

Far From Gulf, a Spill Scourge 5 Decades Old - whyenot
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/world/africa/17nigeria.html?hp

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whyenot
In the US, when an oil company screws up, they are liable for billions of
dollars and then end up on the hot seat in front of the US Congress. But, much
of the oil we use in the US comes from places where there is little if any
regulation and oversight. You could just as easily exchange Nigeria with
Ecuador, Peru or Indonesia. It's a little frustrating how our concern for the
environment sometimes seems to end at the US border.

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tlack
How are the plants not dead in the first photo? Small bushes like that would
die immediately in such oily muck I'd expect.

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sophacles
Obviously fisheries are not important. If such things mattered to anyone,
competition would have forced the oil company to be safer and cleaner. Or at
least thats how people claim pure capitalism works.

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clammer
False. Capitalism features property rights. Unless the oil company owns all
the polluted property, they are liable for the damage to the property of
others (at least under a capitalist system).

The problem: Nigeria is a corrupt third world country. It has nothing to do
with capitalism.

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hyperbovine
_The problem: Nigeria is a corrupt third world country. It has nothing to do
with capitalism._

Hah. On an internet filled with naive, uninformed assertions, this is a true
standout. Virtually every defining moment in the history of that unfortunate
country can be traced back to the meddling of Western capitalists looking to
make a buck. It starts with slavery and ends with oil, with a healthy dose of
British colonialism in the middle. Their dysfunctional system of government,
permanent underclass, environmental destruction--it has _everything_ to do
with capitalism. Put down the Milton Friedman koolaid and dig deeper.

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clammer
So corruption doesn't happen in communist countries? And communist countries
never attempt to meddle in the affairs of others?

There was nothing naive about my comment, as much as you made naive
assumptions about my comment.

My point is:

Capitalism != mercantilism. Capitalism != corruption.

I would never dispute that much of the underdevelopment of the middle east and
africa isn't due to meddling by foreign counties (though, not just western).
However, corruption has more to do with culture than economic structure.

Why do people pervert what capitalism is just so they can tear it down?

