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

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Fossil Fuel Intransigence and Idle No More

Click here to access article by Bill Henderson from Brave New World.
By analogy, given the mounting scientific evidence of the dangers of second-hand smoke, especially for children, governments everywhere introduce laws banning smoking indoors and in public areas. But when it comes to climate change and agreements to control emissions the smokers just continue to smoke at home, in the car with the kids, around the dinner table; Dad, my Prime Minister Harper in Canada, blowing smoke rings of tarsands expansion into the rapt faces of the innocent kids.
Unfortunately, this Canadian author doesn't see the 500 pound guerrilla in the room which is driving humanity and many other species into their annihilation--the One Percent's addiction to power and wealth delivered to them by their beloved system of capitalism. This is a far bigger obstacle to change than powerful fossil fuel industries.
at
Labels: ,