Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Those Extinguishing Life Count on Shakier and Shakier Status Quo

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

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Those Extinguishing Life Count on Shakier and Shakier Status Quo

by Jan Lundberg from Culture Change.

The author sees devastation all around him and the threats to human and other lives, and in some places appears to believe that it is a system's fault, but is unable to name the system. He comes close when he mentions the "growth-economy", but usually it is just the "status quo". Mostly he seems to suggest that it is because of pathological people, but also that we all must take responsibility. In a limited sense the latter is true, but such a perspective distracts us from the source of the problems and thus impedes constructive attempts to avert disaster.