Surviving Capitalism (Not) : 2014: The Year the American Justice System Officially Died

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, December 31, 2014

2014: The Year the American Justice System Officially Died

Click here to access article by Carey Wedler from The Anti-Media.

In 2014, the problem of police brutality forced itself to the forefront of the national conversation following the brutal killing of Americans at the hands of the police. This increased attention has been a success for activists from all walks of life and for the well-being of citizens. The problem of racism and police murders that involve it is finally receiving widespread acknowledgment and opposition.

But as much as the issue of police abuse needs attention, it remains that injustice in America permeates layers of society that transcend law enforcement, race, and problems of direct violence against citizens.

I just discovered this website this morning and I like what they are doing: promoting citizen news gathering and analysis. In this article Wedler writes about the corruption of the justice system which, as he argues while citing numerous examples of injustice and morally compromised events, has reached a terminal phase in the US. I think that this view reflects a growing recognition that something is basically wrong with our society, however the basis for this wrongness still eludes this writer and many others.

Because of the thorough indoctrination they have received in schools, media, and even entertainment, many people are unable to see the basic organization of our society which is capitalism. This is a system that divides people between a tiny few who literally "own" (according to capitalist rules) our economy and those whose labor is rented in a labor market by the "owners" for their profit. Such "ownership" over time has resulted in a concentration of a few fabulously rich and powerful and many who struggle to make a decent living. This is the basic injustice from which all other injustices are derived. Those tiny few really constitute a ruling class because their wealth gives them the power to control all other sub-systems in society--media, education, government (including justice), entertainment, etc. This societal arrangement is fundamentally unfair and immoral, and is the basis of all corruption of our society.