Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Protesters Reflect Vast Majority on 99 Percent of Most Major Issues

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

Monday, December 5, 2011

Protesters Reflect Vast Majority on 99 Percent of Most Major Issues

Click here to access article by Mark Weisbrot from Real-World Economics Review Blog.

This writer makes a compelling case with supporting links to evidence about the undemocratic government we have. You probably don't need this, but possibly you could use this evidence with your more conservative friends.

That’s why Mayor Bloomberg of New York evicted the protestors who spearheaded this historic social movement. It had nothing to do with safety or other pretexts. This is clear because he had his thugs deliberately trash many of the protestors’ possessions, including laptops and many of the books from their library. ...The one percent has used violence and excessive force against protestors in other cities such as Oakland for the same reasons: they fear that democracy in the streets could lead to democracy in other arenas, such as government.