Surviving Capitalism (Not) : A crying need for change

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

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

A crying need for change

by Leela Yellesetty from Socialist Worker. A contribution from socialists as to how the future should be.

    -- We'd have real universal health care--that is, everyone gets health care for free. Period.

    -- We'd bail out homeowners instead of bankers. But why stop there? We could also take all the homeless people and put them in houses that are empty. It's not rocket science: Just put the people in the houses.

    -- We'd stop throwing away food and get it to people who are hungry.

    -- We'd end all wars and use the money for education and social services.

    -- We'd devote massive resources and scientific research to saving the environment.

Sounds good to me. But I think that she messes up on her second item. There shouldn't be any bankers in a worker run society. There would simply be democratically elected councils to approve credit to worthy worker enterprises.