but the power of those rights is dwindling as the freedom to act upon said rights is drowned out by certain restraints of the law. More and more we are oppressed by laws that are seemingly put in place to protect us from ourselves. The intent may be good, but what are we really accomplishing by setting these laws into motion? When a government becomes powerful enough to reach into every aspect of the lives of its citizens, then its power begins to whittle away at the freedom of the people.
My example: Seatbelt and helmet laws. I realize that it is important to be safe while operating fast-moving or heavy equipment, but I still think that it should be up to the individual whether he or she wishes to practice safety. These laws are meant to protect us from ourselves, but what they are doing is taking away our ability to think and act of our own free will. Common sense is a lot less common than it used to be. When the government thinks for us, we lose the ability to think for ourselves. If one chooses not to wear a seatbelt or a helmet, one is also choosing to accept the consequences should he or she crash.
By saying this, I am not advocating all abandonment of safety. In fact, when laws involve the safety of others, I am willing to consider them, but I do not think that it is the government's job to protect me from myself. That is no one's job but mine.
Nor am I saying that it is not practical for a company to require hard-hats for its workers if conditions call for it. But, that is up to the company to create such a policy, and not up to the government. And, if said company has no such policy in place and a worker feels endangered, he or she is FREE to wear equipment that will ensure his or her safety.
I know this is a small issue (helmets and seatbelts), but I think its political status right now illustrates the dwindling freedom of the citizens of this country. It mirrors the larger issues that are threatening our freedom as Americans, such as the new healthcare bill. By socializing medicine, we will no longer be able to choose our own health insurance or our own doctors. That is not freedom.
So I have come to the conclusion that we are not a free country anymore. Yes, our rights (for the time being) are still in place, but they are slowly being overwritten by the government's need to "take care" of everyone.
This made me realize why for the past few years I have felt hollow on Independence Day. We are regressing and becoming the very thing we worked so hard to escape in the American Revolution. Now, I invite all you true patriots to celebrate hope. Hope that one day, we will take back the freedoms that we have lost. Let it fill your hearts this Independence Day and let Freedom ring!
Definition of Freedom: 1)the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. 2)exemption from external control 3)the power to determine action without restraint 4)political or national independence...13)the right to frequent, use, or enjoy at will.
(Webster's College Dictionary. Random House. New York. Copyright 2001)
I suppose this pondering about being free began with a conversation with a Lebanese exchange student. I asked him how he liked America so far, and his answer surprised me. He said "Eh, is okay, but I come from a country where we are free. Here you are not free." This jarred me, because I had always thought that we were a free country.
Are we free? Well, we certainly started out so. As a young country, America had a stable, but small government, and every American citizen was entitled to certain rights. I think the most important ideal that helped shape this country was that every man was equal. By this I mean that every citizen of the United States of America had equal opportunity to pursue his own happiness. Whether this was found in starting a business or participating in politics, each person had the equal opportunity to do so by law. The government simply served as a guide in the least oppressing sense. The government was simply there to protect the rights of its people.
We may still have the rights that we did as a young country on paper, but the power of those rights is dwindling as the freedom to act upon said rights is drowned out by certain restraints of the law. More and more we are oppressed by laws that are seemingly put in place to protect us from ourselves. The intent may be good, but what are we really accomplishing by setting these laws into motion? When a government becomes powerful enough to reach into every aspect of the lives of its citizens, then its power begins to whittle away at the freedom of the people.
My example: Seatbelt and helmet laws. I realize that it is important to be safe while operating fast-moving or heavy equipment, but I still think that it should be up to the individual whether he or she wishes to practice safety. These laws are meant to protect us from ourselves, but what they are doing is taking away our ability to think and act of our own free will. Common sense is a lot less common than it used to be. When the government thinks for us, we lose the ability to think for ourselves. If one chooses not to wear a seatbelt or a helmet, one is also choosing to accept the consequences should he or she crash.
By saying this, I am not advocating all abandonment of safety. In fact, when laws involve the safety of others, I am willing to consider them, but I do not think that it is the government's job to protect me from myself. That is no one's job but mine.
Nor am I saying that it is not practical for a company to require hard-hats for its workers if conditions call for it. But, that is up to the company to create such a policy, and not up to the government. And, if said company has no such policy in place and a worker feels endangered, he or she is FREE to wear equipment that will ensure his or her safety.
I know this is a small issue (helmets and seatbelts), but I think its political status right now illustrates the dwindling freedom of the citizens of this country. It mirrors the larger issues that are threatening our freedom as Americans, such as the new healthcare bill. By socializing medicine, we will no longer be able to choose our own health insurance or our own doctors. That is not freedom.
So I have come to the conclusion that we are not a free country anymore. Yes, our rights (for the time being) are still in place, but they are slowly being overwritten by the government's need to "take care" of everyone.
This made me realize why for the past few years I have felt hollow on Independence Day. We are regressing and becoming the very thing we worked so hard to escape in the American Revolution. Now, I invite all you true patriots to celebrate hope. Hope that one day, we will take back the freedoms that we have lost. Let it fill your hearts this Independence Day and let Freedom ring!
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