Surviving Capitalism (Not) : US Space Weapon Now Circling the Globe

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, May 27, 2010

US Space Weapon Now Circling the Globe

from Toward Freedom.

The US space weapon X-37 is now circling the globe in relative secrecy....This new weapon poses threats to global peace and risks sparking an arms race in space.

I wonder how many billions have been spent on this system.

The military-industrial complex marches on as many people hunker down, growing their own food, "transitioning", watching the the Arctic ice cap melt and ocean life forms dieing due to acidification, watching the Gulf of Mexico fill up with oil, wondering about unusual local weather patterns, watching their sons and daughter and brothers and sister go off to fight the Empire's wars because higher education is too expensive and there aren't any job prospects.

Meanwhile, enlightened academics write in liberal media how all these problems are due to "industrial civilization", the implication being that the only solution is to return to a pre-industrial civilization in order to survive.

Now, I'm sure that this strategy is comforting to the profit addicted ruling class. While the riff-raff are busy eking out a pre-industrial existence, they can hoard whatever is left of the earth's resources, maintain their lavish lifestyles, and continue their dominion over all living things.