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

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Libyan Developments: interview with Gilbert Achcar

Gilbert Archar interviewed by Stephen R. Shalom, Red Pepper (Britain).

This article offers a much more in depth look at Gaddafi and the insurrection in Libya than I have found elsewhere.
...I believe that from an anti-imperialist perspective one cannot and should not oppose the no-fly zone, given that there is no plausible alternative for protecting the endangered population. ...But again, one must maintain a very critical attitude toward what the Western powers might do.