Capitalism is Rape 1.0

From The Edmonton Journal, September 30, 2008. Section A18. “Stephen Harper, seemingly channelling the spirit of Pierre Trudeau, dropped in on Calgary, to announce a surprise plan to ban new exports of Alberta's raw bitumen to countries that don't conform with Canada's carbon emission reduction standards -- whatever those may be. If Alberta bitumen can't be sold on a free and open international market, we can't price it properly. Bitumen is now Alberta's greatest energy asset. If there's no viable external market for it, how can we know what it's really worth -- or be sure that we're selling it for its true market value? If a new Harper government devalues bitumen by trapping it within Canadian borders, Alberta's provincial treasury will never be able to capture its full, maximum value.” Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal Maybe what the woefully naïve Ms. Simons doesn’t understand is that she’s playing with the ability of the planet upon which we live to sustain human life. She is toying with my children’s lives, is it only fair, then, I should be allowed to toy with her children’s lives in a manner I see fit? No, it isn’t. Too bad we don’t live in a “fair” world. Mr. Harper doesn’t want to sell Bitumen to China? You mean the same China who is doing more to destroy the environment than any other country in the world? Why does it matter whether or not we can sell Bitumen for its “true market value” when the cost is our homes, our lives?