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, January 29, 2015

Russia In The Cross Hairs — Paul Craig Roberts

Click here to access article by Paul Craig Roberts from his blog. 

I almost entirely agree with his astonishment over the Empire's various attacks on Russia and the dangers the latter faces in this new cold war. However, I also have for a long time been astonished at this former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan administration. The Treasury Department is typically loaded with ruling class directors. I would be very interested to find out the history of Robert's split with the ruling class. I can only surmise that he is an old fashioned conservative in the older ruling class who because of his loyalty and skills was appointed to the position, but over the years since then the neo-conservatives and Zionists have heavily infiltrated the ruling class.

In the first sentence above I specified "almost entirely agree" with Robert's views in this article because there was one paragraph with which I disagreed:
Standard and Poor’s downgrade is, without any doubt, a political act. It proves what we already know, and that is that the American rating firms are corrupt political operations. Remember the Investment Grade rating the American rating agencies gave to obvious subprime junk? These rating agencies are paid by Wall Street, and like Wall Street they serve the US government.
No, it is the reverse: the US government along with the rating agencies serve Wall Street.