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 LappĂ©, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Lasting Significance of Kwangju

by Tim Shorrock from Foreign Policy in Focus. The article illustrates illustrates how information, if it is not in the US governing class's interest for you to know, is often suppressed for many years. Also, it provides more evidence that the US Empire has almost no interest or concern for human rights or democracy as you might have been led to believe.

This intrepid investigative reporter worked over many years to uncover the truth about this 1980 uprising of people in South Korea that was brutally crushed by a military junta with the blessings of US authorities.
Over the years, I gradually obtained more documentation. But until now, I had never written about the new documents. A few years ago, with the help of the National Security Archives, I obtained 10 State Department documents that had previously been released but heavily redacted. Then, after an 11-year appeals process, the CIA released to me several Top Secret reports.... 
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