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

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

From Economic to Social Crisis: Deficits, Debt, and a Little Class History

Click here to access article by Richard D. Wolff from MR Zine. 

The author provides an excellent perspective on the history of capitalism's booms and busts, and ends on an upbeat note:
Resignation never was the only response of working people to capitalism's dysfunctions.  After the initial shock -- at an American Dream fast disappearing and lasting economic decline looming -- rebuilding old and/or creating new labor and left organizations will resume.  The old mole of real class struggles will return to the surface of contemporary politics.
 
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