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 9, 2010

Canada: Foundation for "Political Warfare" Takes Cue from U.S. Strategy

from IPS news agency. 

Although I could not find any explanation in the article as to why Harper tabled this parliamentary bill, it is clear that they are still working on getting it passed. If Tony Blair was Bush's poodle, then Harper can be seen as US's Chihuahua--he yaps a lot but few people pay any attention. The only reason he was elected was because of the widespread corruption in the Liberal party in the past decade. In Canada as in the US, the capitalist governing class does not permit much in the way of choices. 

This article illustrates how closely Harper's administration works to support US foreign policy by this effort to establish an agency modeled after the US National Endowment for Democracy. NED is a propaganda organ of the US which collaborates closely with the CIA and used in US's arsenal of soft power to destabilize countries deemed by the US governing class as inimical to their interests. Here is a recent example of NED's work.