Surviving Capitalism (Not) : A Progressive Attack on the Poor

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

Saturday, July 3, 2010

A Progressive Attack on the Poor

from the New Left Project.

While the author appears to be well meaning in her analysis of the "Con-Dems" cutbacks and fake ameliorative measures, she seems to miss the elephant in the room--the capitalist Empire can no longer afford to spend on measures to help working people because they are running up against the limits of resource exhaustion. Therefore, the imperatives of their beloved, growth addicted capitalist system requires that their class put all efforts into securing the resources that are left, and the public be damned! Thus you can expect to see social crimes on an unprecedented scale.

In their “emergency budget”, the Con-Dem government has demonstrated that its economic policies are primarily determined by ideology and the delusion that private enterprise can and will provide sufficient growth to cover the needs of the whole population.

The "Con-Dems"--the ruling class--are not deluded. They are simply acting rationally given the dictates of the system that has rewarded them so splendidly with lavish lifestyles over the past two centuries.