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

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

The Evil Empire has the World in a Death Grip

Click here to access article by Paul Craig Roberts from CounterPunch

I read this book shortly after it was published, but Roberts reminds those of us who have read the book of its importance because the book furnishes inside information from someone who was involved in the Empire's debt scam that was run on other countries. It is a "must-read" for those who have not read the book.

One sees the latter's scam operative everywhere in the world where the Empire is involved (which is nearly everywhere). Consumers (think of the predatory lending practices in general and housing mortgages in particular that contributed to the 2007/2008 economic collapse), cities, as well as nations are encouraged to go into debt. Now everyone in the US has a debt rating or "credit score" which they can access. It is commonplace for people in my country to take on debt to finance everything in their lives. This gives the banksters, who are ensconced at the highest level of power in our capitalist society, incredible power over us as individuals, over their Empire of nations, and a threat to the sovereignty of other nations.