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, February 17, 2011

Join Our Letter To Internet Companies

by Jay Stanley from American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The ACLU is fighting back against government surveillance of its citizens and their right to know what their government is doing.
A few weeks ago, we all learned that the Justice Department had obtained an order demanding that Twitter turn over private information about several of its users in connection with the government’s investigation of WikiLeaks.