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, September 12, 2010

Greasing The Cogs Of Corporate Environmentalism: From Exxon to BP and Beyond

by Michael Barker from Swans Commentary.

The author reviews the history of Big Oil insinuating themselves into "green" NGOs in order to deflect any serious opposition to their activities. 
The existence of such a pollution-industrial complex is intolerable, and the corporations driving and benefiting from this immensely profitable capitalist racket are certainly not going to solve the catastrophic problems facing the rest of the planet. Consequently the ball now lies in the court of the world's citizens to make sure that this sick and cynical game is swiftly brought to an end. Make no mistakes this will not be an easy task, but the ongoing battle that must be waged for the sake of life will be much easier to fight when we clarify which groups and individuals are standing in the way of our democratic future. The massive power of the capitalist elites of our world, the Rockefeller family being just one prominent example, must be dismantled and redistributed within the context of a fairer and more equitable political system. Capitalism is the antidemocratic enemy of the environment, and socialism... well, socialism is but one democratic alternative.
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