Toban Black

[via Bouphonia]
(Click to enlarge)

That image…
is a metaphor for the divisions that separate the ‘First’ ‘World’ from the ‘Third’ ‘World’
and
it captures the ultimate dream of people who seek to profit without accountability for the consequences of their enterprises

Surbordination and exploitation are the lowest common denominators there.

As such competitive acquisition stirs up crises — including various forms of environmental devastation — some are able to shelter themselves more than other people (since some are  less likely to have insurance plans, for example).
But no one can actually cut and run from this planet. There aren’t any off-world bunkers.

Critiques and organized opposition also haven’t been and won’t be completely evaded.  At times, opposition and/or constructive change has been successfully pressed through the powers that be. (The apparent success of a recent Ontario campaign against a dump site on an acquifier near indigenous land is one case in point.)  But the tide ultimately hasn’t been turned… yet.

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(Photo by “ItzaFineDay“)

A protestor in Montreal

As one person said in a comment on that photo -
“The rich ARE wrecking the planet with help from everyone else.”

(To that point I’ll add that if money is a form of wealth, it certainly isn’t the only wealth out there; and, inasmuch as money matters, it’s only a means to other ends.)

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Debra on how she has realized that U.S. Appalachian mining conflicts are a lot like conditions in other sacrifice zones, elsewhere in the world -

“The more I saw and heard, the more I experienced déjà vu. This trip to Appalachia has so many similarities to my fact finding trip last year to visit to Indigenous communities impacted by palm oil plantations in Malaysia. How so?
• Both are (or were) beautiful forested areas with flowing rivers and thriving local cultures.
• Both are being exploited for the benefit of corporations that promise a good living to community members, but don’t deliver.
• Rivers are being polluted and community members are left with toxic fish to eat.
• Bottled water is the only safe choice.
• Both are company towns (or states), where local government bends over backwards to contort the law to favor the industry over the people, where local police offer no protection, and where local media won’t say a word against the company.
• Both are home to determined people standing up against all odds to save their communities and their heritage.
• People in both areas face trumped up charges, excessive bail and other systematic controls designed to scare off others from speaking out.
• Above all, both of them need our help!”

Andy Rowell has pointed out similar conditions under and around oil & gas operations in Iraq.

Here is some relevant material that I have posted recently -
I raised issues like these in posts about dump sites, and in a post about Palestinians.