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, August 24, 2010

Growing Fuel Instead of Food: Agro-fuels in Chiapas

by Jessica Davies from Upside Down World. The author examines the devastating effects of bio-fuel industry's activities as illustrated in Chiapas, Mexico, but affecting mostly indigenous people everywhere.