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Is anybody boycotting BP?

Are you boycotting BP

  • Total voters
    114
#41
UncleFluffy said:
The rig was leased from and operated by Transocean. 90% of the people working on the rig were not BP employees. BP have some share of the responsibility but if you were to apply the boycott principle equally you'd have to boycott all oil pumped through Transocean rigs.

In which case you're not likely to be able to drive very far.
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So, BP isn't responsible for spills because they sublease the rigs to other companies, all their oil is mixed with all the other company's oil before point-of-purchase, and all the stations branded "BP" are franchised?

How convenient for BP.

That's like if people started dying from food poisoning from mcdonalds French fries and people argued that mcdonalds isn't responsible for it because they don't grow the potatoes and all of their stores are franchises.
 
#42
I don't buy gas, but if I did, it wouldn't be from BP. The closest "station" to my house is a BP. Last summer when gas shot up to $4+ for a while, the BP was easily 50-75c per gallon higher on the premise that "We don't buy Iranian/Venezuelan gas" :rollno:. Meanwhile the folks seem to forget thatthe second "petroleum" goes up EVERY station increases pricing. However if "petroleum" goes down, it takes a while for pricing to lower. IE; The gas you buy today was purchased at a lower PPB than the oil purchased today BUT if "spec" goes up price goes up :eyebrow:

That alone turned me off from even buying candy from BP:eek:

Folks think we're fooled :cool:

:D

God Bless, Ray
 
#43
baalroo said:
So, BP isn't responsible for spills because they sublease the rigs to other companies, all their oil is mixed with all the other company's oil before point-of-purchase, and all the stations branded "BP" are franchised?

How convenient for BP.
Click to expand...
Let me help out. BP is legally responsible for the actions of their subcontractors (as a reading of the lease will bear out). What everyone here seems to be lacking is the same anger for the company that physically caused the accident. I'm not saying BP is blameless. I'm saying people are shortsighted.

As for your gasoline conundrum, that's EVERY company and it's not done for convenience in case of an environmental disaster.
That's like if people started dying from food poisoning from mcdonalds French fries and people argued that mcdonalds isn't responsible for it because they don't grow the potatoes and all of their stores are franchises.
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It's actually nothing like that and I hesitated to quote it for fear of giving it any validity.


Mike
 
#44
baalroo said:
So, BP isn't responsible for spills because they sublease the rigs to other companies, all their oil is mixed with all the other company's oil before point-of-purchase, and all the stations branded "BP" are franchised?

How convenient for BP.

That's like if people started dying from food poisoning from mcdonalds French fries and people argued that mcdonalds isn't responsible for it because they don't grow the potatoes and all of their stores are franchises.
Click to expand...

Yup. You got it.

Although the blame is not 100% BP's, they are still responsible for a good portion of it. Therefore I won't be buying my gas at BP. It's a very easy concept
 
#45
baalroo said:
So, BP isn't responsible for spills because they sublease the rigs to other companies, all their oil is mixed with all the other company's oil before point-of-purchase, and all the stations branded "BP" are franchised?

How convenient for BP.

That's like if people started dying from food poisoning from mcdonalds French fries and people argued that mcdonalds isn't responsible for it because they don't grow the potatoes and all of their stores are franchises.
Click to expand...

Err ... did you miss the "BP has some part of the responsibility" phrase in my post?

All I'm saying is that the responsibility goes much wider than BP. Only 6 out of the 126 people actually operating the rig were were BP employees. The other corporate entities involved are also to blame.
 
#46
A new electro magnetic road system would be a huge enough public works project that it could be the next thing. Gas and oil won't be replaced for awhile. And Americans like to go fast, and far. What's up up with some bullet train technology embedded in a grassed road system like the sci-fi channel? Our freeways could look like football fields. It doesn't have to be grass but it would look nice. We might have to own two types of vehicles, as the transition would not be seen in our lifetimes. But those could go real fast and all for free. The technology is there and it is not outside the scope of what is humanly possible. If we've already laid down train tracks, we can make electro magnetic bullet cars. You'd never have to recharge or refuel, and they'd be silent. Zero emissions. Pro.
 
#47
mike_v_s said:
If this were the case, I'd expect people to have this kind of anger with their government. But the generally don't. It takes too much time and energy to accurately identify the problems and vote them out. It's MUCH easier to hate "big oil". It's a catchy moniker, after all.

Mike
Click to expand...

But Mike, it's not just big oil. It's big everybody.

The Great American Myth is that we as citizens can affect change by voting for a particular representative. This may still be true to some extent at local levels, but at the federal level it's an utter joke. Every new senator or representative goes to Washington full of ideals, and before the end of their first term they have learned the reality of how things are, how they work, and what their role is to play. And their role is to protect the status quo for corporate America, with occasional minor tweaks for the purpose of appearances.

Whenever anyone with a real idea for change comes along, and the proposed change threatens that status quo, there's already a finely-oiled machine in place to swat them down, through ridicule or fear tactics.

We're so deeply entrenched in our own delusion of "The American Dream" that we don't seem to be bothered when "big oil" posts record profits year after year (38% increase was a "disappointment" in Wall Street circles: http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/2010/04/29/oil-profits-on-fire) while at the same time real wages for average workers (after adjusting for cost of living) stay dead flat or fall year after year, decade after decade. We think there's a way to get ahead, but we're kidding ourselves. We are all in servitude.

