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

Friday, May 23, 2014

West Antarctic ice collapse 'could drown Middle East and Asia crops'

Click here to access article by Suzanne Goldenberg from The Guardian. 

Goldenberg writes about a new report just released by a ruling class NGO (the link in the article is incorrect) that appears to be a response to the anticipated effects from the impending collapse of a section of Antarctic ice sheet. The effects are from predictions contained in two recent studies that warns of a variety of dire consequences. 

It's clear that the more serious effects of climate destabilization are now imminent, and that some sections of the US ruling class is starting to take them seriously. This, of course, doesn't mean that our masters will cope with the expected disasters from anything like a social justice perspective or that it will lead to an examination of the system of capitalism that is causing the expected disasters to materialize. That will be a responsibility for us in the 99 Percent.
The ongoing collapse of a large part of the Antarctica ice sheet could devastate global food supply, drowning vast areas of crop lands across the Middle East and Asia, according to new research.