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, June 5, 2011

Climate: past and future in 11 easy illustrations

Click here to access a graphical interpretation by David Spratt, Melbourne Climate Action Centre,
of aspects of recent paleoclimate research by Hansen et al.

From examining these eleven pages of graphs, it is clear that the human race has existed only within a quite narrow range of global temperatures during the past 60 million years. We, under the oppressive reign of this mere 300 year old system of capitalism, are now testing and threatening this delicate balance. We simply must not accept "the new normal" that capitalists, who consist of only 1% of us, insist we, the 99%, must accept so that they can continue to satisfy their addiction to profits and power. 

The time is now for us who care about a future for our children, our grandchildren, their children, and so on, to wrest this addictive system away from these drug addicts so that those who follow after us can have a future. We, the present living human beings, have a last chance to decide the fate of the human race. What is your choice?
at
Labels: , ,