Wednesday, May 12, 2004
I've been thinking about the phrase "Cape Breton's most important resource: our people" and pondering what weight, if any, it actually holds. I mean what town/city/community/region isn't going to say that? Who is going to say "Well you know I've been thinking and I think this municipality's progressive cycling policies are our greatest resource, it really is the pinnacle of this community's development and growth. It really trumps our residents as our most important resource."
I guess it's the feeling that in the darkest times, people really just need hope. What does Cape Breton have to offer right now other than its beauty? It, like a prison, has one thing cheap labour, otherwise known as people. It's one of things that people can hold onto when they're desperate to move forward, but realize they're just falling back.
Reading this article you get a sense that people just want something, anything to be done. Assume the risks and fuck the damage. Close to a half billion dollars (NOTE: it should be closer to a quarter of a billion dollars, I was factoring in relocation costs, health assessments, and coke ovens dismantling in there, but even still I don't think that number would be half a billion dollars...I was off) has already been thrown at the tar ponds problem and it still hasn't gone away, so people naturally want to see results. Environmental and health risk assessments be damned, people want something done. It's unfortunate that 'throwing caution to the wind' is what created the monster in the first place.
Impatience is what leads a people to readily accept call centres and incineration as saviours. People feel like they've been kicked for so long that sooner or later they start seeing themselves as martyrs deserving of a better fate after 40 days and nights in the desert. They'll offer up sweetheart deals for any bone thrown their way. Hoodwinked time and time again. It reminds me of travelling medicine shows; a miracle cure this week, hide nor hair the next.
I guess it's the feeling that in the darkest times, people really just need hope. What does Cape Breton have to offer right now other than its beauty? It, like a prison, has one thing cheap labour, otherwise known as people. It's one of things that people can hold onto when they're desperate to move forward, but realize they're just falling back.
Reading this article you get a sense that people just want something, anything to be done. Assume the risks and fuck the damage. Close to a half billion dollars (NOTE: it should be closer to a quarter of a billion dollars, I was factoring in relocation costs, health assessments, and coke ovens dismantling in there, but even still I don't think that number would be half a billion dollars...I was off) has already been thrown at the tar ponds problem and it still hasn't gone away, so people naturally want to see results. Environmental and health risk assessments be damned, people want something done. It's unfortunate that 'throwing caution to the wind' is what created the monster in the first place.
Impatience is what leads a people to readily accept call centres and incineration as saviours. People feel like they've been kicked for so long that sooner or later they start seeing themselves as martyrs deserving of a better fate after 40 days and nights in the desert. They'll offer up sweetheart deals for any bone thrown their way. Hoodwinked time and time again. It reminds me of travelling medicine shows; a miracle cure this week, hide nor hair the next.
# posted by Die Brucke @ 2:15 PM 
