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, February 4, 2013

Energy literacy through an astonishing coffee table book

Click here to access article by Kurt Cobb from Resource Insights.

 The author of this book review offers a profound question, but only very indirectly points toward a solution.
Will we continue to accept the religion of unlimited economic growth [also known as capitalism]—which must also be accompanied by unlimited growth in the production of energy and other resources—until a remorseless nature enforces its limits upon us?
The extreme reluctance on the part of contemporary intellectuals to deal directly with the planet destroying system of capitalism is preventing any possible solution.