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

Monday, October 11, 2010

ForclosureGate and Real Estate Armageddon

by Michael Collins from The Economic Populist

In this excellent piece the author discloses how the bank/financial elites recently used Congress in a desperate attempt to work their way out of the mortgage/foreclosure mess they created. He also looks at the possibility that the crisis could result in a further melt-down of the economy. 
While my story focused on the process and contempt shown to citizens by Congress in that process, I became aware of a much broader issue.