We Are All Flintites

We don't know which food additives are dangerous, and we do know that thousands of rivers and streams are polluted with thousands of compounds.

NPR reported last year, in this article

"Companies have added thousands of ingredients to foods with little to no government oversight. That's thanks to a loophole in a decades-old law that allows them to deem an additive to be "generally recognized as safe" -- or GRAS -- without the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's blessing, or even its knowledge."

and

"Critics of the system say the biggest concern, however, is that companies regularly introduce new additives without ever informing the FDA. That means people are consuming foods with added flavors, preservatives and other ingredients that are not reviewed at all by regulators for immediate dangers or long-term health effects."

The fact is, we have a collection of laws-- influenced successfully by ALEC, the Koch brothers, the US Chamber of Commerce-- which provide massive highway-size loopholes so poisons, toxins, neurotoxins, and carcinogens. Those are externalities-- factors that are not regulated which cost us-- in clean air, clean water, or other ways that industry exploits the commons.

What's so horrible about Michigan is a governor appointed someone to take over control of Flint, and this person made decisions, based on cost cutting, that produced the lead poisoned water situation. The predatory commercial exploiters are usually more subtle. But they are in every state, every city. And don't forget the military. I recently learned that the now closed Willow Grove Naval base about 12 miles away had polluted the water table with perflourinated compounds that led the EPA to warn locals to avoid drinking the water. And there are plenty of municipalities that dump waste in waterways that are used for food and drink downstream.

Michael Moore is calling for the governor's arrest and for Obama to come to Flint. But Flint should become the rallying cry for an awakening to the reality that it is standard policy for the federal government, states, counties and cities to pollute directly and to allow corporate and military polluters to poison the populace. Standard policy. We have become so numbed to this reality that we accept it.

It's starting to change. People are starting to demand antibiotic-free meat. But the reality is that fish are found to have detectable levels of antibiotics and even psychiatric drugs in their flesh. We are marinated in a cesspool of toxic brews.

Yes. Do something about flint, but it is a huge mistake to treat Flint as a unique catastrophe. Millions are dying and suffering chronic illnesses because of the Flintization of America.

Start by cleaning up Flint. But make the awareness Flint is bringing a springboard that leads to national policy. Surely preventing the poisoning and drugging of children nationwide is a bipartisan issue.

And if you're thinking that Michigan's Governor Snyder should resign or be arrested, consider that there are certainly thousands of elected and appointed people who are equally guilty of knowing that water pollution is being done because it is cheaper that way.