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

Friday, December 17, 2010

Double-speak and waging psychological war against the people

by Larry Pinkney from Online Journal
From the genocide of the indigenous peoples, to the enslavement of Africans, to the serfdom of European so-called indentured servants, etc., the essence of this nation has historically been -- and continues to be -- steeped in wars and profiteering -- but wars that have always been rationalized by the established elite and for their profit -- to the ultimate detriment of everyday people of all colors. However, the most insidious war that has been carried on for generation after bloody generation is the psychological war against the people of this nation themselves. It is this war that has relegated everyday people to economic, political, and military cannon fodder -- putty in the hands of the corporate / military elite. This keeps everyday people in a constant state of manipulated and perpetual war -- war first and foremost with themselves.