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

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Top 10 Worst Corporate Income Tax Avoiders

4:38m video of speech in US Senate by Senator Bernie Sanders from U-Tube.



Of course, these corporations and especially their owners, the major investors, are simply playing out the natural rules of the capitalist system--more profits and power for individuals, brought together under corporate "persons" with Constitutional rights, who are allowed to "own" and control the wealth produced by working people. We are now witnessing a new global aristocracy of capitalists who rule the world. We working people have been reduced to debt slaves or serfs. We alone will pay taxes to support the government and its war's expenses. It's the New World Order! 

What? You don't like the results of this arrangement, of this faith-based religion of capitalism? Okay, then emancipate yourselves by first turning off the boob tube (TV), tuning out the mind-numbing mainstream media that is controlling the information that you receive about the world you live in. 

The next step is to believe in yourselves. Individuals possess all kinds of talents and strengths which are widely distributed in the population: courage, patience, communication skills, intelligence, perseverance, specialized work skills, creativity, endurance, physical strength, imagination, reliability, integrity, wisdom, etc. (The list is nearly endless.) The trick is...to combine these strengths with those of others. Alone we are weak, together we are powerful. That is precisely why any ruling class must keep their subjects divided and isolated from each other--and capitalists are extremely successful at doing this.

Then tune in to alternative media that makes sense, talk to your neighbors, read books that brings clarity to your reality, become active by protesting and organizing with your neighbors and community. Once you starting trusting independent sources and your own concrete experience and those of your neighbors, one thing leads to another until we all become too powerful for this ruling class. We will break the chains that bind us, that keep us apart, and we will no longer be slaves. Then we become emancipated and free to create societies that serve OUR needs, societies that can thrive in harmony with nature.