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

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Guardians of Human Wrongs

from War is a Crime. This is a bit of a rant, but a good one. 
Certainly, we can examine the obvious—that our actions in the voting booths do not move the world in a positive direction for anyone but the wealthy and powerful. Government leadership acts on behalf of government leadership and large corporations whose donations ensure the continuation of the status quo. In other words, they, the powerful, win, and we, the powerless, lose.