Open Letter to Media 16-6-10 : BP, The Pope and patterns of behaviour

To whom in may concern,

It has been written that the human brain is exceedingly good at observing and discerning patterns. It’s long been 
assumed that this ability is an evolutionary trait, one that supports our ability to thrive, as part of the natural biota of Earth.

I have been observing a pattern throughout my life, and wonder, am I the only one to have observed this pattern? If so, that would make me quite unique, or possibly insane.

If not, then, given that the pattern exists, the question of the sanity of a great number of people arises. People who should know better. People in whom the public trust is placed. 

The pattern I observe concerns the following generic : an incident, or incidents occur in which serious actual harm is caused as a result of the decisions made and actions perpetrated by highly functioning organisations, such as Governments, Churches, Corporations and their leaderships, followed swiftly by denial, spin, obfuscation, and protracted obstruction of serious investigation and/or application of the Law, both National and International.

This pattern can be observed amongst the following : The Canadian Residential School System, The Irish Residential School System, The Aboriginal Australian Residential School System, The Afghan War, The Iraq Wars, The Cuban Sanctions, The Gaza Blockade, The Tobacco Companies denial of the Harm caused by Tobacco, The Bombing of Cambodia, The Oil Blow-out in The Gulf of Mexico. This list is by no means exclusive. I offer it up to give a flavour of the level of harm, the nature of the Organisations and the near ubiquity of this pattern.

Ever since the Blow-out on Deepwater Horizon this April, Tony Hayward, the CEO of BP has been less than candid with regard to this very serious incident. 

It is clear that from the outset, Tony Hayward, and those who advise him and work with him, were more concerned with protecting some inane concept linked to the image and status of BP, (much in the same manner that the current Pope and his colleagues were and remain primarily concerned with protecting the image and status of The Vatican) than in either resolving the situation and/or limiting the harm, never mind being openly truthful as the issues arose.

A pattern observed can lead to a number of conclusions. Depending upon the observers perspective and honesty. So here goes.

If these patterns are to do with healthy thrivival, or even mere survival, as the evolutionary psychologists would have us believe, then it is clear from the above examples that the survival of the Organisation takes priority over all other considerations, including the costs in lives lost and trauma caused to living organisms, be they human or non-human, and with that priority over the damage to the habitat from which we human beings have emerged. 

This is the hidden demon lurking within Richard Dawkins ‘selfish gene’ concept. 

At some point pattern this will inevitably become a liability for the human species, if not for ALL species for all time, because Organisations and Institutions ARE not biological, living entities nor are they adaptations of evolutionary processes. They are artificial structures, imposed by force, upon living processes. 

Given that this IS the case, the pattern of behaviour of Tony Hayward, The Pope and many, many others who occupy ‘leadership’ positions, and indeed populate Institutions at all levels, must be questioned, minutely observed, and ultimately understood to be a real and present danger. Anti-social is too weak a term. Socio-pathic just covers relations within the human dimension. These behaviours are anti-life. The pattern observed is an anti-life pattern. 

The Gulf of Mexico ‘OIL SPILL’ is NOT an ‘accident’. It is the tragic result of an economics based decision making process. It is part of a pattern of negative, environmentally and socially dysfunctional behaviours. 

It is incumbent on all those who have access to the public discourse to engage in the process of honestly appraising these behaviours and of sharing what is known by way of realisable resolution.

This letter is of course addressed to the worlds ‘respected’ media. You have a responsibility, as human beings, as brothers and sisters, as fathers and mothers, as relatives of all life, and you have the means to meet that responsibility. 


Kindest regards 

Corneilius 

 Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

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