Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Charlie Hebdo: Divide and Rule or Freedom of Speech?

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, January 11, 2015

Charlie Hebdo: Divide and Rule or Freedom of Speech?

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

What is happening now in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre has absolutely nothing to do with free speech or its defense. Free speech is, itself, a bogus concept (as I discuss here). What is happening is a contest between the wealthy and powerful few who are trying to divide-and-rule us versus the many who want a far more equal and democratic world.

The ruling elites allow pundits and cartoonists and ideologues who promote mutual fear and mistrust between Muslims and non-Muslims to prosper, to have huge audiences with TV prime time shows and columns in mass circulation newspapers and successful big-media careers, while denying those who promote mutual trust, understanding and friendship between these groups anything close to the same size audiences.