Surviving Capitalism (Not) : If the climate were a bank, they’d have saved it by now

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, January 17, 2010

If the climate were a bank, they’d have saved it by now

An editorial from Green Left website in which they review the results of Copenhagen's UN conference. They conclude that "it confirmed the world’s corporate rulers were simply unwilling to act in defence of people and the planet". But they also view the prospect of "a people’s movement that exploded onto the scene both inside and outside the summit — is to gather strength and grow, until it can indeed defeat the corporate criminals and the governments that now do their bidding."