We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Humans, Climate Change

from Common Dreams, originally carried in The Bangor Daily News. The article makes an excellent argument for the common American belief in capitalism as essentially a religion that has still not been shaken by the recent collapse of the economy for many working and middle class people. However, it is clear that the author can only imagine some form of regulation of this system to make things right.
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