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, June 4, 2010

Tomgram: William Astore, Washington's Compulsive Gambling

by Tom Engelhardt from his blog, Tom Dispatch. 

This is an introduction to a post by Astore, but I recommend the introduction itself. It observes the seeming unraveling of the policies of the Empire. My only criticism is that it places too much emphasis on Obama's role in events. Obama is merely the figurehead, or salesman, for the Empire policies that are directed by international capitalist elites.