Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Managing disorder: towards a global state of control?

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

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Managing disorder: towards a global state of control?

Click here to access article by Jerome Roos from Reflections on a Revolution.

Refusing to tackle the causes of our troubles and allow public space for dissent, the neoliberal state is sliding inexorably towards authoritarianism.

Of course, the new World Order, a neoliberal order, cannot "tackle the causes of our troubles" because their order is designed to serve only the One Percent and their addictions to wealth and power. If they were to address the "root causes" of our troubles, they would have to abolish the capitalist system; they would have to commit suicide as a class with special privileges; they would have to give up their ownership and control of the economy and reconstitute it as a social property under genuinely democratic social control. Because they can't fool the people forever, we are seeing the inevitable resort to violence to maintain their rule.

We of the 99 Percent have two choices: 1) complete submission to the rule of a tiny minority in a police state, acceptance of a future of deteriorating living conditions, and the destruction of our ecosystem, or 2) we can dedicate our lives to a thorough regime change and construct a classless society controlled by ordinary, engaged citizens. Number one might seem easier, but ultimately it will end with very tragic consequences.