Saturday, May 29, 2010
We Aren't the World
Posted by Kevin Allman on Sat, May 29, 2010 at 9:46 PM
Live Aid. Farm Aid. There seems to be an Aid for everything that needs aid, from Hurricane Katrina to the Haiti earthquake. And it was impressive to see so many local people come together May 16 to produce a Gulf Aid concert with mostly Louisiana musicians (the concert raised more than $300,000).
It's pointless to compare one tragedy to another, of course, but the ongoing oil disaster has left thousands of people with no way to make a living for the foreseeable future ... except to go to work for the folks who have ruined their lives, which is making some of them physically ill.
We all know about so-called "Katrina fatigue" among Americans (though they should check in with those who lost their homes regarding "fatigue), and it's clear that many people think New Orleans, and New Orleanians, have had their share of charity. But this disaster isn't about New Orleanians -- it's about the people of Grand Isle and Port Fouchon, of Lafourche and lower Jefferson Parish. They need help.
Has anyone else wondered where the Hollywood/music outpouring of support has been? Tim Robbins, Mos Def and Lenny Kravitz are a few of the people who have pitched in -- the operative word being 'few.' We haven't seen Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Aniston, Kanye West, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell or Sean Penn. No sightings of Bruce Springsteen, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow or Dave Matthews. Where's George Clooney? Where's Bono?
These people, of course, have no obligation to help -- but they've shown their willingness to be generous in the past, and I'm wondering: why is the biggest oil-related disaster in American history suddenly unworthy of celebrity-charity attention?
Comments (5)
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Because the ultimate goal of those endeavors is to raise money, and the feeling among many people is that every dollar received from non-profit charity is a dollar incredibly-for-profit BP isn't responsible for. By comparison, the federal government being liable for the federal flood is a lot more abstract a connection when it comes to charitable donations. Maybe if the celebrities devoted their star power to promoting cleaner energy? But that just makes other for-profit companies money, and many already do this and aren't taken seriously. Maybe about promoting less oil consumption? I imagine it would be hard for even Bono to seriously suggest this and not point out U2's energy consumption travelling to international tour dates. Anywho, that's my unqualified-but-for-being-on-the-internet take.
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Why isn't this sexy enough? Because it isn't all that wonderful and marvelous trying to prop up a red state. Because everybody is having a damn hard time trying to get through these economic hard times, forget trying to help fishermen-and-women who no longer have a livelihood. Because it's much too easy to say that Louisiana welcomed the drilling with open arms, so it can pay for cleaning up after itself. Because BP should be doing it. Because because because... I'm sick of the excuses, and the misinformation, and the bullcrap at this point. To those who have stepped up and kicked in their services to get an aid concert going, thank you. To those who haven't, fine. Contribute in other ways or stay the hell out of all this altogether and go make a killing doing something else far, far away from us. And Bono maintains a bunch of offshore tax shelters, anyhow. I would NOT want him to even attempt to speak for any of us at this time or at any other time.
Could it be that because the Gulf crisis is still revealing the devastation, celebrities and others anticipate huge needs for people, animals, and ecosystems, and want to ensure that their efforts make the most impact? Could they, like other citizens, quietly be supplementing BP and government resources by supporting food banks and organizations offering immediate aide? Since Katrina, celebrities and “ordinary” citizens have made extraordinary contributions, including -- but far surpassing -- financial support. Now thousands of well-qualified and willing souls are again standing by to show up and help. (Examples re people and animals found in: New Yorkers remain on call to rescue animals from Louisiana oil spill disaster) There is definitely a widespread willingness, but people cannot rush to the wetlands and Gulf now, and the extent of the damage is unknown. Is it possible that stars want to assist long-term relief? Could they want solutions that will restore the Gulf and its coast, so people have an ability to continue to live where they are and resume their livelihood, if that is possible when all of this is over? Duff’s comments make sense to me. Let’s join celebrities to work on the causes of this disaster, and of the threatened coast before and after it, to find possible long-term solutions. Otherwise, we’ll be looking for resources to fund the relocation of coastal residents, and that doesn’t even address the immeasurable other losses associated with this spill.
Duff has it right. Every penny to remediate the damage - to the Gulf, to the coast, to the wetlands, to every person and family whose livelihood is linked to the Gulf, to the families of the men who died in that explosion - must come from BP and its shareholders. I would hope to see people with a public following bringing attention to what's happening here, and even donating to a defense fund for the lawsuits that will be coming up, though.
While I somewhat agree with Duff that perhaps wanting BP to pay for reparations, I also don't think anyone believes they're going to be held completely accountable. For example, look what happened with the Exxon Valdez spill: Exxon appealed a 1994 verdict in which an Anchorage jury awarded $5 billion in punitive damages to the plaintiffs; the damages were then halved to $2.5 billion. Then the company appealed to the Supreme Court, which capped damages at a little more than $500 million. (The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled that the company was still obligated to pay $470 million for interest on the damages.) Sure, they'll be a big hoopla about the case and a big verdict. But after the appeals process they won't be paying nearly as much as they should. Besides, just because they're is someone to blame we shouldn't do something about it if we can?
