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, May 26, 2013

Syria as a Game-Changer: US Political Impotence

Click here to access article by Ramzy Baroud from Uncommon Thought Journal.

The author provides a very interesting perspective based on the period since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The latter game-changing event apparently caused the directors of the US ruling class to become so inebriated with a sense of power that they went on to engage in all sorts of conflicts to build their empire. Such military adventures have resulted in all kinds of major crimes against humanity and leaving entire nations in chaos. He sees the conflict in Syria as another historical game-changer, as a "Waterloo" for the current Empire.

However, that begs some important questions. A fundamental question is this: are we ordinary people going to allow these elites to determine our fates with their never-ending competition to rule the world? If we continue to permit them to determine our fates, we can expect the same horrors that we have experienced since WW1--and worse. 

This competition to rule the world is driven by a system that refuses to recognize ecological limits, and therefore it, capitalism, is now threatening to destroy our planet's ability to sustain human and other life forms. There is now far too much at stake to continue "business as usual".