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, October 28, 2011

Oakland crackdown backfires: the genie is out of the bottle

Click here to access article by Jérôme E. Roos from Reflections on a Revolution. 
What we are witnessing is a change in the collective consciousness. The shedding of fear and the demise of the invisible dictator inside our heads. This is the awakening from a long and lonesome slumber. Something has changed in our perception of the world. When we see the images of people mobilizing in solidarity around the globe, we realize we are no longer alone. We are part of something infinitely greater than the mere sum of its parts. Each and every single one of us is a magnificent being worthy of dignity and respect. But it is only when we come together that the true essence of our humanity is revealed for what it always already was. At last, we are reclaiming our true nature. We are a social animal. And love and solidarity are the glue that binds us together.
The masters of the present governing system of capitalism will do everything they can to crush, co-opt, or tame the movement that has been born in the Squares and Wall Street occupations, but they cannot succeed against the life affirming nature of the human soul. Everyday it is becoming clearer for more people that the governing class and their system are destructive of both human life and a planet that can support human and other life forms. 

Previously the system was able to support an adequate number of people who found it so easy to just accept things and go along by seeking the rewards and avoiding the punishments of the system. Those that succeeded in the system were very much like "house niggers" who felt and acted superior to those who couldn't or refused to go along with the system. Just as old fashioned slavery has (mostly) disappeared, a system based on wage and debt slavery is now being called into question. 

Presently it appears that humans have reached a critical mass in terms of numbers and political awareness to the point where the system itself is starting to lose all credibility and legitimacy. There are now large numbers of people who realize that they are in a fight for their very survival, not only as individuals and families, but as a human species. 

Can we create a new sustainable human life supporting system, or will we perish along with so many other species that are disappearing daily due to the destruction of habitat caused by human activity under the present system? Stay tuned. Better yet, stay active.