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

Russian official mocks NATO concern for Afghan poppy growers

from Ria Novosti (Russia).
...NATO spokesman James Apparthurai announced today that the alliance cannot allow a situation where people in one of the world's poorest nations are left without means of livelihood and receive no compensation.
Such concern seems ironic in view of the fact that there has never been any concern expressed by The Empire about the coca farmers' welfare in South America.
Afghan drug production increased dramatically after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in 2001, and Russia has been one of the most affected countries, with heroin consumption rising steeply. An estimated 90% of heroin consumed in Russia is trafficked from Afghanistan via Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
It is my recollection that heroin production was banned under the Taliban before the US/NATO invasion.