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, January 29, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend today: Friday, January 29, 2021

  • Contradictions of Finance Capitalism by Richard Peet from Monthly Review. My reaction: You will learn about the evolution of industrial capitalism into finance capitalism that began around 1950 and accelerated in the 1980s and beyond. They added finance to their wealth and thereby increased their power over the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire. They sought cheap labor all over the world, invested in, and loaned money to, companies that exploited this cheap labor. The also bought many homes in foreign lands which added to their neoliberal outlook (trans-nationalism). The de-industrialization of the USA was the result.  The author reveal that he had an education in North America by ending his article with an affirmation of democratic socialism and a rightward move for the Monthly Review. Democratic socialism in the USA commonly means a welfare-state type of a capitalist economy. In other words, a fake representation of socialism.
I have followed this ex-Marine for the last 10 years, and I've always found his reports about political issues, whether they were about Thailand or some other country, to be absolutely spot-on (to use a British expression). Thus I trust his presentation and analyses of issues.
As Caitlin Johnstone frequently and convincingly writes, "Whoever controls the narrative controls the world." This is never more true than in today's world because the communication of ideas has become under such tight control by a relatively few capitalists than ever before. This point is driven into our consciousness no better than this article by Berletic. The solution is obvious: take away their ownership/control of communication properties. But that would be the ultimate evil of communism, you declare in an angry voice! The thorough indoctrination of your mind by capitalist ruling classes who control all institutions is the problem preventing any future progress and ensuring our ultimate doom.
  • Solutions: Survival Currency featuring James Corbett of The Corbett Report giving his introduction and recommendations for a survival currency. (Note: Although I have only listened to 25 minutes of his one hour talk, I think it is worth your time.)