Healthcare Deform

Time for my weekly rant.  Normally I don't write these down but instead bombard my wife, children or any coworker that is unfortunate enough to be standing close by when I go off.  But my wife is cooking, my kids are playing video games or hiding from me and so I am forced to target my blog.

Obamacare did some good.  I'll just get that out of the way.  It isn't all bad.  But to call it "healthcare reform" is over reaching to say the least.  It was in fact health insurance reform.  Our healthcare system is still in an abysmal state right now. Frankly there is absolutely no reason for healthcare to cost as much as it does. But that isn't my gripe.  I have another axe to grind.

Thanks to Obama threatening to sue me if I don't have insurance, I'm forced to get some. I make too much money for state insurance...barely too much.  Thank goodness my kids still qualified or I would be really hosed.  So now I have to pick up insurance for my wife and I.  That comes to about twelve (yes 12) percent of my income.  So now I make less than I did several years ago when I qualified for medicaid.  Great.  So I can barely pay my bills but at least I have insurance.

"You'll be glad to have it when you need it" is what I keep hearing.  And they would be right.  I will be very glad to have insurance when I get cancer or run over by a bus or shot or something.  But in the mean time I get to feel bad about having no savings (for retirement or anything else) and not being able to buy my kids new clothes or paying off my debts.  Right now one of my cars sits in the driveway because I can't pay to get it fixed. I have a really old roof that leaks because I can not afford to get it replaced.  I have a bathroom torn apart and can't afford to finish the job.  But yeah, I'm gonna be real glad when I finally need to cash in on some of that insurance.  Forgive me if I'm not quite seeing the light at the end of the tunnel right now.

I'm healthy.  No, I don't mean I'm not sick.  I mean I actually make a conscience effort to be healthy.  About five years ago I was overweight with high cholesterol.  I would get out of breath walking to my car in the morning for work.  I was on the verge of turning forty and I was going into middle age looking like every other middle aged man in America.  Fat, sick and tired.  My doctor insisted what I needed was medicine to make me better.  I decided to fix myself.  I started running.  I switched to a plant based diet (no meat, dairy or eggs) and I started taking martial arts.  I lost weight, my cholesterol went within normal levels and I got healthier.  My asthma, which I had since I was about ten, and for which I was on a couple of  very expensive medications, virtually disappeared.  My GERD  stopped giving me so much problems.  So much so that I got off my expensive and ultimately harmful stomach medications.  I even found I got sick a lot less.

Did I turn into superman or something?  No.  I still injure myself, I still get sick on occasion and eventually I will get old and die.  So I am realistic.  But frankly I have had little need for doctors.  For a year I was without insurance (the year before Obama struck) and just paid for my wife's medications and doctor visits out of pocket.   But not anymore. Here is what I get:

• 12% of my income is now gone.
• I have co-pays on visits.
• I have co-pays on meds. In fact, I pay the exact same amount of money for my wife's meds as I did without insurance!
• So far I've gotten nothing from the doctors.  Not even a lollipop!

So, this leaves me thinking, as most men do, that I'm paying all this money and not really getting anything except a good little yummy in my tummy that some day will really appreciate having this insurance.  That just won't cut it.  So I start going to the doctor just so I can feel I am getting my money's worth.  I don't need to go.  The doctor never tells me anything I don't already know.  But I feel compelled to do something so that I can feel good about all the money I'm not seeing in my paycheck each payday.

My foot hurts from running.  Plantar fasciitis.  How do I know?  I read and it is pretty common.  What did I learn?  No one really has a good idea what ultimately causes it or how to cure it.  It just comes and eventually it goes.  But hey, I have insurance.  I go and pay my $20 and the doctor says lots of words but the subtitles say "I dunno, let me send you to the foot doctor".  So off I go to the foot doctor.  

