Surviving Capitalism (Not) : John Stoehr: The myth of freedom in the land of the free [Part 1 of 2]

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, April 2, 2012

John Stoehr: The myth of freedom in the land of the free [Part 1 of 2]

Click here to access article by John Stoehr from Al Jazeera.

The author addresses the current militarization of local police forces to suppress any opposition to the rule of the One Percent. Thus, there is no longer a need for the current ruling class to call in the Army or the National Guard to suppress dissent.

...the harder they [Occupier protestors] pushed, the harder they were pushed back - with violence. Protesters met with police wearing body armour, face shields, helmets and batons; police legally undermined Americans' right to assemble freely with "non-lethal" weaponry like tear gas, rubber bullets and sonic grenades. There was no need for the president to call in the army. An army, as Mayor Bloomberg quipped, was already there.