Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Sleepless in Istanbul V

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

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Sleepless in Istanbul V

Click here to access article by Dominic from libcom.org.

This is an excellent, objective report on recent developments of self-organizing efforts in Turkey by an author published in an anarchist publication. As such he clearly comes from an orientation that emphasizes political self-organization, people power, inclusive democracy, and bottom-up political structures.

We are currently seeing the early efforts at such societal self-organizing happening throughout the world to challenge the overwhelming power of the Empire and its planet-destroying system of capitalism. Thus it is of critical importance for those of us who view this as the only alternative solution to hierarchical structures that have resulted in so many crimes against humanity since the beginning of civilization.