The foot doctor says lots of words but in the end the subtitles are the same, "I dunno".  But he x-rays me.  That was fun. I got irradiated.  Maybe this insurance thing isn't so bad after all.  But I didn't glow or get super powers so it was kind of a letdown.  Nothing broken (I knew that already) and that was that.  But hey, no $20 co-pay.  Woo hoo!  Oh wait, turns out they mailed the bill to me.  Darn it!

So being forced, by law, to pay for insurance I don't need, forced me to use the doctors I didn't need so that I could feel good about having insurance I didn't want.  Did it work?  No. Not really.  I was $40 poorer after that experience and none the wiser (or healthier).   What a poser. 

Why is insurance so expensive?  Well, there are a number of reasons but the one that irks me is the fact that most Americans refuse to take responsibility for their own health.  If I walked into my doctor's office and said, "I've been eating cyanide and I'm feeling really bad, could you give me something for the symptoms?"  The doctor would assume I was crazy.  He might say something like, "You are an idiot, Brian!  You need to stop eating cyanide right now.  If you don't you are going to die".   Honest and to the point.  But if I walk into my doctor and say, "Doc, I'm eating beef and chicken for pretty much every meal except for breakfast.  For breakfast I eat coffee and donuts. I feel like crap.  My blood pressure and cholesterol are both through the roof.  How can I get these symptoms to go away?"  The doctor would prescribe a couple of meds, give us the speech about needing to loose some weight and send me on my way.  Did he really help?  Nope. Well, OK, he helped the pharmaceutical company and, due to the fact I will be back...a lot, he helped himself.  So I guess if the goal was to keep people employed mission accomplished.  

What Americans need to be told is: You are a bunch of fat, sick, dying idiots!  Stop eating meat, drinking milk, eating cheese, donuts, candy bars, etc. and start eating vegetables, fruit, nuts and more. Get off your fat arses and start exercising.  You don't have to run a marathon or learn how to cage fight, just do something more than change the channel on your t.v. or waddle to the fridge for another beer and burrito.  It is really that simple.  I'm a lazy programmer.  Trust me, if I can do it ANYONE can.

Will it cost more?  Yes, a bit.  Let's face it, the government paying for meat, milk and eggs kinda makes things cheaper.  But cheap crap is still bad for you.  Ok, so I could stop being such a jerk and say something like, "You can still eat meat, dairy and eggs, just do less of it."  But since most people have no clue how to do that I recommend you just drop it all together.  Let's face it, zero of something is a heck of a lot easier to remember than less of something.   Besides, most of the animal products companies are allowed (and even encouraged) to sell is pure garbage.  A lot of it is banned for sale in other countries because it is so bad.  But hey, give an American crap and if it is cheap enough and loaded with enough salt and sugar, he'll eat just about anything.  Even crap.  

So there you go.  I ranted.  Honestly I think I feel better now.  So I guess being forced to get insurance I don't need really does do some good. Thank you Obama!  

The end.

"You're only as clean as your colon!"

Or so cried Jim Carrey's environmental guy on the hilarious SNL skit. As funny as the parody was (I forwarded a copy to friends and asked if that was how they saw me) there is some amount of truth to his words.  Study after study over the past few decades have successfully linked diet to disease lending credence to Hippocrates' statement, "Let food be thy medicine".  

But what about genetics?  Doesn't that play a role in disease and health.  Absolutely.  Science has fairly conclusively shown the positive (or negative, depending on how you look at it) role genetics plays in the game of health.  But how big of a role?  The jury is still out on that one.  But typically it isn't as big of a role as we like to give it.  At least, from what I can tell, it isn't a big enough role to justify the fatalism I hear from the media or friends and family.

