The population is not very diverse to say the least. People living in the city are either Christian Conservative rednecks, poor blacks that are embedded with the gangster mentality mind set, or some unfortunate soul who has some how landed in this hell of a city. The Christian Conservatives rednecks stick to their small nit groups that eradicate any form of individuality and hinder children from learning anything about the outside world. They just breed ignorance and hurt society. Just like the poor blacks that can never get out of their set mentality because everyone they grow up around has that same gangster mentality. For both these groups it's almost like they're frozen in time and can never get passed their set ways. The saddest part is because of this fact it spawns racism on both sides. It's almost as if the city is separated by the color of individuals skins and the only common thread they share is religion, hate, and stupidity. Which is a very sad thing to have in common.
The city is also an economical and environmental disaster. Small businesses can't survive in the city and monopolies kill any chance of new businesses every coming to town. Walmart is one of the major reasons for this and other monopolies like the Stars Cinema buy out all the competition so they can raise their prices sky high. Thus jobs are a very rare commodity and several of the big plants that provide the majority of jobs are closing because they don't meet safety guidelines like Pilgrim's Pride. Lion Oil the next big job provider will probably have no choice but to close if the C02 Emission bill is passed (source). The company and the majority of the city is outraged because they don't want to lose the precious jobs this giant environment killing oil company provides. Citizens actually rallied together lead by the CEO of Murphy Oil, calling people who supported the bill extremists and whined about how bad it was going to hurt them (source). They even went as far as to say China and France are doing worse, that's like a child pointing at another kids bad behavior and saying look hes doing worse and his parents don't care. Well America being the parent in this situation does care for once and this is a good thing. Last time I checked killing our planet was a crime in the eyes of any sane logical person. You may think it's a good idea not to care about C02 emissions now because it's a huge money maker, but you're only causing huge problems for the future. The funny thing is the rally was led by Claiborne Deming, CEO of Murphy Oil, the other company that would take the most damage. It's obvious that these big corporate giants are just trying to save their skins by blaming the government and environmentalists. The funny thing is Lion Oil could still stay in business and keep all their jobs, it would just cause the owners to lose all or most of their money. Is that really so bad, a few rich big wigs losing their money, rather than hundreds of people losing their jobs. Honestly I think it should be a crime for people to close down businesses just because they don't want to lose their money it's their investment and they should see it through all the way. They went into a business that isn't environmentally friendly, just because standards are changing to protect the planet doesn't mean they deserve to get a get out of jail free card. Lion Oil has been business for over eighty years, so they should stand loyal to their employees and continue to provide them jobs for as long as possible. The honest truth is oil companies make hundreds of billions of dollars each year and have been doing so for a very long time. The oil business is the most profitable market in the entire world, after all what funded the most idiotic president in history's political campaign?
