Evil Empire Conspiracy - Goldman Sachs and BP
71Evil Empire, Goldman Sachs or BP?
Six weeks ago most discussions about the evil empire centered on Goldman Sachs. The discussion now is who is the evil empire, Goldman Sachs or BP? Goldman was reeling from being charged by the SEC for fraud, they had been implicated in the High Frequency trading abuse and were the butt of Greed Jokes. Than the Horizon Deepwater rig exploded and that has fed into the largest environmental disaster in US history, eclipsing the Exxon Valdez.
President Obama has used the spill, as a constant berating of ‘British Petroleum’, not BP as he seeks to let all and sundry know it is not an American company. This is despite BP being the biggest driller in the Gulf of Mexico. BP’s stock has halved since the crisis began. Gulf fishing has been banned, oysters reefs threatened, Birds destroyed and jobs and communities decimated. Yet as this survey from BrandIndex shows Goldman Sachs brand is still more evil than BP’s. Toyota is the other culprit here from their safety issues, however that has recovered somewhat. So who is the evil empire Goldman Sachs or BP?
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Objective Measures of Public Opinion
Both Goldman Sachs and BP have garnered fierce reactions. There is talk of conspiracy, New World Order, Big Oil, Republican favoritism, Democrat favoritism, you name it rationality has been thrown out the window. It is clear that both these brand names have been used as political footballs. Obama’s seemingly purposeful relentless destruction of ‘British Petroleum’ has been damaging to British-U.S. relations. We won’t discuss the reasons here; they should be pretty obvious though. I wanted to see a gauge that was able to give me an ideas of how superficial we have become, how willing to cast blame or where we not so superficial and manipulated after all? I decided to check out Brand Index to see what an objective study had to tell us.
What is BrandIndex?
I thought it best be explained by taking the explanation from the BrandIndex website.
‘BrandIndex is a daily measure of public perception of 850 consumer brands across 34 sectors, measured on a 7-point profile: general impression, ‘buzz’, quality, value, corporate reputation, customer satisfaction and whether respondents would recommend the brand to a friend. ‘
‘2,000 British adults 18+ are interviewed daily, giving more than half a million interviews per year. Respondents are drawn from our online panel of over 250,000.’
Now this is taking British data, which I thought was actually relevant given the obvious blame factor and anti-British implications from President Obama. I dare say a pure US poll, particularly an Eastern American poll would be heavily negative BP versus Goldman Sachs.
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BP, Goldman Sachs and Toyota
The Chart pictured is graphing the response to the following question. “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, was it positive or negative?”
Goldman Sachs score of -40 means 70 people saying they have heard negatives about Goldman for every 30 saying they heard something positive about them. BP is pinging between -35-37. It is a close race. One may wonder what the positive chatter is about either of these brands.
Here is what I found particularly telling. We have heard all the anti big Oil talk. I have commented on how much of that is your typical blame everyone but me syndrome, converting to political polarization or good old fashion bandwagonism.
Prior to the Oil spill notice how BP chugged along in the positive brand recognition zone. Hardly Big Oil was in anyone’s concern. Keep in mind that BP had recently been found guilty of negligence with workers dying in the Houston Refinery explosion. However that didn’t permeate the public conciseness. Was that because the US Administration didn’t give a crap, or because the media didn’t give a crap?
However Goldman has been in the negative zone for at least a year. This was before the SEC action, clearly money is of more concern to the majority than the environment, work conditions etc. This concerns me if we fast forward and all is forgotten about the stock market manipulation and the oil spill if it suits the individual’s circumstance to do so.
The point is so many are guilty here including ourselves, the consumers. Others to blame include government departments, the existing US administration, the previous Administration, Transocean, Halliburton, BP and the list goes on. This is not unlike the subprime crisis, it is always someone else’s fault! The herd always looks outside to blame, never within. What does that achieve exactly? I remember a song by Blind Willie Johnson and then modified by Led Zeppelin, ‘Nobody’s fault but mine”, any relevance here?
Nobody's Fault But Mine lyrics
Nobody's fault but mine
Trying to save my soul tonight
It's nobody's fault but mine
Devil he told me to roll
How to roll the line tonight
Nobody's fault but mine
Brother he showed me the gong?
