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, March 8, 2017

The United States and the Russian Devil: 1917-2017

Click here to access article by William Blum from CounterPunch.

The headline promises far too much because Blum only reviews two periods in this centenary, however the two instances reflect the dramatic extent that American empire builders will go to interfere in the affairs of their current arch-enemy, Russia. By providing a brief summary of many other countries where the US capitalist ruling class has interfered in their domestic affairs, Blum reminds us that Russia is not the only one. But then I guess that is why the US is an "exceptional" nation: our ruling masters reserve the right to interfere in any country where their opportunities for profit and power lie or interfered with.