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, June 29, 2010

No right for freedom of assembly says 500 arrests [12:40m video]

The Real News Network. Paul Jay interviews a lawyer who is a member of the Law Union of Ontario.
First, they discuss the police infiltration of the Black Bloc group that was involved in some property destruction while being unhampered in carrying out their acts. 

More importantly was the revelation of a regulation that was passed (by the Province of Ontario?) recently, not given any publicity through normal channels, and used against the demonstrators. The regulation was described as essentially instituting martial law. This, once again, illustrates that capitalist ruling classes use the veneer of democratic practices and a theory of civil rights, but when it really suits them, they can easily dispense with such niceties and out comes the mailed fist of fascism.