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, March 23, 2011

BLOGGER'S NOTE: I have two posts today which are lengthier than what I normally post. At least for me and, I gather, for many others, a computer screen does not lend itself well to extended reading.

When I come upon an article which I believe is very important, I will print it out and read the hard copy. This is what I did with these two articles. (My delay in posting them is because of the lengthy backlog of reading that competes for my attention.) I recommend that you also print them out and read at your leisure.  

I believe the two following articles are important because they attempt to get behind mainstream media coverage of events to the real forces that shape events. So much of reality is reconstructed by corporate mainstream media to obscure the underlying realities, and at other times, completely omits coverage of important actors and actions. The real facts which, if understood correctly by working people, would undermine the elite's ability to exploit and rule over us.