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, January 28, 2015

Saudi oil and U.S. hypocrisy

Click here to access article by Sara Flounders from Workers World.

Flounders provides an excellent description of the Empire's close ally in this Medieval kingdom of Saudia Arabia. Such reporting rarely makes it into the Empire's mainstream media. The only thing that is missing is the key role that this kingdom plays in the backing of petro-dollars which enables the US ruling class to create as much money as it wants.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute and brutal dictatorship. The country is named after the royal Saud family that has expropriated the country’s fabulous oil wealth, and treats it as a wholly owned family asset. Their control is maintained by massive state-organized repression. All forms of political dissent and social organization, from political parties to trade unions, are banned under pain of death.