"In January 1969, as the Nixon administration took office, oil leaking from a well on a Federal Outer Continental Shelf lease in the Santa Barbara Channel off California blackened nearby beaches and threatened marine life. Studies by a task force including Survey geologists and engineers led to new and more stringent operating regulations to prevent or control such incidents in the future. The Santa Barbara oil spill was a catalyst in the passage of the National Environmental Protection Act in January 1970." -- USGS (http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1050/age.htm)

At the risk of creating confusion — as I did with the Brand Crisis post, in which my more steadfast critics seemed to confuse observation about crisis response rules with prescriptions for how to respond — times necessitate discussion about brand crises being played out in the media. Most notable of course is the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf.

By most indications, BP is taking complete responsibility, so it is prejudicial to fault, at this point, the handling of the crisis by BP, despite some misstatements by its CEO and other personnel. What we should be concerned about, though, is what led to the devastation we’re seeing.

Like many crises, this one was unforeseen despite warning signs that such an event could occur. We saw this with 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the housing bust of 2007 and the severe economic recession of recent years. Hints that something was to come, or something major could happen, were not sufficiently acted upon until it was too late. What actions occurred seemed inadequate in comparison with the consequences of the crises.

Public response to the BP oil spill is somewhat predictable. Understandable outrage and sadness have ignited passion to the point that reason is being thrown out the window in many instances. If, say, a dramatic boycott of BP were to occur, it would only negatively impact the company’s ability to mitigate the natural resource damage. Already officials are on record saying that BP’s resources are necessary to work to solve the problem; BP, to its credit, has said it will clean up every last drop of oil.

But the situation should have never occurred in the first place. And the reason why it did should cause certain unease among the rational-minded. If we honestly assess what led to the oil spill, we must consider global and historical contexts. After-action reports about this crisis will most certainly fault BP, government agencies and other powers that be for allowing such a technology to be created that had no readily functioning off switch.

But societal pressures, which support corporate productivity and expansion, contribute to these human-influenced disasters. Anthropologists have long cited the size of human systems — the main ones being based around bands and tribes, numbering about 40 to 150 people, for the bulk of human existence — as determinants for societal functioning. The larger the human culture, the more complex it is, which enhances the potential for more devastating problems. Human civilization, what we perceive as a normal fact of life, is an aberrant human system, one with roots only about 10,000 years old as opposed to about a 400 to 250 thousand years of human history.

Spurned by the gradual but widespread conversion of human cultures from tribal organizations to agriculturally based societies has led to remarkable technological advancement, increased food production, fast population growth, the industrial age and, now, technological revolutions.

What’s both fascinating and scary is that human systems are now so large and complex that they are beyond the control of the individual. We can not wish-away the BP crisis, nor can we honestly lay sole blame on the company or federal regulators.

What led to this situation was a rapid evolution of the human condition in relatively recent modern times. Collectively we have consented to our cultural growth beyond the point of easy remedy when problems arise because of the need for that growth, and each of us is a contributor to this process, as each of us is a member of this global, experimental culture — even the most adamant of protesters and critics.

While I do not have a simple remedy, honestly acknowledging how we came to be in the position is perhaps a first step when looking at massive crises. Until then, critiques and suggested solutions will forever be cast in the here-and-now, ignoring the ultimate forces of change that led to the disasters in the first place.

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