Surviving Capitalism (Not) : In Deep Water: A Way of Life in Peril [23:2lm video]

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

Thursday, June 24, 2010

In Deep Water: A Way of Life in Peril [23:2lm video]

from Aljazeera. Unlike mainstream media Avi Lewis (Canadian) puts the BP disaster in its larger context: the four decades that the petrochemical industry, with the blessing of "collaborative" federal regulators, has had its way with the fragile ecosystems of the Gulf. In moving interviews with local residents, seafood workers, and activists, Avi examines the industry's legacy of wetland erosion and health hazards that serves as the backdrop for the current disaster.