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

Monday, May 1, 2017

Stop World War 3 - An Asymmetrical Response

Click here to access article by Luke Rudkowski from StormCloudsGathering.

Rudkowski is convinced that the ruling capitalist class has already decided to opt for WWIII; in fact he says this has already begun. Whether or not these accusations are true, WWIII is likely to happen given the history of capitalist ruling classes. They always choose war whenever their system is threatened because we, the people, have always in the past rallied around their flags and supported them when they called for war largely because we believed the lies we were told in their newspapers and other media. In the past we have been like children who believe everything their parents tell them. In this era of advanced nuclear weapons to choose war is to risk the survivability of humans, but that doesn't matter to capitalists who, like addicts, will risk death to defend the system that delivers their drugs of wealth and power.

Rudkowski in this article justifies his concern and continues on to offer some ideas about how we can stop this war which will likely be the end of humans.
Some of you are going to want specific instructions. Steps 1, 2, 3 and 4. Some of you are waiting for someone else to lead.

What we need right now (and will need even more in times ahead) are decentralized nodes of leadership operating independently, creatively, with the skills and resources they have, coordinating, amplifying, with other groups.
[emphasis added]

Seek those willing to commit to a simple, self evident moral stance: No wars of aggression (covert, conventional, economic or nuclear), regardless of who is in office. No supporting such wars in word, silence, action or inaction. This is a line worth dividing on and an anchor worth unifying on, identifying with.

Don’t know how to find such people? Start by speaking out. All it takes is one voice to break the conformity principle, to expose the fact that the emperor wears no clothes. Someone else might find their courage because of you.

Once you start taking action you’ll start meeting others who are already in the trenches; people with experience and skills you lack, perspectives that clarify things further. Now you can coordinate, synchronize, and amplify. You’ll also make new friends, and the group might become more than a means to an end.
 
This piece appears to follow a thesis he started in a 2013 article he entitled "Revolution: An Instruction Manual" which, in spite of the title, argued for a revolution but only offered general ideas to prepare for it.