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

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Haiti: The Politics of Rice Pt 1 (10:35m video)

by Avi Lewis from Al Jazeera website. The author looks at the devastating effects of free trade policies on Haitian production of rice. 

See also Part 2 (4:55m video) to examine the impact of free trade policies on the devastation caused by the recent earthquake.