Justice vs. Law
A newspaper in eastern Pennsylvania dealt with
lobbyists going so far as to write the language of bills
the politicians were presenting to the Pennsylvania legislature. These bills had taken years to be passed to protect the
environment. In the name of progress these gains are being wiped out. Many of the emerging economies around the world are exempt from laws meant to protect the environment. This put companies in more developed countries at a loss but only marginally so and does not justify what the
lobbyists are doing. For the politicians it means more money for their re-election bids. I googled lobbyists and brought up articles a decade old on this same topic. Because big business has the funds to back up their misdeeds doesn't make it right. It becomes a struggle of justice vs. law. Many people mistakenly assume that the terms are synonymous but there is a big difference. Tyrannies down through the centuries have had a common thread. Their law has superceded justice and any dissent meant instant death. We assume that the worst of these tyrannies had passed away but one only need look in the news to see new terrors on the rise. Oppression is its own law and justice is almost always perverted. Talk to environmentally aware folks and they will tell you that justice for our world is being sacrificed to corrupt law makers and the companies that hire them. If you protest you are labeled as a "tree-hugger". Rather than debate lobbyists for the environment they mock them and turn imploringly towards the camera to speak out for the 'rights' of business, the 'rights' of progress and the American way. People in these developing nations are succumbing to disease and cancer brought on by the rampant pollution of their environment by burgeoning businesses. The almighty money tree is being allowed to grow at the expense of the health and welfare of the average worker. Can we band together to fight this or will we allow ourselves to be pushed around by a callous society that watches profits instead of the rights of their own people? Time is one commodity that we have little of when it comes to protecting our environment. Each year that goes by sees another endangered species pushed to the brink of extinction. Events will show how short the time is before our species is next on the endangered list. Can we save us from ourselves? To close with a famous quote from the cartoon character Pogo the possum, "We have met the enemy and they is us."