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

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Iceland's Message to Portugal

Click here to access article by Nick Dearden from CounterPunch.
The people of Iceland have stood up for their sovereignty. Their future looks considerably brighter than those of Ireland or Portugal. The people of Greece are just beginning their struggle. The outcomes will have a monumental impact on the fight against poverty and inequality across the world.
It is clear that the class war "game" is raging throughout the US and Europe. So far the score is Capitalists 5 (US, Britain, Greece, Portugal, Ireland) and Workers 1 (Iceland). But the game is far from over. 

In contrast to the economic war in the US and Europe, the uprisings throughout the MENA countries are of a political nature: to free themselves of the domination of Western capitalist countries. But the source of both wars is the capitalist system, only the surface manifestations are different. 

There will never be peace among peoples as long as societies are organized in a way that gives power and wealth to one small segment of these societies. The system that allows private appropriation of the wealth that is socially produced must be abolished forever if we are to have peace among ourselves, and if we are to have economies which can exist sustainably with the Earth's ecosystem.
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