Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Exxon CEO comes out against fracking project because it will affect his property values

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, February 24, 2014

Exxon CEO comes out against fracking project because it will affect his property values

Click here to access article by Rebecca Leber from Climate Progress.

This piece belongs in the "not in my backyard" category.

When he is acting as Exxon CEO, not a homeowner, Tillerson has lashed out at fracking critics and proponents of regulation. “This type of dysfunctional regulation is holding back the American economic recovery, growth, and global competitiveness,” he said in 2012.

This is another illustration of how capitalism works. People employed by private, profit-making enterprises or indirectly through capitalist ruling class controlled government organizations must act in the interests of the ruling class and their system. Otherwise decent, moral people are forced to comply with these interests if they are going to enjoy at least a decent standard of living. Of course, weak, sociopathic people will easily succumb to these pressures, and Tillerson appears to be one of these people. This is why the ruling class and their beloved system has endured as long as it has.