“It is day 78 of the Disaster in the Gulf.” These are the ominous words that greet the viewers of the Today Show each morning since the oil began gushing from the blowout of the Deep Water Horizon/British Petroleum (BP) well in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a “centerless”18 disaster – no one is willing to take complete blame for what has happened, in fact when executives of both BP and Deep Water Horizons were brought before Congress, finger pointing and shifting of blame was the order of the day. But more than this, the modern era view of humanity’s ability to “exercise power over nature”19 has come to an end. Faced with the ecological disaster that grows exponentially each day, the optimistic hope that the human intellect will, through rational thought and the use of technology, be able to unlock the secrets of the universe and create a better world seems farfetched at best. Perhaps, this disaster typifies postmodernism in the corporate world.Tom Brokaw, in an interview with Matt Lauer commented that the gulf oil disaster is a “metaphor for our time.” “We are seeing the limits of our technology,” he said, “everything we’ve been told turns out not to be true.”20 Brokaw’s comments reflect the attitude espoused by Stanley Grenz in A Primer for Postmoderism: “gone is the belief that every day, in every way, we are getting better and better.”21
Response from Emery Ailes
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Disaster in the Gulf was an accident waiting to happen. Before the spill, the rig was cited several times as being unsafe. It almost like a house inspection before the purchase. If the inspection yields cracks in the foundation, weak structure and termite damage, these things mustn’t go ignored. On the contrary, these citations must be fixed before moving forward to closing. I think the gulf oil spill has everything to do with greed and lust and a total disregard for human and sea life. In a post-modern sense, no we are not getting better, but worse. This is a prime example of what happens when we as a society drift away from what’s inherently right to what’s relative.
Response from Karyn Ratcliffe
ReplyDeleteThe Gulf oil spill is another tragic example of science not always being good. Rather than harness the power of nature, we are trying to reverse the effect of our own human action. As a result of this “experiment-gone-bad,” (i.e. off-shore drilling without adequate oversight and regulation) we are pushed even further into a post-modern worldview and even deeper into a mood of pessimism. In contrast with the modern worldview of individual freedom, we are slowly realizing how much we need each other. Governments need corporations who can develop technologies and dip into financial reserves; corporations need governments to protect them from the retaliation of individuals; and nations need each other to offer resources and support. The Gulf cleanup process could be a postmodern picture of “persons of various nationalities working together for the common benefit of humankind.” Yet this ideal is allegedly being thwarted by the Obama Administration as it takes a modern approach in a world that is yearning for a post-modern solution – one of “cooperation rather than conquest.” Rather than conquer the oil spill and those who are “responsible” for it, we need to cooperate with each other. In fact, could it be that much of the political tension in our country for the past ten years (and counting) is the result of a clash between the postmodern worldview of our citizens and a government that keeps acting as if we’re still moderns?
Response from Suzanne Cox Reedstrom
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of the oil spill is both personal, pastoral and practical. BP’s Headquarters in the United States is in Houston, TX. The headquarters is less than three miles from the church where I serve. Many of our parishioners work for BP or one of the companies whose expertise is being used to help stop the flow of oil. One of my parishioner’s sons was on the oil rig when it exploded. My brother-in-law works for a company whose ships and ROV’s are part of the ongoing effort. The work being exerted is 24/7. From my perspective, I would say the Obama administration is not thwarting the effort of cooperation, in fact, the administration is encouraging BP to use all expertise that is available to stop the oil flow. To suggest that the blow out is solely due to BP’s greed and lust and everything to do about the disregard for human and sea life seems far too simple of an explanation. All of us are complicit in this oil spill if for no other reason than our continued desire and use of gasoline and petroleum products. It is our desire for these products that drives corporations to drill for oil. A postmodern view of this problem would note that the lines are blurred as to complicity, this view would also note that there is no one reason for the blow out. Instead, corporate risk assessment, the desire for oil, national and world politics, economics, and the ecological impact on the environment are just a few of the perspectives that must be looked at and taken into account as we try to understand the nature of the problem.