Syriana
Posted by Jared
Syriana (2005)
Stephen Gaghan
viewed 02.09.06
Rant coming soon.
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02.17.06
"The malleability of the masses is directly proportional to their material possessions."
"Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such
prescribed choices."
Syriana is a Hollywood thriller about the political and corporate corruption surrounding the oil industry. Is it anywhere near reality? Of course not, as my cousin Drew said as we walked out, "It's worse than that."
The film leaves you at a loss as to how things can be corrected. It all too clearly illustrates that those that control the money and the power will never be unseated or even held responsible. Does that describe our world? A few reminders:
*Tom Delay got back in the game last week. He rejoined the House Appropriations Committee and took a seat on the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department. That's the Justice Department investigating the Abramoff lobbying scandal. Delay should provide plenty of expert insight; he's facing money-laundering charges and considers Abramoff one of his "closest and dearest friends". Take a moment to skim a page entitled "Monetary influence of Jack Abramoff" on Wikipedia. How many people of the hundred or so involved will lose their career because of this? My guess is less than four.
*Our President is steadily creating one of the most secretive administrations in history. With Executive Order 13233 signed in 2001 Bush has made nearly impossible for the public to see and examine the presidential papers that were formerly made public 12 years after a president left office. Now it takes written consent of the former president (or heir) and the sitting president. No future accountability for Iran-Contra, Gulf I, 9/11, Gulf II, Katrina, etc., etc. This mirrors his lack of transparency in repeatedly refusing to release information concerning Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Alito, Cheney's oil entanglements, wireless surveillance, you name it.
*Speaking of eavesdropping, the Senate Intelligence committee has come up with a novel idea for investigating the legality of Bush's spying; change the law and you don't need to investigate anything. "Aw, Man, you caught me. Can we change the rules so I won't get caught again? I promise not to break those."
*I heard $5.4 Billion has gone missing in Iraq. Is this in addition to the $8.8 billion in 2005 or the $20 billion in 2004 or the $4 billion in 2003? I keep losing track.
*The oil industry is about to receive $7 billion in "Royalty Relief" and could receive another $28 billion over the next five years. Just in time. Exxon only made $36 billion last year.
*And drawing on the finest of American traditions, we seem to be the world leader in torture (See Mary's post). There was Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay , Cheney's fight to continue torture, McCain's capitulation, Abu Ghraib again, Gitmo again, and in my favorite bit of covering your ass, the Times updated the prosecution of those responsible for the deaths of two detainees in Bragam, Afghanistan. Turns out that of the 27 recommended for criminal charges, 15 have been prosecuted, the stiffest penalty being 5 months. Military police sergeant, James P. Boland and military police Specialist Willie V. Brand had charges ranging from assault and maltreatment to manslaughter (a coroner remarked that one victim look like had had been run over by a truck). Tactics Boland used were starting to possibly implicate higher ranking officials and the charges were suddenly dropped. He left the Army and got a letter of reprimand (I'm sure it was very mean). After hearing about Brand's tough times at home, he got off with a demotion in rank and an honorable (yes honorable) discharge. For torturing and killing a man. A man, by the way, who had a young wife, two-year-old-daughter, and, oh yeah, was innocent. I never want anyone to ever tell me that innocent people have nothing to fear from the Patriot Act. Nothing unless you happen to have the wrong ethnicity, religion, or ideas. Ask Maher Arar.
So...What do we do? I don't know, but tomorrow I'm emailing General Electric to notify them that I will not do business with them or their subsidiaries until they agree to stop financially influencing elections.
Let me explain.
A year or so ago I read and article in American Scholar and then saw a segment on PBS about the environmental effects of the pork industry. I decided to limit my pork consumption (Christmas, Easter, and brats) as a way to help the situation. When I mentioned this to people they often responded that my not eating a pork chop isn't going to change anything. They're right and I'm not so militant anymore. I noticed something in all this, a lot of these people were the same people who freaked out when I told them I don't vote (it's not exactly true, but it really pisses people off). I reasoned that I have far more power with the way I spend money than than 6 hours in line and 30 seconds in a voting booth. (The chances of your vote ever influencing an election are about the same as winning the lottery. Not to mention that the closer an election the less chance the voters will decide it. Remember 2000, if you wanted your vote to decide anything you had to be wearing a black robe.) If you don't like the way Walmart does business, don't go, change they way you live, Walmart will be out of business in a week if we truly feel that way. Waiting for elected officials bought and paid for by corporate entities to change things is hopeless. Waiting for elected officials not bought and paid for is funny.
Nothing miserable is ever going to get better if we keep giving our money to those who make things miserable. Does GE make things miserable? Maybe not so bad but according to FECInfo.com they had one of the largest lobbying outlays in 2005 as well as one of the largest corporate PACs. I doubt the money is going to pioneer campaign finance reform. There are larger spenders and worse companies (GE isn't exactly innocent), but finding information is difficult and opting out of industries is even harder. I can't have health insurance without doing business with a major corporation, I can't set-up an medical savings account without a major corporation, I can't drive myself to a free-clinic without a major corporation, and I can't call home and ask for money for an appendectomy without an major corporation (healthcare, finance, transportation, and communication are the worst influence-peddling offenders). UPS has the biggest PAC, but their competition FedEx is in the top ten, not to mention I don't send anything (they're both getting emails and I'll use USPS). I do buy lightbulbs.
Maybe we can make this the next consumer ethics issue. We, the consumers, will give preferential treatment to any company that agrees not contribute directly or indirectly through its officers, subsidiaries, or PACs to a political party, candidate, or 527. We understand that they have the right to do so, they must understand we have the right to go elsewhere. The political influence their money buys is out of proportion with the influence of the average citizen. One person, one vote is meaningless in the current arrangement. Our freedom to choose and prevail upon our elected officials is no longer for sale.
Is this realistic? Maybe not. Are my emails or your emails going to change anything? Probably not, but why do you vote?
Civic duty? Don't we have a duty to do more than nod in the direction of diligence and sacrifice every four years?
To honor the sacrifice of those that died for freedom? What is freedom when our voice is meaningless compared to the campaign money they have to offer? What kind of freedom doesn't allow you to stop doing business with those you don't want to support?
To retain the right to complain about the results of elections? Do you hate the influence of videogames on teenagers? If you own a Sony DVD player or Microsoft software you need to stop talking. Do you dislike the violent and hyper-sexualized culture created by Miramax films? If you watch ABC, ESPN, Disney, or a fair number of sports teams, stop talking. Think the credit industry preys on the most vulnerable? What does the logo on your debit card say? What really infuriates you? Chances are you do business with a company that does just that. We have zero right to complain about how companies do damage if we continue to pay their bills. I know that means going without, but what are our options?
So here goes, no more GE lightbulbs, microwaves, phones. No NBC, Olympics, Universal Pictures (I'm super bummed I won't be watching Mann's Miami Vice, really, I'm not kidding), Focus Features (super bummed there too), Bravo, and sadly Telemundo. You can get a list here. I'm sure I won't always be consistent or mindful. I'm not going take on every company today. But I am going to do something. It's my meaningless act of liberation for the day.
I'm also not eating pork again (except brats).