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, February 26, 2010

Obama to the Business Roundtable: Health Care Reform Will Be Good for Business

from ABC News. I am posting this article to emphasize who the real rulers are in the US. The Business Roundtable is the most important formal organization of the US ruling class. (For an excellent examination of ruling class organizations, see this.) They are Obama's bosses. They are the people who really rule this country. Forget about Congress, the Presidency, the Supreme Court, the Constitution, etc--this is where most key decisions are really decided. That is why Obama went and spoke to them, because without their support nothing happens--and nothing much has been happening for the public benefit under Obama's Presidency, or any other administration for that matter.