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

Thursday, July 31, 2014

A City-Sized Prison-House

Click here to access article by Lori Allen from Stanford University Press Blog.
1.8 million live patrolled and contained like this—that’s about the population of Hamburg, or Detroit in its heyday. It is difficult to convey the utter wrongness of this city-sized prison-house to someone who has not experienced or witnessed the daily indignities and frequent atrocities of the occupation. 
Allen describes in extremely painful detail the prison-like conditions that Gazans face everyday of their lives. Meanwhile, back at the American ranch people are totally unaware of these conditions. 

But that seems to be typical of my fellow Americans who have been lied to endlessly especially over the past sixty years, and still come back to the same mainstream media sources for more lies. The near-term comforts of going along with powerful authorities should not be underestimated. Such people don't have to take responsibility for the evil that is done to others, or incur the sanctions of authorities by challenging their role in creating the evil. However, it is the long-term that I am worried about.
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