Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Can Nuit Debout Succeed Where OWS Failed?

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, May 18, 2016

Can Nuit Debout Succeed Where OWS Failed?

Click here to access article by Brent Gregston from French Morning (France).

I know very little about French media, but in my mind this piece has a very strong ring of authenticity to it--and it's very up-to-date (May 18th). I don't know where this movement is going and if it will last long, but I think it must be examined as another indication that all is not well with capitalist rule--to say the least.

It has also occurred to me that events which US corporate media follows, or not follows, is a strong indication of how our ruling masters regard any politically charged topic. I recall how carefully US media followed street protests in Egypt in 2011, and later considerable evidence turned up that opposition and the protests to Mubarak's rule was heavily influenced by US subversive organizations funded by our masters. Notice currently, as one of my Oregon blog followers alerted me to, that US media is completely ignoring the Nuit Debout (night uprising) events in France--and these have been occurring since at least March 31st! (See also the photos of these events since March 31st posted in TeleSur.)

You might also be interested in how capitalist media in France and Britain are covering this movement: see this, and this. And of course US business online media sources have been following this as newsworthy because it affects their world-wide profit opportunities--see this, for example.