in the time remaining, to help us understand how the man-made system of capitalism will lead to the extinction of our human species, and so many others.
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, August 2, 2017
Venezuela – The National Constituent Assembly is in Place – But the fight for Sovereignty isn’t Over
This article offers the best factual summary of events related to Sunday's (July 30) election of a Constituent Assembly in Venezuela that I have seen. The middle section of the article contains a lot of his views related to foreign governments and media and their positions on the process that is going on in Venezuela.
I say process because it is only the first stage of a process (as I understand it) that will include two other stages: a drawing up of a new proposed constitution by the Constituent Assembly, and a referendum put to the citizens of Venezuela to approve or reject the proposed new constitution.
If you are one of the unfortunate ones who follow corporate news media, you will largely receive grossly distorted information. In addition to scenes of rioting and attacking the police, I've noticed so far that much of the coverage has recently been about the results of the illegal plebiscite held two weeks earlier on July 16th (Koenig indicates it was held on the 23rd) by the US backed opposition who are based mostly in the neighborhoods of the white, upper classes in Caracas (which I visited on a trip to Venezuela in December of 2005).
In an era characterized by fake news issued by Empire affiliated media corporations, authentic news and information has become a challenge. I can only recommend that you stop following such sources, and instead focus much more of your attention on reliable news sources. Of course I recommend the sources of the articles that I've posted and those which I have recommended on my website. One of the best ones would be an independent American media organization as I proposed in a series of articles entitled "A Revolutionary Model" (Part 1, Part 2a, Part 2b, and Part 3) that could very well ultimately lead to a revolution in the US and the establishment of a genuine democracy.