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

The Libyan Model?

Click here to access article by Vijay Prashad from Jadaliyya. 

The widely heralded "victory" in Libya for NATO forces has inspired Empire actors to press on against Syria using the same humanitarian public relations campaign. The author takes a closer look at the alleged and real human rights violations in Libya and followup efforts to hold people accountable. Guess what he found:
The Libyan case demonstrates that the human rights regime was only useful to build up pressure for a UN Security Council resolution and for a NATO military intervention.
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