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, June 22, 2011

Shanghai to ration electricity due to power shortage

Click here to access article by Chris Hogg of the BBC. 

I believe that this report is an early warning sign of a more limited energy future that does not bode well for the growth imperative of capitalism. Whether we, as a human race, can stop this addiction to wealth and power by the 1% of the world's population is the critical challenge facing working people today. If we continue to tolerate the wasteful use of scarce resources by the 1%, then we are doomed.  If we are to survive, we simply must design a social-economic system where production and resource planning are guided by environmental concerns and for the benefit of the vast majority who want to live on a peaceful, sustainable, and healthy planet.
...this year, in what the Chinese newspapers are describing as an unprecedented move, 3,000 non-industrial businesses - mainly shopping malls and office blocks - will be asked to close their doors too.

When power is running out, households are the priority for the authorities here.