newspeak

Revealed: Secret world of global oil and mining giants: TBIJ.

It’s rather worrisome. Transparency, accountability–not the same thing, but related–are important, especially when it comes to evaluating the economies of scale discussed in the article and when considering the nature of the goods being extracted: fossil fuels, necessary minerals and metals.  That is, those elements that form the basis for modern society and industry. If we, those who depend upon these things, are deprived of insight into this commodity industry so important to today, how can we, as a people governed by our peers, make reality-based decisions–let alone rational ones? The “secret jurisdictions”–places where corporate details can be kept secret–affect not only regions of extraction but the world at large. An analogy: the subprime mortgage mess worked for so long because it was shrouded in financial mystery and confusion; no one auditing it knew what was really going on, and the precise nature and value of the assets at stake–or, if they did, they did not let on. We continue to live with the consequences of this immense confusion.