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

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

On Growth and Democracy

by Joe Costello from his blog, Archein. The author, using Zoellich as an example, illustrates how key figures in the ruling class can only envision more growth as a way out of the current economic collapse. That is because the system of capitalism dictates growth. The author rather timidly expresses the idea that no growth is imperative and that what is needed is the "reformation" of our industrial economy. 

Once again, you witness the aversion to naming the system--capitalism, and likewise, the aversion to fundamentally changing the system. In spite of these defects, the article does illustrate that more and more people are becoming aware of the urgency for systemic changes. I also like that he admits that under the present system ordinary citizens have become powerless. But that only makes it imperative that ordinary citizens change the system to one that they are in charge of and serves their needs.