News for "the small people"

Mr. Svanberg, looking
somber as
he

left the White
House, confirmed
to

waiting reporters that
the president
seemed

“frustrated because he
cares about
the

small people.” But
he added:
“People

say that large
oil companies
don’t

care about the
small people.
But

we care. We
care about
the

small people.” Later
Wednesday Mr.
Svanberg

apologized, saying he
was “very
sorry”

he had spoken
“clumsily.” "den
lilla

människan"
The Swedish
phrase

is just as
demeaning in
swedish

as it is
in english,
"small

people".
That is
clearly a degrading

commen
in either
language. It's usually

used by politicians
in the
sense

they care about
the poor,
the

not so fortunate,
the elderly
who

can no longer
take care
of

themselves
etc. Stand
up for 'the

little guy' is
probably the
best

translation I've seen
yet. In
Swedish

it would make
perfect sense
to

use the term
'den lilla
människan'

in this context
as it
was

used.
In German
"der kleine Mann"

means
"the ordinary
people", "the man

in the street"
etc. There
is

also the expression
"småfolket" (the
little

people),
also used
in the sense

of
"the common
people". However, that

phrase is also
used in
folklore

about goblins and
the like,
and

if you think
of that,
it's

ridiculous.
Of course,
Svanberg did not

intend to be
demeaning, but
that

doesn't matter. Right
now, he
is

in a position
where anything
he

does is too
little too
late.

More specifically, while
Helmsley was
on

trial for tax
evasion, a
housekeeper

testified to hearing
her say
"We

don't pay taxes.
Only the
little

people pay taxes."
You know
the

score,
pal. If
you're not cop,

you're little people.
- Blade Runner
Most

people prefer to
see themselves
in

this category rather
than "die
da oben"

(literally "they up
there") which
is

about as friendly
as "fat
cats".

Funny though, the
largest Swedish
newspaper

just declared that
he should
have

said "little people"
instead of
"small

people"
Somebody please
make T-shirts that

say:
"BP: 'We
care about the

small people.' Carl-Henric
Svanberg 6/16/10."
forget

about the small
people: great
GOP

strategy
Another BP
official plants his

foot
deeply in
his mouth. BP
Chairman Carl-Henric
Svanberg should probably

skip
Mardi Gras
next year after

insisting that the
oil company
responsible

for the worst
"They can
call

me
small, miniature,
they can call

me
anything they
want. Just write

the check and
send it
to

us,"
he said.
"We're not small

people. We're human
beings. They're

no greater than
us. We
don't

bow down to
them. We
don't

pray to them,"
Taffinder said.
said

Hanners,
74. "But
BP does not

care about us.
They are
so far above

us.
We are
the nickel-and-dime folks

of this world."
"We care
about

the small people"
conveys either
an

aristocratic hauteur or
a vision
of

tiny fishermen straight
out of
a

David Lynch film
BP should
have

realised how small-minded
many journalists
are

about the small
things. Shell
Oil

has been leaking
oil from
old

rusty pipes for
over 40
years

into the Nigerian
Delta. Every
year

as much oil
is leaked/spilled
as

what has poured
into our
Gulf

waters and beaches.
The people
are

sick, the life
expectancy is
40

years,
it smells
all the time

and contaminates their
lives all
the

time.
Like the
birds and animals

in the Gulf.
Now since
that

much
is spilled
in Nigeria each

year, and since
it is
Nigeria,

no
one cares.
They cannot comprehend

the reaction to
our catastrophe
when

no one, not
even Shell,
bats

an eye at
theirs. Oh
right.

I
forgot. It's
Nigeria and those

people are black.
Now I
get

it.
Now that
is really racism

and not just
using the
n-word.