in the time remaining, to help us understand how the man-made system of capitalism will lead to the extinction of our human species, and so many others.
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
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wikileaks and Media Disinformation
The author cautions us to read critically the WikiLeaks exposures as reported by mainstream press. The latter, own and controlled by ruling capitalist classes, are engaging in as much media damage control as they can muster. They will do everything they can to reconstruct, frame, and distort the information to suit their interests, just as they do with all other information related activities of the culture such as in education, books, films, and entertainment.
His arguments about propaganda attacks on Iran, Korea, and Belarus are right on the mark. These attacks illustrate an argument I've made many times: that capitalists view all national systems that do not allow unrestricted access to their countries' resources, markets, and labor as their enemy, and thus they will do everything they can to discredit, destabilize, and overturn those countries.
This has been the major theme that has informed the Empire's policies and actions after WWII and especially since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Over this period the US ruling capitalist class has become so intoxicated with their near monopoly of military weapons, particularly weapons of mass destruction. The US ruling class also insists on being the dominant capitalist class which means that they put pressure on other capitalist countries that wish to pursue more independent policies such as China, Russia, India, and Brazil. The latter countries are increasingly threatening the dominance of the US ruling class.