This was brought home to me recently when my sister texted me and my brother telling us we had better follow her example and make an appointment for an endoscopy ASAP.  She said, "It's in the genes!".  Colon cancer runs in my family and the usual recourse is to start getting tested yearly for this the disease after the age of forty.   Now I'm not arguing against the prudence of getting tested.  I am, however, going to argue with the typical fatalism I hear from people.  You have a family history therefore you have a [blank] percentage change of getting cancer.  What would you put in that blank?  30, 60, 90 percent chance?   Do you even know?  The fact is no one really does know.  One thing we do know is that countries with a non-western diet consisting of little animal product intake have a far less chance of contracting disease, including cancer, of the colon.  So what is our response going to be to this information?   Well, for most people it is simply to do nothing but get tested and have their bodies dissected and exposed to deadly chemicals or radiation should disease rear its ugly head.   And to me that is very sad.

I have looked into this over the years and over and over again diet is indicted as a culprit in the disease process.  It won't necessarily stop it, but the numbers are rather startling.  So what do I have to lose?   For me I completely dropped all animal products over five years ago because it seemed worth it.  At least it seemed better than the alternatives.  I wasn't willing to say, "Oh well, I guess that's it.  Colon cancer is in the family so I'll just get tested and deal with it when it shows up."  I decided to deal with it now, before it had a chance to show up.

The strange, but predictable, behavior of people, regardless of the reams of evidence in support of a plant based diet, who simply refuse to modify their diet to any appreciable extent always leaves me a bit speechless.  If I told you a plant based diet will potentially decrease your chances of getting cancer by even 1% wouldn't it be worth it?   But for most people it isn't.  And the percentages are even larger.  We like our food too much.  Call it gluttony, stubbornness, ignorance or what have you, we simply will not change until it is too late and even after the point of no-return we will continue to argue that there was nothing we could do about it. It really is tragic on so many levels.

[NOTE: I could include stats here but the fact is no matter what I show someone will argue with me that they are wrong or the Doctor, agency, study is wrong. Recently I was told that diet has nothing to do with my cholesterol.  Besides this being unscientific, I told them my blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides improved greatly when I changed my diet to one that was plant based.  Their response? They still didn't believe me and demanded I show them the test results.  They actually thought I was lying to them.  I have done the research to my personal satisfaction and I suggest you do the same.]

Is that foam coming out of your mouth?

I am periodically taken aback at how some people react to my veganism.  Most of the time they are just indifferent.  "That's nice", they say.  Or, "I could never do that. Pass the roast beef, will you?"  But on a few occasions the reaction is a bit more...adverse.  The rise in tension is almost palpable.  It is almost as instead of stating I don't eat meat, they heard me say I don't eat human babies or something.

Now let me make it clear that I haven't always approached things...diplomatically.  But fortunately that phase was very brief.  In a household where some are vegan and some are not I learned, thanks to a very patient wife, to be a bit more tolerant of others.   Not that I always accept their claims but I try to come up with better, more peaceful ways to discuss my views while letting the fact of my veganism speak for my convictions.  So I don't compare the meat industry with concentration camps or eating meat with that of eating human babies*.

However, we as humans have this really interesting reaction to threat of the polemical kind.  When we have a strong reaction to someone's position we will sometimes make up things to show how bad the other person really is.  I don't believe that this is always intentional.  In fact, I believe it is quite often the case that it is subconscious and therefore unintentional.  Nonetheless I see it happen.  I am sure I've even done it myself.

What happens is we will state our position, someone will vehemently disagree, an argument will ensue and even if the whole event was amicable on the surface, if you give it some time and go back and ask either of the people what was said you may find that either or both have some interesting takes on the conversation.  I have been accused of doing and saying things that I know I never said or did.  Or, which is most often the case, the other person only remembers what I said and nothing about the details surrounding why I said it.

Conversation about veganism can be very difficult because we aren't just talking about our health.  If I believe an apple a day keeps the doctor away and someone else believes differently I doubt much will be made of the discussion.   But veganism has ethical implications tied to the word and so the discussion is much more than simply dietary.  This is why many have gone to stating that they are on a "plant based" diet instead of using the ethically and politically charge "vegan".   I personally have decided to stick with vegan because I want people to know, even if that knowledge is only culturally instinctual, that my choice to not eat meat is ethical. I also do this knowing that very few people want to hear it.  They would rather I just eat my salad and shut-up.  But even when I do not say anything, they will assume I did and, well, that's that.

