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, January 7, 2013

Neoliberalizing Nature and Privatizing the Air

Click here if you wish to access the source of this 7:34m video or the transcript of the interview with Patrick Bond of South Africa regarding the topic.

Bond offers his observations about the pitfalls of putting a price on nature and its resources as has been advocated by some green environmentalists and attempted with poor results by markets in carbon trading schemes. The source of this problem is that our global economy is overwhelmingly directed by private interests who are addicted to short-term profits and power.

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