W.R. Grace, Capitalism, Libby, MT.

I've written once before on the Libby, Montana, tragedy, where the greed of one company and numerous politicians effectively chose profit over life, exposing countless living, breathing people to a deadly form of asbestos known as tremolite, which has killed and debilitated so many. Below is a link to an article I wrote a while back which gives a brief summary of what happened.

http://americanwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2007/09/libby-montana-american-nightmare_08.html

However I just recently finished reading An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana, Uncovered a National Scandal by Andrew Schneider and David McCumber, and I now have a much more thorough understanding of the events and people that allowed this blatant disregard for human life to occur. This story definitively illustrates everything wrong with capitalism in America and why the system is broken, despite what the wealthy profess.

The story of W.R. Grace in Libby, Montana is long and complex, but the cause of the problem is simple to understand. To this day asbestos is used in thousands of commercial applications, including in automobile brakes, despite the fact the majority of Americans believe otherwise and remain convinced that this environmental hazard has been banned. Medical science has proven the harm of asbestos, and in particular has isolated tremolite as a primary cause of mesothelioma and asbestosis, yet despite this known fact, bureaucrat's and politicians, all of them profiting in some form along the way, have been able to keep the restrictions on Big Business loose and favor the interests of business over the sanctity of life. In fact, the EPA was looking to ban asbestos use in the late 1980's and into the early '90's, but lobbying groups working on behalf of the asbestos industry succeeded in thwarting those efforts, downplaying the real life harm of asbestos in favor of economics. The economy for too long has taken precedent over common sense. The tragedy in Libby, Montana happened because of business, profit and capitalism.

I will write more on this issue in upcoming postings, as the story is far too complex to understand in such brief discussions, yet it is imperative when examining the state of our society to understand what drives the interests of our elected leaders and policies. What is most disturbing is how many people have spoken out against those seeking reform in Libby, blaming the sick and dying for the loss of business and economic opportunities in the local community. Roughly 1/3 of the locals, many of whom never even worked for Grace (who just were forced to breath in their air) are either dying or will die of some form of asbestos related disease in their lifetime, yet there are actually those who have stood up and defended the actions of W.R. Grace and the policies of the EPA. The far majority of citizens living in this country are directly harmed by capitalism, not helped. We no longer practice capitalism in this country, we are a country of fascists. I definitely recommend the above mentioned book as a much needed read into understanding the values that our society operate under.