No more

Sago mine disaster memorial, 2006.

"How can a nation that relies on its miners not do everything in its power to protect them? How can we let anyone in this country put their lives at risk by simply showing up to work; by simply pursuing the American dream?"--President Barack Obama, Beckley, West Virginia, April 25, 2010

A little over four years ago, I traveled to Buckhannon, West Virginia to attend a memorial service for the miners who lost their lives in the Sago mine disaster. I remember wishing at the time that I'd never have the occasion to attend another.

Many of us were hopeful that that disaster and the Massey Aracoma mine fire that killed two miners in Logan County shortly thereafter would lead to mine safety reforms and a climate of strict enforcement that would make such things a painful memory of another era.

To be fair, some good reforms came from the responses to those deaths. But as many have noted, these were aimed at helping people survive mining accidents rather than preventing them altogether. Some recommendations made at the time were never acted upon. And some employers don't seem to pay a lot of attention to the laws and rules on the books while the agencies responsible for safety seem to lack the power to order the immediate shutdown of unsafe mines.

So it was I made my way along with thousands of others to attend another memorial for the 29 miners who died in Massey's Upper Big Branch mine. The service was dignified and orderly. It featured music, prayers, scripture readings and brief speeches by President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senator Rockefeller, Congressman Rahall, Governor Manchin and others.

There seemed to be an agreement among all who spoke that this day was to honor those who died and their loved ones. Politics seemed to be set aside, to the extent possible anyway, for this time. Anger and outrage, too, while present just beneath the surface, were kept in check for another time.

But this disaster demands a thorough investigation, one that leaves no stone unturned. It demands swift, harsh and unerring justice for any negligence or safety shortcuts discovered. It may well demand additional mine safety legislation and certainly demands much stricter enforcement of safety regulations.

I won't pretend to speak for those who came Sunday or for those who were there in spirit. But I do think it's safe to say that we don't want to have to do anything like this ever again.

ACTIVISM OR NON ACTION

Caption: Feline Taoist sage Seamus McGoogle has mastered the art of non action.

El Cabrero was lucky to stumble upon his first copy of the Tao Te Ching as a teenager. I can't seem to keep a copy of it as I keep giving it away.

That ancient classic of Chinese philosophy is the guiding thread through this week's Goat Rope. If you haven't already, please click on the earlier entries.

Ever since starting to try to soak up that little book, I've always cringed when called an activist. From the Taoist point of view, that's a bad thing (see yesterday).

Briefly, Lao Tzu taught that aggressive action usually leads to resistance and unintended consequences. Instead, he called for non action (wu wei). Non action doesn't mean not doing anything, although it might if there's nothing better to do, but it does mean doing nothing that isn't timely and appropriate.

The best example I can think of comes from martial arts, where you often fail if you try to force a technique but can easily succeed if you wait for the proper opening. Too often, we're busy but not getting anything done and wasting energy. As they used to say in judo class, "If you're trying too hard, you're not doing it right."

In practice this may mean focusing on prevention rather than intervention, looking for the solution within the problem itself, or working with rather than against the grain of the situation.

Tao abides in non-action.
Yet nothing is left undone...

He who acts defeats his own purpose;
He who grasps loses.
The sage does not act, and so is not defeated.
He does not grasp and therefore does not lose.

The style of work advocated does not resemble chanting slogans from the barricades (although at rare times it might); at its best, it is often invisible. Non action can also mean waiting until there is an opportunity for effective intervention. As the eminent philosopher Tom Petty noted, the waiting is the hardest part. Lao Tzu asks,

Who can wait while the mud settles?
Who can remain still until the moment of action?

MORE ON SAGO. According to the new federal report on the Sago mine disaster, lightning may have set off the chain of events, but other precautions could have prevented or reduced the severity of the incident. Here's Ken Ward from today's Gazette.

LIVING WAGE FOR MARYLAND. This week Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed that state's new living wage law, which sets a baseline of pay for government service contractors. Here's more from the AFLCIO blog. A number of local governments have passed living wage ordinances, but Maryland is the first state to do so and could set the example for others to follow.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED