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, July 8, 2010

Dr. Peniel Joseph: Peoples Historian or Establishment Courtier?

by Bruce A. Dixon from Black Agenda Report. 

The author discusses the uses and misuses of political terms, especially "democracy" or "democratic" in the writings of various authors to determine whether they are mere propaganda products or honest essays. In most US communications the word meanings range from little more than a buzz word that means to suggest warm, fuzzy feelings about the American Way of Life to that of simply the holding of elections regardless of how corrupt the selection of candidates might be.
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