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

Friday, July 29, 2011

What Americans Have to Learn from the Arab Spring

Click here to access article by Jeff Nall from Toward Freedom. 

This author, while suggesting some lessons we can learn from the brave Egyptians, exposes the many lies and hypocrisies of our government in its relations with oppressive regimes. Although he has further to go, he is making progress toward realizing Frances Moore Lappé's injunction for progressives to grow up. (See masthead quote)