Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Government Responds to Nuclear Accident by Trying to Raise Acceptable Radiation Levels and Pretending that Radiation is Good For Us

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 30, 2011

Government Responds to Nuclear Accident by Trying to Raise Acceptable Radiation Levels and Pretending that Radiation is Good For Us

from Washington's Blog.

There are essentially two basic reasons that motivate the capitalist ruling class to lie to us about the adverse effects of the latest disaster at Fukushima, Japan. First, the nuclear energy industry is in private hands, that is, it feeds the profit interests of the ruling class. Second, nuclear energy is vital to the capitalist system and its growth imperative which requires increasing amounts of energy in a world where fossil fuel resources are diminishing, or soon will be. As always, the media of the ruling class is committed to the interests of that class, not to our interests.

In this piece, the blogger assembles rather convincing evidence that the ruling class is already lying to us.

...Japan is suffering the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl - if not of all time - is the [US] government riding to the rescue to help fix the problem, or at least to provide accurate information to its citizens so they can make informed decisions?

Of course not!