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

Saturday, April 25, 2015

The Revolution Will Not be Fast-Tracked

Click here to access article by Rob Urie from CounterPunch. 

In this piece Urie reveals many of the realities behind the mythology regarding the Republican versus Democratic parties of the capitalist government. With a focus on the current push by the Obama administration to fast-track the neoliberal trade treaties through Congress, his careful examination of the mythology versus reality leads inevitably to this real conclusion:
Democrats are the more proficient facilitators of this unfettered corporatism because they are skilled at hiding economic interests behind political platitudes.
See also this piece entitled "Democratic Trade War" from Common Dreams in which we see that some members of the Democratic party are opposed. But keep in mind that an influential liberal Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden (Oregon) has united with conservative Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) to sponsor the fast-track bill. Also, remember that it was a liberal Democratic president, Bill Clinton, that wanted to expand NAFTA with fast-track authority.