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, February 2, 2017

Trump up the volume

Click here to access article by Dave Randall from CounterPunch.

There is one good thing about Donald Trump. He doesn't have the public relations skills of  Obama and he doesn't have black skin to divert attention away from what he does. He is a rather crude caricature of a wealthy tycoon with the temperament of a mobster. Now that he is in office he doesn't try to fool anybody other than those gullible and desperate people who watch TV sitcoms. Because of this different style, many liberal people are easily led into believing that the policies he pursues are substantially different than those of other administrations. 

Because their candidate, Hillary Clinton, of the CIA faction of the capitalist ruling class lost the election, they are using corporate media to whip up opposition to Trump, and people are responding with protests. It's good in a way that people are engaging politically, but they urgently need to insure that their actions serve their interests rather that some faction of the ruling class.

I'm posting this interesting piece, not only because it directly connects activists of the present with those of the past, but because music has a way of bringing people together in places where they can raise their political awareness about the difficulties they face. I learned this insight during the Vietnam War by attending many political gatherings that included music. Instead of merely relating in isolation to the world as portrayed on the boob-tube (TV), people at such gatherings are not only entertained but share stories and insights. Such social experiences can raise awareness about what is really going on and why.