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
Friday, November 30, 2018
The Real Red Pill
This piece portrays a scene in an American bar where six guys and a bartender try to sort out what is real and what isn't about the world today. Only if it were real! I may be too cynical, but I think it is only wishful thinking, more blue pill stuff for people pretending to take the red pill. God (or Allah), I hope I'm wrong!
It seems to me that such a conversation can only be found in fiction. The vast majority of people like their illusions. They depend on them to cope with their very challenging lives. When supposedly ordinary people such as Steve, Greg, Ed, and old Pete try to argue that such illusions are fake and present some real truths about our existence, people such as Ian and Bill get upset and try to shut them up. This is the real truth (red pill) about humans that explains why most of them ignore the plight of people like Julian Assange who has revealed that their capitalist masters are nothing but war criminals who constantly lie to them. That's "The Real Red Pill" version of reality.
Our capitalist masters know this secret about human weakness. Thus, they keep feeding us lies to maintain their self-serving domination over us.