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

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Hypocrisy of U.S. Military Withdrawal From Iraq

by Dave Lefcourt from OpEd News. 
With American domestic politics lately focusing on a possible government shutdown along with the lingering effects of the great recession America's wars seem largely forgotten by most Americans, a sign of how detached we are on issues that don't impact us directly.
The gap between political reality of the US Empire and what ordinary Americans want has widened into a huge canyon. But the multiple crises foisted onto ordinary Americans by the capitalist ruling class is effectively used, along with entertainment distractions and outright lies, to obscure this astonishing reality.
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