No, I don't believe in "live and let live".  I believe in respecting and loving those around me, but that doesn't mean I am going to capitulate on my morals or ethics.  If that offends some (and it will) I can live with that.  But my actions have to be more than reactions, they also have to be true and personally initiated actions for my part.  I don't see how people can think indifference is anything other than insulting.  Many today seem to think that "tolerance" means I accept everything someone else says as true (at least for them) and therefore beyond question or objection.  Doing that is simple patronizing and not tolerance at all.   Real tolerance is to disagree with someone else and yet still respect and love them.   But because of this misunderstanding, thanks to some pedants in so-called institutes of higher-learning, people think you are being "intolerant" if your words or life suggest they could be wrong.

Of course the problem runs a lot deeper than the dictionary definition of a word.  It comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding of relationships between humans, animals and the environment.  Contrary to what one may think (and I admit that it sounds counter intuitive) to patronize someone the way I described above is an ultimate expression of self-interest and preservation.  It is saving your own face and skin all in the name of "peace" or "tolerance".   In other words you really aren't doing anyone any favors.  Society needs men and women of conviction.  People who will stand up for what they believe even if the entire society stands against them.  Not for bad things or wrong things, but for what is right and just.  If, when I die, the only thing people remember is that I was a christian and vegan, then I'm good with that.  Those two words alone say a lot about who I am.

________

* A lot has changed since I wrote this piece.  I have sense seen that being "nice" doesn't ultimately work for the animal welfare movement.  I don't wish to be rude either, but being honest and up-front is essential to people taking our message more seriously.  I also believe that there are way too many similarities with Nazi concentration camps for us to ignore.  Even Jews who have survived the horrible ordeal see the comparison. This isn't to diminish or even equate the one with the other but rather to emphasize the overt tragedy of both.

Microbeads - Mega problem

Sometimes I wonder if there isn't any length we as humans won't go to in order to destroy ourselves and all around us.  For a people so obsessed with self-preservation I'm simply amazed at our myopic ignorance of the oncoming, self-created doom.  I heard someone refer to this as a "death urge".  Whether we are speaking about war, slavery, oppression, animal abuse or the environment it matters little.  It all comes from the same source.  Death urge, sin nature, shallow end of the gene pool, call it what you will.  It is mind numbing to think about and even more horrific to watch.

The latest that has come across my path is microbeads.  Tiny bits of plastic put in our cleaning supplies, including shampoos and toothpaste, to help in the cleaning process.  They are so tiny, in fact, that water treatment plants can't filter them out and they wind up in our waterways by the ton.   There they cause any number of problems.  The best part is they last a loooong time (aka, forever) and cannot be cleaned up. They are now a permanent part of our ecosystem. You can read about it here where there is a whole campaign to stop this menace:

http://beatthemicrobead.org/en/

The thing I wonder about is how much companies, including government oversight agencies, knew about this?  My guess is they knew all about it.  But I can come up with at least three possible scenarios.

1.  They knew about it but ignored the problem (idiocy).
2.  They didn't know about it and proceeded in blissful ignorance (stupidity).
3.  Some or all of the various groups involved knew about the problem but assumed somebody else would figure out how to solve it (SEP).

Right now there isn't any way to tell what scenario to choose, and even after the air has cleared of the poop that hit the fan, all parties involved will have added their own personalized spin to the story so we may never know.  Needless to say, this is just one more example of humanity at its best and we all get to pay the price while the big bosses have made their millions.  Just eat the green stuff.  It isn't really human.  That's just a myth.

But God said...!

