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, June 23, 2014

The Very Normal Face of North Korea—the “Inscrutable Kingdom”

Click here to access article by Andre Vltchek from The Greanville Post.

 Vltchek's article and photos provide an excellent antidote to all the hate-filled propaganda one gets in corporate media. The article follows the introduction by Patrice Greanville, the editor of The Greanville Post.
What I found was an impressive country. Under embargo, under constant threat of war and annihilation, yet proud, self-reliant, hard working but also fun loving.
People of this country can sing and dance, they can enjoy free time, but also produce rockets and automobiles, even communication tablets. I saw a lot of love and tenderness between the parents and their children, as well as between spouses. I saw cities being built for the people, not against them, as they are in turbo capitalist or feudal countries like Indonesia or Philippines.
at
Labels: , ,