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, May 21, 2011

Bankers Cheer as IMF Head Faces Sexual Assault Charges: Why They Hated Dominique

Click here to access article by Mike Whitney from Counterpunch. 

I have been nauseated by mainstream media's orgy of coverage regarding this latest elite sex scandal. I knew that they were hiding the real story behind their salacious focus on the sex details. I've been waiting for someone to come through with a sensible analysis of this incident--that involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn, one of capitalism's most powerful figures. This author from my own State of Washington has provided it. 

Of course, I don't for one micro-second condone such behavior, nor do most people. But human beings are complex creatures. We are all made up of good and bad characteristics. Bad behavior is quickly discouraged, even punished, by one's peers among ordinary people. But where you have vastly unequal power relations among people, those with less power must often suffer the "slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune"--chief among these "outrageous misfortunes" is living in a class structured society. 

Therefore, the arrest and public humiliation of this powerful capitalist did not make any sense to me. This does not happen in the real world unless powerful people stray from the party line of the ruling class. Ruling class people have always screwed working people with impunity throughout history both literally and figuratively, as they continue to do today, probably more than ever.
The IMF chief certainly has enemies in high places who will be cheering his predicament. He had recently broke-free from the "party line" and was changing the direction of the IMF. His road to Damascus conversion was championed by progressive economist Joesph Stiglitz in a recent article titled "The IMF's Switch in Time".