As a vegan one of the comments I frequently hear from my Christian brothers and sisters (and I love each and every one of them) is, "But God said we could eat meat".  Because this happens so frequently, either explicitly or implicitly, I felt it important to voice my opinion on this now that I got some of my other opinions out of the way.  Unfortunately this is where me and my vegan friends part company and I will probably be stripped of all my vegan memberships.

The problem with being vegan and Christian or, for that matter, anything and Christian, is that sometimes our ideals and reality clash in a great big ball of fire, leaving us dazed and confused.  We would, sometimes, much rather ignore one set of facts in favor of another.  However, I think it is when we are forced to accept a set of facts that we would rather ignore that we find ourselves facing what is true and necessary and therefore worthy of acceptance.  We may not like it, but them are the breaks.

One set of facts that I was forced to accept early on is that the bible contains numerous passages that unambiguously tell us that God is o.k. with us eating animals. This is evident when Noah first exits the ark (Genesis 9:1-5).  The law gives numerous regulations concerning what the Jews could eat and not eat (Leviticus 11).  In the twenty-first chapter of John, Jesus encourages his disciples to eat breakfast consisting of some of the fish they caught.  Even Jesus ate fish! (Luke 24:41-43).   It would be extremely difficult for me to make a claim that eating animals is morally wrong in the face of these facts.  Therefore the only conclusion I can make is that God is o.k. with people eating animals.

Let's be clear that I am coming from the position that I believe the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God.  All of it!  So when I see the Bible say things like the above references I don't have the luxury of simply throwing it away because it doesn't appeal to me like many others do today.  This is exactly the problem with liberal Christianity.  Once we make ourselves and our opinions the rule by which we judge the truth claims of Scripture anything goes.  I simply cannot live that way.  It isn't reasonable and it simply doesn't work.

I have heard many attempt to explain how Jesus didn't really eat fish or God didn't really tell people it was o.k., but these attempts usually start with the presupposition that the Bible is full of errors or simply written by men.  On a rare occasion someone makes a valiant attempt at explaining their position from the original languages, but these attempts are extremely weak and frankly I have yet to read any sort of explanation along these lines made by people I deem qualified to make them.

God spoke, and He is o.k. with eating animals.

But what does this mean for me and the other Christians out there who have make an ethical choice not to eat meat?  Are their concerns invalid?  Are they wrong?  Are they fighting against God?

No, I don't believe so on all accounts.  If my meat-eating friends would take a few minutes to actually listen to why some of us have decided to shun animal flesh they will probably find they actually agree with us more than they care to admit.  But, on the other hand, the one thing that turns people off is the threat of a conversion.  It makes people gun-shy and reactionary and therefore not very good listeners.

What this all means for me is two-fold.  First, I can't simply condemn people or even look down on them because they eat meat.  I certainly can't make a theological case for abstaining from meat based on a God given imperative (although perhaps I could make a theological argument on other grounds).  This means, above all, I need to love my carnist brother and sister no matter what they choose to do.

Second, I must always remember that animals are not humans.  This is the sort of confusion that lends itself to a number of unfortunate conclusions when this is forgotten.  Animals are important.  They are lovely, amazing, surprising and undeniably intelligent beings created by the Great Creator.  But they are not humans.  If they were then eating them would be a sin.  God made man and women, not animals, in his image, and as such they will always be secondary (Genesis 1:26-27).  This means when it comes to a choice between people and animals I must always choose people.  They are precious to Him.

Yes, this means that if I were in a situation where I would have to choose to eat meat in order to reach someone for Christ, I would choose to eat the meat.  Maybe not in America but if I were to do mission work in another country this opportunity could present itself and I am ready.

