Diane Wilson in the 1990’s is a woman shimper down on the coast of Texas, which in and of itself is a tough job. Then she decides to take on Formosa, a huge chemical company that continually violates environmental pollution laws, but the government (local and federal) turns a blind eye. They say Formosa is important for economic development and everyone in town seems to believes them. Money talks and when the shimp are no longer around for the harvest, the town has no choice, but to use Formosa as their source of income. Well, if the companies would stop polluting the bay, the shrimp might come back, but who really understands that connection?
This autobiography was bittersweet in that it told the courageous story of one “unreasonable” woman’s fight against a polluting giant, but it was depressing because of all the red tape, lies and corruption. When I see everything that Diane and the issues she ran in to, it makes me hate money more than anything. It all came down to money: money for the chemical plant to make and save by not complying to standards, firing any employees that became sick or hurt from working there, claiming the employee was drunk and paying off senators and local government people to play on their team rather than for the general welfare of the community. It really was disgusting.
I do have some, minimal respect for our government. At least we do not live in a time of complete anarchy with civil war, senseless shootings and rape, well, not significantly in this country, in my back yard. Who knows what’s going on anywhere else? All I know is I’m safe in my bubble and that’s what companies want; satisfied, senseless consumers. I feel guilty when I use a product “made in China” or “made in Taiwan”, but I still do it. The same companies we ban from the US because of their pollution violations, set up shop in these other countries, so we can have cheap stuff at the expense of ruining another country’s landscape. Sigh. I really should think about more pleasant things.
