Title of Paper

Courtney Gardner

University Of Phoenix

Comm 215

Dr. Thomas Chamberlain

What’s really important to America oil or our future?

In today’s world, trying to remember exactly what is important is more of a challenge then it sounds. With the consent changes in the economy for good and bad, environmental issues and the ever so important war on terror as a result the leadership in this country is constantly of scrutiny and being told its not doing the jog we elected them to do. We never really stop and ask ourselves what is really important to us as a country and a people, and what can we do to help the government get those tasks done. The economy is not in the best of shape and unemployment is at a high like never before and the leadership is busy pointing the finger and off putting blame on the adjacent dept. or political party. And yet we can only focus on the oil spills and the cleanup. With the recent hike in crime in the nation due mainly to the unemployment that has plagued America for the last couple of years, and the threat of families losing their homes, who is at fault is at very least not important or relevant at all.

Public perception about the economy is of great importance in politics and how it is conducted. Take for instance what is stated on the option and attitude forming factor of perception over reality the American public uses to form a decision about the economy. “Public opinion is largely a function of perception. People form attitudes about the economy on the basis of how they think the economy is doing. This begs the question as to whether actual changes in the economy are reflected in changes in the public’s perception about the economy.” (In Public Opinion and Polling Around the World: A Historical Encyclopedia., 2004).

Many Americans rely on the newspapers and networks such as MSNBC, CNN, FOX News and C-SPAN as a reliable source to tell them what the important issues like to state of the economy, world news and current events for example. But these networks and paper rarely inform fully or accurately the mass of real issues such as what is being done to prevent future repeats of the major impacting problems. The media and the people should ask and put actual pressure on the leadership they are constantly blaming and criticizing for the problems and lack of action to fix them. But why don’t we the people of the nation do the same, we are the nation and the government is supposed to work for us and do what we vote should be done. But not every American does this, they rather just complain and point a finger and place blame, just as the leadership figures do amongst themselves. So when does the blaming and complaining stop and some real time and energy go the fixing the problem?

I believe if then focus, time and energy is spent on fixing for example the oil spill problem in the gulf instead of the masses and media and also the government worrying about how to make BP pay fees and fines. Why not put the consequences of the spill aside until it is actually cleaned up and the Gulf restored to some sort of life sustaining habitat for the wildlife that has been impacted by the disaster. As seen on MSNBC the resources for cleaning up the spill of 2.5 million gallons isn’t being properly used. Some senate reps want to remove some of the resources being used in the New Orleans area. Many along the gulf are angry at the fact that the Senate is even considering the idea. If a hurricane were to hit that area and what will happen to the 2.5 million gallons of oil that is now sitting in the Gulf? These are questions that need to being addressed and answered soon. This will impact the nation for years to come. But while the media does inform on the status of the cleanup, they mostly cover what has happened and the failings of BP and the Senate. For example Newsweek wrote “Heavy drilling mud pumped down into the well as part of the static kill is successfully holding back the oil pressure, and the government has released a scientific report suggesting that 75 percent of the 4.9 million barrel spill has been collected or has been burned, has dispersed or has evaporated” (Yarett, 2010) Why not ask them what real offers are being made to fix this mess. We really need to focus of the real nationwide problems and not just for ratings or to have something to complain about, we should want to fix the nation which we live and will pass to future generations to come.

Works Cited

In Public Opinion and Polling Around the World: A Historical Encyclopedia. (2004). Retrieved 08 03, 2010, from Credoreference.com: www.credoreference.com
Yarett, I. (2010, 08 04). What the New Report on the Gulf Spill Really Says. Newsweek, pp. 1-1.