The Age website reported recently that Shell, the oil giant, "routinely worked with Nigeria's military to surpress resistance to its activities."

Documents released two years ago apparently showed that Shell were making payments to the military to put an end to the peaceful protests of locals held to highlight the pollution caused by the company, and even more appalling helped "to plan raids on villages suspected of opposing the company" in which thousands of people were killed.

Last year BP is responsible for one of the world’s biggest environmental disasters in the Gulf of Mexico, and yet our Government is reportedly in talks with BP for exploration rights in Australian waters.

How is this allowed to happen?

How are these companies allowed to continue operating? Forget fines, close them down and sell off their assets. 

We as consumers are partly to blame. In the days and weeks after the news broke about the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico people were still lining up at the BP bowsers to buy their fuel. This is after graphic footage of the damage the spill caused (and is still causing) was splashed across the media day after day, night after night.

Why are we so complacent? Do we just not care? Or are we simply starved for choice as consumers?

This goes beyond who we purchase our petrol from. Globalisation means that we have virtually no way of knowing what companies we are supporting when we buy clothing, food, household products, the list goes on.

The 'Occupy (insert city name here)' movement may be the start of a new era in world economics, but sadly I doubt it. Giant companies, and governments, tend to be very patient beasts. On top of that the media get bored quite quickly.

If history is anything to go by we'll move on just as fast. 

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