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, February 13, 2012

Big Oil’s Banner Year: Higher Prices, Record Profits, Less Oil

Click here to access article by Daniel J. Weiss, Jackie Weidman, Rebecca Leber from Center for American Progress. 
Instead of heavily investing in job creation or production, the big five used $38 billion, or 28 percent of annual net income, to repurchase their own stocks. This practice enriches shareholders but it doesn’t add to oil supplies or investments in alternative fuels or other new technologies.
The authors fail to understand that this is the way capitalism is designed--to maximize shareholder wealth--not to promote employment, alternative energy, or a sustainable future. Corporations are mandated by laws engineered by capitalists to do precisely this.
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