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, September 3, 2014

Novorussia: independent, associated or (con)federated?

Click here to access article by The Saker from The Vineyard of the Saker. 

"The Saker" appears to be a Russian-American living in Florida. His writings suggest a high level of knowledge about Russia and Russian politics. In this very lengthy piece he attempts to both explain, and speculate on the outcome of, the current conflict in Ukraine. 

Once again we see a geopolitical analyst touting the goal of a "multi-polar world", and implying that this is all that Russian and Chinese leaders want. Well, that may be true for the time being; but if such a scenario was established, how could we expect Russian or Chinese capitalists to act any differently than Euro-American capitalists?