But that isn't the end of it.  As a follower of Christ I am not simply allowed to follow the status-quo either.  My entire life must be an expression of my relationship to my Creator.  That means, for me, that I am not going to do something simply because the Bible says I can.  Notice, I never said that the bible requires us to eat flesh (although the levitical priests might be so required).  I, like so many others, choose to abstain because I have seen the abuse and cruelty leveled against creatures who cannot help themselves all for the entertainment and pleasure of the powerful.  I have chosen to open my eyes and drink deeply of the horrors that we call the modern farming industry.  And the abuse is prodigious. And for what reason?  So we can wear clothes made from their skins?  So we can eat more than we need and die from the results of morbid obesity?  No thank you.  I choose to not do so.

No, I won't condemn others, but I will challenge them.  I will be the exception to the rule that drives people crazy because they can't get me to fit into their version of reality.  No, the Bible doesn't say it is a sin to eat meat.  But what it does say I must follow:

...whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
(James 4:17 ESV)

#4: A Culture of Violence

[Note: This is the fifth installment of my series on why I am vegan.  For the other articles in this series see: Why I am Vegan.  These are not in any particular order although I did add a number to the title for the number of reason being discussed. Other than that, the numbers really don't mean anything. ]

We live in a culture of violence.  This isn't something that is unique to American, but it is something that is endemic in America.  I'm not talking about football, MMA or movies.  Those things are violent and perhaps an argument can be made for their detriment to society, but I make a distinction between violence that is by mutual consent and that which is perpetrated by one who is stronger upon one who is weaker.  The violence I speak of makes victims.

When I speak of America's culture of violence I am speaking of pornography in all its forms and especially child pornography.  I am speaking of sex trade (yes, in America! If you don't know about this then it is time for you to wake up).   I am talking about the tens of thousands women and children who are raped every year.  I'm talking about the wars perpetrated by the U.S. in the name of national security.  I'm talking about violence that pits the strong against the weak. Violence that seeks to dominate, conquer  subject, enslave, humiliate and subdue.  

This kind of violence, the victimizing sort, leaves its mark on a society.  It weasels its way into every nook and cranny, no matter how hard we try to compartmentalize and sanitize our little sacred corners, free from guilt.  Its effects can be readily (if we are willing to look for it) seen in the dreams we dream, the literature we read, the movies we watch and the food we eat.  

I've commented on the treatment of animals and society in a previous post, And I am not about to tell you that the treatment of animals dictates the violence of a culture.  In fact, I suspect it is the other way around in most cases, depending on how one defines culture and the sampling being referenced.  But I can at least say with some confidence that a society that abuses animals for pleasure will either be headed towards a culture of violence directed at its weaker human counterparts or is most likely already there.  Even a culture that isn't caught up in a cycle of abuse of its own members can be seen to be abusing, or at least hold an abusive attitude towards, members of neighboring societies. 

It isn't black and white, however.  That would be easy to work out.  A society that is abusive towards animals isn't always clearly abusive towards humans.  And humans that are abusive towards other humans aren't necessarily abusive towards animals.  I'm sure there could be a wife beater or child molester or pornographer who is a vegan and love's his or her dog.  But I'm not really speaking of individuals here or subcategories.  I'm talking about society and culture.  In this case the culture really isn't, if ever, the sum of its parts.

This brings me to one culture that always causes me the most pain. The culture of the Christian Church.  Let me start out first by saying I don't believe that the bad behavior of some or even all invalidate the truth of a particular philosophy or doctrine.  They are separate.  To put it graphically, if a doctor or doctors are found to be raping their patients it does not mean that medicine or even going to a doctor is bad.  It just means there are bad people who practice medicine and who don't follow one of the basic rules of the practice: do no harm.  

That said, the gospel message is one of peace.  Jesus himself promoted a culture of peace.  Does this mean that everyone is suppose to be vegan?  Perhaps, but that isn't the point (more on that in a future post).  But it does mean that the last thing Christians should be participating in is a culture of violence.  How can we support organizations to stop the sex trade while at the same time support a government that perpetuates violence on such a grand scale for political and economical pursuits?  How can we claim to be followers of Jesus and at the same time willingly choose to ignore the massive amount of abuse committed against animals that can barely understand what is happening to them?

