Surviving Capitalism (Not) : America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists

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

Monday, May 17, 2010

America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists

from Alternet.

I am posting this article only because I think that it illustrates a common error in trying to determine the cause or causes of the dysfunction of US society for ordinary people. (It functions very well for those who "own" our economy.) The implied solution is to get rid of these people and somehow insure that morally upright people assume positions of power.

The error is the focus on individuals. This error often serves to distract us from the system which nurtures and promotes these people--capitalism. Much more effort must be placed into examining how the system does this, and devising a system that not only eliminates the evils of this current system, but promotes a new system which sustains healthy people and planet.

Contrary to what you have been lead to believe by Margaret Thatcher and other class-war criminals--there are alternatives!