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, June 30, 2010

Time to Investigate Blankfein and Paulson (More AIG Shenanigans Edition)

by Yves Smith from her blog, Naked Capitalism. 

The author who has had an extensive career in the financial services industry knows of what she writes, and she has been an excellent, honest detective by uncovering the many crimes of the banksters. I guess having been such an avid swimmer in the waters of capitalism all her life has made it very difficult for her to attack the system itself. The banksters, especially those in the Federal Reserve, are merely the conductors of this orchestra that is dedicated to control, exploitation, quick and easy profits--and the people be damned. It is the orchestra that needs to be shut down, not merely the conductors.