I've heard many Christians say, "Don't tell me about what happens to animals.  I want to be able to enjoy my chicken".  Or to graphically tell me about the pig they ate and how it still had skin on it and how it made them sick to their stomachs but then to go on to say they love the taste of ham?   I've tried to get Christians to do the research and they refuse.  Flat out refuse!  Why?  The reasons are varied  but when it boils down to it we have been so indoctrinated by growing up in a culture of violence that we cannot imagine life any other way.  We don't think we are violent.  We would be offended if we were called what we really are: an abusive people.  But there it is, staring us in the face like a grotesque  movie zombie.  We are violent and hardly live up to the name of the One we claim to follow.

If you are a Christian reading this post then I challenge you to write down all the reasons you eat animal flesh.  Then take the time to research the reasons.  Are they valid?  Most Christians I know won't even go as far as the first step because they can't be bothered to look in the mirror.  I admit it.  What will be looking back at you will be terrifying.  The rest of those who read this and actually took the first step, will stop there believing their justifications are valid.  But are they?  Until you actually test those justifications against reality they are less justification than fantasy.  The same fantasies that sent Jews to the gas chambers, that hacked men, women and children to pieces in Rwanda, that chain children and women  to the sadistic designs of sex traffickers and keepthe abortion mills open.   

Yes, that is harsh.  Yes, it is offensive.  I admit it and I intend it.  I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to take a real, honest, truthful inventory of one area of their lives that, more than any other, demonstrate without any doubt the evidence of a resident, endemic disease.  A disease that is the direct result of our culture of violence. 

This land is your land, this land is my land...NOT!

Recently I caught a news item on NPR that piqued my interest.  You can read or listen to it here. In brief, it spoke of plans to run a natural gas pipeline from Malin, Oregon to the coast. As might be expected this proposed pipeline has had a polarizing effect on land and business owners.  There are those who see only the economic benefit and seem to be missing the long term effects and potential hazards to flora, fauna and humans. Then there are those who see the potential damage and threat and feel that the risks far outweigh the rewards and therefore are threatening to dig their heels in.

As interesting as this is, what really caught my attention was a statement made towards the end of the article. From the article:

"But [the ranch owner] may not have a choice. Eminent domain likely will come into play, and a court could force reluctant landowners to allow the pipeline across their property, though that's not the company's preferred option."

I remember a friend of mine years ago made, what seemed to me, to be an offhand comment (he was an assistant to a surveyor at the time).  He said: "Land ownership is a myth. No one owns land in America except the government".  And now, every time I hear eminent domain come up I can hear my friend whispering in my ear, "Land ownership is a myth".

Now, I'm not a lawyer so I can't speak to all the in's and out's of eminent domain. Nor shall I try to convince you that all uses of eminent domain have been bad. All I want to point out is the fact that if the government (local or federal) decides they want your land or want to do something to your land then you are out of luck.  You may have had that land in your family for generations and if the government decides they want to run a big ol' pipeline across it neither you nor your long dead ancestors will have anything to say about it.

What does this mean?  It means if you or I ever want to stop big corporations from raping the land we may find ourselves shoved into a corner that will require something beyond complaining to our neighbors or our assemblyman or senator. It may mean we will have to actually put some sort of muscle behind our rhetoric.  But don't be worrying about some outbreak of acts of "eco-terrorism" (A term I despise) by angry landowners in the near future. The fact is most landowners eventually roll over and let big corp walk all over them.

However, I would like to offer this word of advice which may help such landowners decide on their tactics and how quickly they decide to cave.  That advice is this: the fact that you think the land belongs to you isn't going to help you because, to quote my friend, "landownership is a myth".

[I realize that no one really owns land, not even the government, however for this article I wanted to address a different issue.  I hope to address the fact that land ownership is a myth on a wider scale in a future article].