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

Friday, April 22, 2016

Either capitalism dies or Mother Earth dies...

from TeleSur.  (Some additional comments were added to my commentary on 4/23/2016)

Of course what is meant here is that the part of nature which supports human life will die, not our planet's Mother Earth who, by casting off another species who failed to adapt to her rules, will go on into eternity to support other life forms. 

Also, of course, the concept of "Mother Nature" is an anthropomorphized version of the web of life that is for all practical purposes confined to our isolated planet. I emphasized the latter to clarify that we (or more likely the ruling capitalist class) cannot, as they often fantasize, simply toss the Earth into some metaphorical dumpster and then travel to another planet that can sustain humans. (Presumably in this fantasy they would eventually trash this new planet also, and then migrate to another, ad infinitum.) No, from what I've read (I can't find a reference now), scientific evidence has made clear that there might be other suitable planets in the vast universe, but they would be impossible for we humans to reach them. 

It looks highly probable to me that we humans have so trashed our only possible home that the planet's landlord, the web of life, is about to evict us. It is only that small chance that we might turn things around that keeps me posting these articles.