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, April 15, 2018

Recommended articles for Sunday, 4/15/2018

(Note: Added article by Gowans at 11:14 AM Seattle time.) 
The American ruling class is in a panic over its waning global influence and has consistently sought to obliterate any opposition to its rule. Conditions of decline are also evident inside of the American nation-state. The hoarding of wealth by the top 1 percent has reached astronomical levels. Mass shootings dominate headlines. Teachers in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma have all partaken in strikes against the austerity and privatization currently ravaging public education. All American imperialism has to offer is more war, more poverty, and more suppression of the legitimate problems afflicting workers and poor people.