Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Octavia Nasr's firing and what the liberal media allows

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

Octavia Nasr's firing and what the liberal media allows

by Glenn Greenwald from Salon. The article provides an excellent survey of the many journalists who have lost their jobs in mainstream media because of their unacceptable views--unacceptable to the rulers of the Empire.

However, he does miss one that I remember--Ray Bonner of the NY Times for reporting on a massacre in 1982 by the US supported Salvadorean army. Technically, he wasn't fired--just given a desk job. He quit soon afterward.

Such disciplinary actions like this serve as warnings to many other journalists not to stray to far from the capitalist party line.