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

Monday, October 10, 2011

So glad to be back and online

It was great to be away on a kayaking adventure with some wonderful people from mostly the Northwest, but also from Austin, Texas and Denver, Colorado. I returned home with numerous aching muscles, but with my mind cleansed of all the tension that accumulates when spending so much time trying to understand all the social-political problems of the world.