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, October 9, 2010

Paul Krugman and the Wily Rich

by Jamie Johnson from Vanity Fair

Often on Saturdays I try to keep in touch with the One Percent of our fellow Americans by reading Johnson's columns in this publication. This writer specializes in reports on the lifestyles of those who benefit most from the system of capitalism. The article reports on how pissed off these folks are about the possibility of paying more taxes and what they intend to do about it.
...the most fascinating thing about right now is what the rich are doing when they aren’t complaining. Most of them are strategizing to pay minimal capital-gains tax by cashing in whatever profitable assets they can before the tax rate rises above its current level of 15 percent.