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, August 20, 2012

US Secretary of State Clinton’s Africa tour raises tensions with China

Click here to access article by Eddie Haywood from World Socialist Web Site.

The author describes a recent tour of business leaders lead by Hillary Clinton who went through Africa, a tour that some describe as missionaries preaching, instead of Christianity, the benevolence of the US and the virtues of a partnership with US (corporations): 
Clinton advised the audience to seek partnerships with the United States, which “will stand up for democracy and universal human rights, even when it might be easier or more profitable to look the other way”. She added, “Not every partner makes that choice, but we do and we will.”
She said that the United States was committed to “a model of sustainable partnership that adds value, rather than extracts it” from Africa. 
It was an appeal to counter Chinese extensive business involvement in Africa. The author rightfully contrasts this appeal with the actual facts--both current and historical of US involvement in Africa.
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