Surviving Capitalism (Not) : That never-ending path to democracy

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, November 27, 2013

That never-ending path to democracy

Click here to access article by Ursula Lindsey from The Arabist.

The writer notices that Empire-speak is in sharp contradiction with reality. The directors of the capitalist ruling class always like to frame everything they do--even war crimes--in terms of "democracy" and "freedom". This is true everywhere in the world where they see opportunities to serve their class interests--not merely in Egypt.

Empire-speak uses words that reflect the deepest yearnings of humanity: the desires to live in egalitarian societies where citizens are fully engaged in important decisions affecting their lives. However, our masters use words and images to fool people into supporting their sociopathic habits of domination and exploitation. Of course, most of this is addressed to the American people, and unfortunately many believe it.