Leadership

The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is bringing to light many aspects of the character of man, some of them admirable, some of them less so.  We may see the compassion of the many who seek out and tend the damaged birds and animals; we may see the dignity and integrity of some Americans who accept the situation with equanimity and refuse to take advantage of it; we may welcome the determination of a few planners and strategists who are trying to learn from it and review both how to extract oil safely and how to reduce the world demand for it. 

Meanwhile, political expediency is driving the blame-game from the White House down regardless of the wider economic and international implications (which are considerable), and greed - literal profiteering - underpins many of the claims for compensation, from workers to lawyers.

Vested interest has the upper hand at the moment.  Apart from a few economists, commentators and detached observers, no-one seems interested  in considering what would happen if BP, a huge global company, is bled dry. The repercussions would be enormous and destabilising in the extreme.   Anglo-British relations are being affected already by distorted finger-pointing, and judgment reigns at the expense of fairness.

Yes, there was laxness and complacency by BP, the Americans who ran the oil rig, by the regulators and by we, the consumers who failed to ask the right questions.  The heat, hyperbole and emotion which are so visible now are destructive, and it would be good to see some balance, restraint and realism replace them.

A statesman acts in the long-term interest for the highest good.  A politician acts to win the next election.  If the present stated desire for revenge and punishment, which mostly is generated through a sense of impotence and for PR purposes, continues, then the world will wobble, and we will know in which of these two categories our leaders belong.