Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Nature is the 99%, too

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, November 12, 2011

Nature is the 99%, too

Click here to access article by Chip Ward from Al Jazeera.

What if rising sea levels are yet another measure of inequality? What if the degradation of our planet's life-support systems - its atmosphere, oceans and biosphere - goes hand in hand with the accumulation of wealth, power and control by that corrupt and greedy 1 per cent we are hearing about from Zuccotti Park? What if the assault on America's middle class and the assault on the environment are one and the same?

Clearly they are the same and it's a point that I have been trying to make for the last two years on this blog. Of course, its not just on "America's [so-called] middle class", it is on every person in the world who is not a part of the global ruling class who live off of money--not mental or physical labor that contributes anything to anybody but themselves. Globalization, right?

But notice that he can't name the system that organizes the economy. That's either because he's been ~~educated~~ indoctrinated to believe that there is no alternative, or he knows that he dare not name the system if he wants to keep writing for corporate media and earn a living.