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Faced with injustices, we prefer distraction

By GREG HAMILTON
Published February 12, 2007

While the focus in recent days has been on the Super Bowl and the latest rounds of American Idol, a few items of interest have escaped the attention they are due. It's bad enough that they have not sparked any concern, they have barely been noticed.

That, in itself, is cause for alarm.

In no particular order, then:

- Exxon Mobil just reported its profit for last year: $39.5-billion. On revenues of $378-billion.

Try to digest those numbers. This may help.

Let's say Exxon Mobil were its own country and since it answers to no one, it might as well be. Viewed as gross domestic product, or purchasing power, its revenues would rank the company as No. 17 among the nations of the world. Ahead of such lightweights as Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Egypt, a dozen European nations and most of Asia.

The profit was a record for a U.S. company, by the way, topping 2005's obscene peak of $36-billion. That mark was set by, you guessed it, Exxon Mobil.

Now, I have no problem with a company being successful. It's the goal of capitalism. But Exxon's appalling profits, and those of its fellow oil companies, came during a year in which prices at the pumps rode an artificial roller coaster, topping $3 a gallon at times.

These high prices directly impacted the financial health of the American workers, making a tough challenge to feed and shelter their families even harder.

The oil execs and their shareholders pocketed billions and laughed at the plight of ordinary Americans. And no one says a word of protest as the profits climb into stratospheric levels.

Where is the outrage?

- Here's a scorecard for a single week in Iraq. Sunday, Jan. 28, 23 civilians killed by bombs, including five girls who died when their school was mortared; Monday, 36 killed by bombs; Tuesday, 58 killed by bombs; Wednesday, 43 killed by bombs; Thursday, 62 killed by bombs; Friday, 73 killed by bombs. The week concluded with a truck bomb on Saturday that claimed 121 souls.

That was just one unremarkable week of civilian slaughter. We have become so numb to the carnage that the dozens of innocent deaths every day no longer register. Even the rising number of American casualties fails to impress.

Make no mistake, our leaders triggered this fiasco. And we do not even acknowledge the depths of despair that we have unleashed.

Where is the outrage?

The list goes on:

- Utility companies that charge a fee for a hurricane fund and then, when a storm strikes, they are allowed to soak the customers a second time so that investors can maintain their profits.

- Corporate execs are being paid more in one day, or in one hour, than their workers make all year.

- The new federal budget cuts programs for the poorest Americans while raising taxes on middle-class families (through the alternative minimum tax) so that the richest people in the country can keep their undeserved tax cuts.

We should be howling at these injustices. The media should be full of stories detailing the fleecing of the public. Americans should be incensed.

But, wait, a blonde ex-centerfold just died of mysterious causes. A disturbed woman astronaut took a cross-country drive to settle some romantic score that apparently existed only in her mind.

The public is thus distracted.

Where is the outrage?

Greg Hamilton is editor of editorials for the Citrus Times. He can be reached at Hamilton@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 12, 2007, 07:03:23]