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 2, 2015

From Pol Pot to ISIS: The Blood Never Dried

Click here to access article by John Pilger from his blog. 
ISIS is the progeny of those in Washington, London and Paris who, in conspiring to destroy Iraq, Syria and Libya, committed an epic crime against humanity. Like Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, ISIS are the mutations of a western state terror dispensed by a venal imperial elite undeterred by the consequences of actions taken at great remove in distance and culture. Their culpability is unmentionable in “our” societies, making accomplices of those who suppress this critical truth.
In this essay the independent Australian journalist provides a history of the Empire's horrific terrorist actions which have provided fertile ground for indigenous terrorist armies. However his essay is flawed by a myopic view that only targets ruling class directors and functionaries instead of a capitalist system-backed empire that makes such crimes not only likely but necessary. In addition he doesn't adequately distinguish the incidental fostering of the terrorist army of Pol Pot from the intentionally designed terrorism of ISIS. Instead he leaves us with only a moral condemnation of crimes committed by crazy evil-doers acting out their sadistic fantasies on innocent people.
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