Why aren't Americans angry? Because they don't know the truth. All readily available media outlets are biased one way or the other, and it's all about the infotainment "show" of being "outraged" either by some "wingnut" or some "socialist." None of these spewing heads believes a damb thing they spout... they just know that they at least have found an alternative way to make a mountain of cash off the ignorance of the citizenry.

I sincerely believe that the only way this dynamic will ever change is via a profound populist revolution that ends up in a total restructuring of our government. But this will probably never happen, because as above, the corporations own the government, and the government owns the heavy weaponry.

So I try to carve out what meaning for myself and my family that I can. We play our music, we do a lot of charity and volunteer work, we cultivate our friendships, we make an effort to encounter nature whenever we can, and we generally keep the TV turned off (except for Anthony Bourdain). Because ultimately, thinking how badly we are all being screwed just leads to despair.

Knowing there's probably nothing we can really do is realistic. However, pretending that nothing is wrong or that the way things are is somehow morally justified is just damb foolishness (not suggesting that you are doing this, but lots of folks are).
 
#49
That guy from the cellar up there raises interesting points, but if you only read the last few paragraphs he sounds like some insane conspiracy theorist almost.

BP isn't entirely responsible, and in the long run boycotting would only hurt the little man who works at BP franchises. You could be responsible for someone losing their job, while BP wouldn't even feel it.

But anyways, this thread is going down faster than the Deepwater Horizon.
Invalid Link Removed
 
#51
sleepytime said:
A good portion of the Gulf coast is probably going to be ruined for the rest of our lives. I drove by a BP gas station today and it looked like business as usual. In my opinion, they need to clean up as best they can and then go away.
Click to expand...

I live on the Gulf and have not seen any damage to the environment due to this spill. This doesn't mean that I won't if it doesn't get cleaned up. The environment, though fragile, is also incredibly resilient and will rebound from this should the worst occur. I do not think the worst will occur though.
 
#52
Lurker79 said:
A new electro magnetic road system would be a huge enough public works project that it could be the next thing. Gas and oil won't be replaced for awhile. And Americans like to go fast, and far. What's up up with some bullet train technology embedded in a grassed road system like the sci-fi channel? Our freeways could look like football fields. It doesn't have to be grass but it would look nice. We might have to own two types of vehicles, as the transition would not be seen in our lifetimes. But those could go real fast and all for free. The technology is there and it is not outside the scope of what is humanly possible. If we've already laid down train tracks, we can make electro magnetic bullet cars. You'd never have to recharge or refuel, and they'd be silent. Zero emissions. Pro.
Click to expand...

Not unless you change the laws of physics. The moving vehicle will create vibrations inthe air = noise. Somethign will have to power this system and I guarantee that it will not be zero emissions.
 
#53
Who's fault this is is a moot point IMO because one thing that's certain is the consumer will ultimately wind up paying for it at the pumps. I've noticed gas prices inflate at all stations in my area since the spill.


I also found IMO a good article on this topic. Invalid Link Removed
 
#59
FromTheBassMent said:
But Mike, it's not just big oil. It's big everybody.

The Great American Myth is that we as citizens can affect change by voting for a particular representative. This may still be true to some extent at local levels, but at the federal level it's an utter joke. Every new senator or representative goes to Washington full of ideals, and before the end of their first term they have learned the reality of how things are, how they work, and what their role is to play. And their role is to protect the status quo for corporate America, with occasional minor tweaks for the purpose of appearances.

Whenever anyone with a real idea for change comes along, and the proposed change threatens that status quo, there's already a finely-oiled machine in place to swat them down, through ridicule or fear tactics.

We're so deeply entrenched in our own delusion of "The American Dream" that we don't seem to be bothered when "big oil" posts record profits year after year (38% increase was a "disappointment" in Wall Street circles: http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/2010/04/29/oil-profits-on-fire) while at the same time real wages for average workers (after adjusting for cost of living) stay dead flat or fall year after year, decade after decade. We think there's a way to get ahead, but we're kidding ourselves. We are all in servitude.

Why aren't Americans angry? Because they don't know the truth. All readily available media outlets are biased one way or the other, and it's all about the infotainment "show" of being "outraged" either by some "wingnut" or some "socialist." None of these spewing heads believes a damb thing they spout... they just know that they at least have found an alternative way to make a mountain of cash off the ignorance of the citizenry.

I sincerely believe that the only way this dynamic will ever change is via a profound populist revolution that ends up in a total restructuring of our government. But this will probably never happen, because as above, the corporations own the government, and the government owns the heavy weaponry.

So I try to carve out what meaning for myself and my family that I can. We play our music, we do a lot of charity and volunteer work, we cultivate our friendships, we make an effort to encounter nature whenever we can, and we generally keep the TV turned off (except for Anthony Bourdain). Because ultimately, thinking how badly we are all being screwed just leads to despair.

Knowing there's probably nothing we can really do is realistic. However, pretending that nothing is wrong or that the way things are is somehow morally justified is just damb foolishness (not suggesting that you are doing this, but lots of folks are).
Click to expand...

+ a lot.

And I don't understand the general consensus that inadequate govt. regulation absolves corporate offenders of obligation or blame.
 

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