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, March 25, 2010

The Pentagon church and the people

by William J. Astore from Asia Times Online. He makes an excellent point when he writes:
When it comes to the United States' military affairs, ignorance is not bliss. What's remarkable then, given the permanent state of war in which we find ourselves, is how many Americans seem content not to know. 
But his metaphor of the Catholic Church is not quite right. The reality is more like this: a hidden capitalist class behind the stage performs a play called, "Constitutional Representative Democracy". They direct the play for the audience of the American people and the world. It is very much like a Hollywood production in that it is filled with political spectacles, intrigue, sex scandals, tension, romance, feel-good stuff, and heroes. If anyone (of significance) in the audience doesn't like, or questions the play, the forces commanded by the Pentagon (also CIA, FBI, police, etc.) move in and remove them, often violently. The Pentagon is simply the goon squad for the capitalist class. And no one dares question the Pentagon.
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