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

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Problem Is Capitalism

Click here to access article by Fred Magdoff from MRZine.

Magdoff's adaptation of this famous cartoon.



In this essay Magdoff focuses on the environmental and climate crises. He first disposes of the many explanations for these crises, and continues on to explain how they are rooted in the dynamics of capitalism. Finally he suggests solutions that could create sustainable environments as well as a socially just world.