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

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Drone: Robot Imperium

Click here to access article by Stephen Graham from Transnational Institute

This is a fairly lengthy read which takes you on a tour of the killing machines that US Empire agents use mostly in the Middle East and adjacent areas. Even our hopey-changey leader Obama has gotten in on some of the action. The author examines some of the details about what it is like for operators sitting in Nevada and other safe places to use these weapons, what the experience is for people living in such targeted areas, possible future uses, and speculation on the increasing use by activists in opposition to our capitalist masters.
Armed drones have created a top-down view of the world, in which military officials and politicians assert an ideology of inherent superiority over subjugated, racialised people — or even dehumanised non-people — far beneath the  drone's gaze.