Brother he showed me the ding dong ding
dong
How to kick that gong tonight
Oh, it's nobody's fault but mine
Got a monkey on my back
Gonna change my ways tonight
Nobody's fault but mine
I will get down rollin' tonight
Nobody's fault
I have yet found anyone who is happy about the destruction of the Gulf Coast’s ecosystem and economy. However there is a glaring disconnect between oil and people using it everyday. I can’t in all honesty denigrate Big Oil when I know I use it everyday. Heck I am banging out this diatribe on a plastic keyboard on a MAC after just washing my hands to take my vitamins and eat some candy. Then I better put on some deodorant and clean my teeth. What do you use that has come from oil? Clearly I am not suggesting we are at fault here, our trust was abused on so many levels. So who is the evil empire, Goldman Sachs or BP?
If there is an Evil Empire...
Who is the Evil Empire?
See results without votingComments on Evil Empire, Goldman Sachs or BP?Loading...
CMHypno thanks for your comments. It is interesting with the President's insistence on 'British Petroleum' as opposed to BP - especially given stats of ownership like that. They certainly are the majority producer in the GoM.
I agree on the evil comments - intent is not there and I don't think the Devil made them do it! It is interesting the way they are projected and termed as such, targets of conspiracies and 'evil' agendas and the like. Individual Greed does appear to be the evil doer here.
Corporations are neither moral or immoral; they are amoral. They are driven by profit, which is not a bad thing and is not a good thing. At the individual level the employees are driven by a desire to hold on to their jobs, just like every teacher, butcher, and candlestick maker. At the corporate level they have a responsibility to the shareholders, hopefully staying within the framework of legal restrictions and government regulations to fulfill that responsibility.
nicomp thanks for your comments. Very true it is the human element that corrupts. Some corporates have different cultures that are drilled into them from day one though.
Individual greed has infiltrated all walks of life; not just in every level of government and in corporate boardrooms, but also in every facet of the life of those who no longer have a moral compass. The much-maligned Biblical world view that gave us altruism has become virtually extinct, Billy.
Diamond RN very good points an sadly very accurate. I just watched a program on the selling of the CDO Timberwolf by Goldman Sachs which is now the focus on a 1 billion dollar lawsuit by Australian hedge fund 'basis'. The greed on every level is despicable. In this case the individual investors had no idea they were duped into AAA investments. The greed from basis and Goldman is both evident. The deceit is there for all to see. It is like who was the biggest prick in all this? Pardon the language.
Hi Billy,
No comment one way or the other on the Evil question or on the postulating of the US President he's just a politician making political brownie points just so to ensure the shit doesn't stick to him....
My question is this BP is an enormous corporation, but even so can they survive this disaster ?
The well is still flowing and the surface pollution is still getting worse by the day. The cleanup operation alone is going to run into Billions and that's before the Ambulance chasers get their oars into the water..
Lloyds of London must be getting ready to shit a brick themselves, they must be the key insurer in this mess....
I don't believe in evil corporations.I do think they will do what they can to maximize profits when they can. I unerstand that BP fudged on some safety regulation, and that the government was lax in enforcing same.
Merlin I agree this is what makes the BP future so open ended. This may go on until the August the relief wells. Who knows how much is being leaked out at this point?
dahoglund yes some corporate cultures are all about making money and to heck with the rest - the subprime crisis is the best example of that. I am not sure if BP fudged or if they were given an easy report by the government - nether would surprise me. Depends who you read at this point.
Hi! Billy.
You have a good point. So do all the comments. But I am not sure that 'evil' is right word to be used for such happenings. In India just now a similar hulla bulla (lot of noise with much less points) people are making about Anderson, who was chief of Union Carbide at the time of Bhopal disaster in which more than 10,000 people died and more than 100, 000 suffered because Union Carbide did not take enough safety measures in its plant in Bhopal. There may be evidence that it did not wish to take same measures as it was taking in USA, because of costs involved. The noise there is of very similar kind against Anderson a USA company, as Obama is sort of driving in USA about BP being UK company. Media and politicians are trying to nail in India politicians who allowed Anderson to escape from going through a court- case etc. and about who in India were responsible for the disaster and neglect later but all the sentimental statements are much more for outsider Anderson (though fortunately people in India do not use words like evil so quickly as it is done in West). The style is very similar to way media and politicians react sentimentally in USA against outsiders Toyota or BP or China, India etc. and such sentiments are used to escape taking right decisions.
