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, August 4, 2014

Stories Of Extermination: Silent = Complicit

Click here to access article by Mickey Z. from World News Trust. 

The author reminds us of the fact that there is nothing exceptional about the many who still remain silent regarding the latest massacre of Palestinians. He reminds us of the real history--in contrast to the fictional history of our indoctrination--of the rise of fascism in the 1920s and 30s that was greeted by capitalist elites everywhere who for a long time overlooked the atrocities committed by their German counterparts.
Hitler's "Final Solution" took the lives of roughly six million Jews along with millions more Slavs, Eastern Europeans, Roma, homosexuals, labor leaders, communists, and others suspected of such “crimes.” If decency and morality played any role, the United States would have taken action against Germany some time during the 1930s.
On the contrary, the U.S. business class had nothing but love for the Nazi regime.
Of course, this covering up of crimes by ruling classes has been true throughout recorded history which, of course, is only about 2% of human history. In our current era of capitalist rule only one ethical principle is consistently adhered to by ruling classes: if its good for the bottom line on financial statements, it is good. They justify this with general propaganda and indoctrination about the rule of market principles which are always neutral, and in the end always benefit humanity. 

You see this principle played out in current world events. If the current ruling capitalist classes and their satellites of the Empire were concerned about genocidal events, they would take serious actions against Israel. Instead, they are taking actions against Russia which has done nothing to justify sanctions except to oppose Empire subversive activities in Syria and Ukraine. And, of course, Empire rulers have a long history of crimes against humanity in pursuit of their ethical principle.