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

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Lisbon Calling: #14N in Portugal [13:16m video]

Click here if you wish to access the source of this posting authored by Brandon Jourdan and Marianne Maeckelbergh from Reflections on a Revolution.
After three years of crisis and taking the bitter pill of EU/IMF-imposed austerity without much resistance, the Portuguese have finally begun to rebel.

On November 14th 2012, thousands of people took to the streets of Portugal as part of a European-wide general strike. Until recently, the International Monetary Fund held Portugal as an ideal example of the effectiveness of austerity policies, but today, its economy is heading in the same direction as Greece and Spain. This short documentary details the week of the November 14th strike in Lisbon and the events surrounding it.


Because the juggernaut of globalized capitalism is threatening to crush the aspirations of the 99 Percent all over the world as well as trashing the planet, the 99 Percent must become globalized in its strategies to fight back effectively. We must no longer be divided and separated into nations, as immigrants, old versus young, women versus men, black versus white, employed versus unemployed, etc. Divide and conquer is the oldest strategy of ruling classes since the beginning of class rule. We are now witnessing that people in Portugal and Europe are starting to become aware of this ruling class strategy and the necessity of solidarity.