I feel with Obama administration such noises have increased enormously, specially if the entity involved is not from a Muslim majority country. Way Obama administration is reacting today to events it reminds me more of many leaders in countries like India who try to hide their incapacity or political equations and not management equations used behind their decisions. Of course it has been always like this in most countries, But frequency seems to have increased much more in USA in recent years.
After all when you are counting actions which have resulted in such destruction and miseries why stop at just these three corporates. Is it not true that evil which is seen in corporate world's profit motive which gives them more money and results some times in such disasters, is much more visible in profit motives of politicians and their parties? Only difference is that instead of money they count votes and resulting power.
At least corporate world does things in a little subtle manner (though that does not mean there should not be regulations to control them ), politicians do it in much more visible ugly manner and often corruption involved is also quite visible.
Almost similar is the case with mainstream media and press where money or votes are replaced by TRP ratings or circulation figures. Where do you stop if you want to raise just sentiments about evil intentions?
I feel focus should be more in correcting errors each time such an incident occurs rather than sentiments. With each such incident need for reforming courts, regulating agencies, Congress, Senates or media and press is felt much more, in each democratic country but there is very little talk of that even in blogs!
I suspect that the US government is going to come out on top in the blame game. As "evil" as big oil and big finance companies are, they derive the power to operate from the government. And it is the government that is failing to act swiftly to deal with the oil mess by throwing red tape roadblocks in front of all who desire to help clean up.
soumyasrajan 21 thank you for your very insightful comemnts. The Bhopal disaster in which more than 10,000 people died and more than 100,000 suffered because Union Carbide did not take enough safety measures in its plant in Bhopal is one of the most shameful incidents for the West. Shameful that it happned and shameful that most in the West aren't even aware of what happened. The punishment and compensation was negligible.
No doubt it is a difficult time for politicians but you point out very clearly the same self gratifying talents of the U.S. politicians. Evil is used here more as a reference to the conspiracy and blame game mood in America. It is the people who possess evil traits in all this.
Actally in many of my reports I have been very pressing on getting the mess stopped and cleaned up and then go the culprits. To also put in place correct and useful disaster recovery and cleanup plans.
Gyspy Writer I think you hit the nail on the head there!
Why is it an either or? The power brokers who pay top dollar for public relations but leave the little guy most affected by their criminality without funds to pay for their next meal don't deserve this benefit of a doubt. Capitalists are without consciences; witness the fact that BP is not paying the promised recompense to the small businesses devasted by their criminal ineptitude and corruption but are spending millions to control their bad public press. Anyone stupid enough to buy the "poor little capitalist" and who would blame the consumer for their own disenfranchisement is beyond pity. All powers which abuse those powers are evil; after all, the supremes have anointed them people. They are, therefore, deserving of the lable of evil and to hell with them. If they manage to stick us tax payers with this bill, they will see real rebellion. And if GB is stupid enough to get all prickly about one of their capitalist criminals being called on their evil, then to hell with them as well.
Thought Provoking Hub!
Thanks for your feedback devsir.
CC thanks for your spirited comments . If the cost comes out of the taxpayers pockets there will be hell to pay no doubt. I think as far as BP goes - they aren't the only guilty party here - that is why the Brits aren't exactly smiling. Greed has got out of hand but just the corporates - many individuals have caught the bug and INHO that enables it.
So is Toyota primed to be a good buy right now?
Keep on hubbing!
I don't think they are evil, just greedy and selfish. If they were evil they would be building weapons of mass destruction to kill innocent people for their own amusement. Or hiring assassins to kill people on video and posting it on you tube. But they just lie to the world and rape the little people, it is not quite evil.
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CMHypno Level 6 Commenter 23 months ago
Ironically 40% of BP shares are held in the US, and BP employs more staff in the US than in any other country - it is just as much an American company as it is a British company.
But the question has to be is any large multi-national company 'evil'. There are always going to be variations in standards, even in the different operating divisions of the companies themselves, but are they operating out of 'evil' intent? Bad things happen because they are driven by profit and placating shareholders, which leads to cost-cutting, corners being cut etc, but I am not sure this is 'evil'. Until we all become less obsessed with the pursuit of wealth and material possessions, this type of company will always be with us.