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, November 6, 2017

Recommended articles for 11/6/2017

Curtin, in my opinion, is one of the wisest people on the World Wide Web. In this piece he analyzes and explains the reasons why people lie to others and to themselves.
We are awash in information (and disinformation) and both good and bad reporting, but it is still available to the caring inquirer.

The problem is the will to know.  But why, why the refusal to investigate and question; why the indifference?  Stupidity?  Okay, there is that.  Ignorance?  That too.  Willful ignorance, ditto.  Laziness, indeed. Careerism and ideology?  For certain.
One reason he didn't directly mention is the extreme individualism (the next step is sociopathy) that is promoted by a capitalist social system. But the sad reality is...we live in an advanced form of a capitalist society. So, we often lie to ourselves and to others, and believe the lies we are told by authority figures and sources. Consider this as a survival trait almost necessary to survive in an advanced capitalist system. Curtin explains this very well. (This is a "best post".)
No single entity in modern history, foreign or domestic, has told more lies -- and been caught bloody-handed, during or after the fact -- than the CIA.
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