Indeed the top six most profitable companies of 2008 were Oil Companies. So yes Lion Oil can afford to stay in business, Vice President Steve Cousins just might won't be able to afford his new $50 million dollar mansion this year. Come on people Oil Companies are not only killing are planet, but they are getting rich off of it as well. In fact, Murphy Oil made $18 billion in 2007 (source).In light of all the bad things Oil Companies do, Murphy Oil is doing one good thing for El Dorado. That is the scholarship they are giving to all the high school graduates who have attended at minimum four years of school in the district. The fund for the scholarship is $50 million for 10 years of graduating students. However you can almost surely cut this number in half because that's not what is getting paid. The $50 million is the fund limit, but the real number is probably less than $20 million. The reason for this is student's have to qualify for a percent of the scholarship that's based on how long they've attended school in El Dorado, so for example someone that's only intended for four years of high school only get's 65%. You also have to take into consideration not everyone will keep the scholarship or even accept it. No where on the website does it even say how much money they have actually donated so far (source). Sure this may be a great thing for the community, but it's more or less a huge publicity stunt for the company. They get to say they've donated $50 million to a good cause and everyone has their back, for example the rally I mentioned earlier that was held by the CEO of Murphy Oil. Truly it's almost as Murphy Oil is bribing parents of children and everyone's back get's scratched. Does the El Dorado school system even deserve this kind of donation though? I being a graduating student of the school can certainly say it doesn't. Not that I'm not thankful for the El Dorado Promise, who isn't it's free money. I'm not going to buy into the Oil Companies bullshit and support their environment killing cause. But the El Dorado School system is full of juvenile delinquents who don't even care about education. I've seen students who are about as intelligent as a brick wall graduate from that school, they really only care about numbers. I do believe I recall hearing that Union County had the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Arkansas, do you really think people who can't even think to use birth control should be getting a free ride to college? Oh and not to mention whenever a camera crew came to report on the promise, everyone was told to put on their fake smiles(like on the promise website) and the supervisors actually had to roam the halls doing their job for once. I actually had an JROTC teacher put on a fake lesson when camera crews were scheduled to stop by and I've heard from my peers that there was even a fake chemistry lab. El Dorado High School is more fake than Michael Jackson's sexuality. I have to hand it to Murphy Oil, they have an entire city backing them up and making them look like an innocent company who are helping fund peoples futures. It's all just corporate tactics. Murphy Oil didn't make the El Dorado Promise to give back, they made it for their own benefit and to increase the company image.
Entertainment wise there really isn't much to do in El Dorado besides the annual Christmas parade. Actually really the only two things most people do are go to the movies or go to the bars. I don't really know much about the bar scene other than the fact that there are a lot of drunks in town. But when it comes to the movies I know a little something. In El Dorado there is one movie theater that is left open which is Stars Cinema, because they bought the other two and closed them down. Ticket prices are $8, which is actually almost a dollar higher than the national average. The food inside is very expensive, even compared to other movie theaters and isn't even that great. Not to mention the fact that they refuse to show half of the big movies that come out. The movie "The Blind Side" has been out since November 20th and the El Dorado, Cinema has been showing it for over a month. It's now December 26th and they are still showing that rather than maybe another new actually decent sports movie "Invictus". This isn't the first time Stars has disappointed me, a number of times in the past they have miss out on showing other major movies that probably didn't fit the El Dorado moral standards. It's almost like movies like "Coraline" are never shown because they are the conservative type of movie theater. Yet they show good Christian movies like "The Blind Side" for over a month, what gives? Yet another reason why El Dorado will forever be stuck in a frozen period of ignorance. So with little choices teens and young adults of El Dorado have little choice for actually doing things. There are few places to go for younger people to legally hang out. Down Town El Dorado used to be a popular hang out place for young adults. Art Beats a local music/art cafe used to be a great hang out spot. Due to a few bad people and a rude owner though that was ruined. It's quite ridiculous to get kicked out of a cafe because you aren't buying something, but maybe a couple of friends you're with are. Besides who wants to pay for candy or coffee when it's $3 cheaper at an actual store. The owner was so sadly desperate for money he had to change his business completely into a shop with plastic action figures and other misc stuff. There were many teens that did cause trouble though by breaking glass bottles and just being general moronic douche bags outside the cafe. It's quite funny though to see the police patrolling down town El Dorado, playing parental figures and lecturing teens. I wasn't aware that tax money paid for that.
All and all living in El Dorado has made realize how much better other places are. Being a Michigan native it's been a very cultural experiance for me. Kind of like living in a completely different country that you wish you could escape from. I'm glad it's only been four and half years, rather than my whole life. I'm glad that I finally no longer have to live in El Dorado, because I know it will never get any better. All in all, never vaction in El Dorado, Arkansas. Conway or Hot Springs is so much nicer.
One closing note, I urge any readers to get educated and do your research like I've done. Then contact your local senators and congressmen and tell them that you support the climate bill because it's saving our planet now, not later. If you don't know what the climate bill is, click the link and watch the youtube video. I wish more people were open minded like Dan Stafford and though about the situation and realized it's all for the greater good.
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