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

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Pity the financiers in the heart of darkness

Click here to access article by Nick Dearden from Pambazuka (South Africa). 

The author responds to a typical Western view that was recently expressed in The Guardian that African problems are largely due to their corrupt leaders who waste investor's money. One can see some similarities with Dearden's view of African governments by comparing them with current and recent Western governments whose leaders colluded with bankers and financiers to influence their governments into taking on too much debt, investing in shady derivatives, and bailing out banks. It's just that the corruption of African governments was far worse.