Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Why Progressive Organizations Don't Advocate Egalitarian Revolution

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, October 12, 2014

Why Progressive Organizations Don't Advocate Egalitarian Revolution

Click here to access article by John Spritzler from New Democracy World.

If egalitarian revolution (meaning remove the rich from power, have real not fake democracy with no rich and no poor) is such a good and appropriate goal (as I and many other people believe it is) then how come there are virtually no progressive organizations advocating it explicitly? Is it that all the people who are fighting for a $15 minimum wage, or against unjust wars, or against local injustices such as gentrification don't WANT an egalitarian revolution? Or is there a different explanation?

There is indeed a different explanation.

This examination of ruling class funding of all sorts of cultural, political, social, religious, communications, assorted do-gooder non-profit organizations, and even other charities in the US and foreign countries is probably one of the best articles that I've posted on my website since I began doing this five years ago. What I found especially fascinating is that there is a whole web of funding organizations who fund other funding organizations all of which serve to laundry money of the rich ruling class to limit any efforts to stir up opposition to their rule and to their beloved system of capitalism. In this article he examines one major channel of funding--Tides. From their website we read about their proclaimed mission:

Tides actively promotes change toward a healthy society, one which is founded on principles of social justice, broadly shared economic opportunity, a robust democratic process, and sustainable environmental practices. Tides believes healthy societies rely fundamentally on respect for human rights, the vitality of communities, and a celebration of diversity.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? However as Spritzler argues in the article, funding of such non-profits or NGOs insures that these organizations will never cross any red-lines of their funders in the ruling One Percent. This web of ruling class sponsored "progressive" organizations is a profoundly insidious and effective method of maintaining their class rule and protecting a system which provides them with overwhelming wealth and power in today's world.

So, when you have any interest in connecting with an organization claiming to be progressive, look at the list of grantees to see if that organization is handicapped from promoting real progressive change. To be sure, some are doing good work, but activists must always approach such organizations with their eyes wide open.