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, August 10, 2010

Japan's Economic Stagnation Is Creating a Nation of Lost Youths

by Charles Hugh Smith from Daily Finance. 

The article looks at the disturbing trend in Japan that is rapidly becoming true in the US. This provides more evidence to support my view that the operation of global capitalism is going to result in tiny islands of rich people living among vast oceans of poor, exploited, and surplus people.
The unraveling of Japan's social fabric as a result of eroding economic conditions for young people offers Americans a troubling glimpse of the high costs of long-term economic stagnation.
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