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

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Pimping Weapons to the World

by Frida Berrigan from Tom Dispatch. The US leads the world in the export of military weapons. It is about the only major industry in the US that has not been outsourced--for obvious reasons. Of course, all the export arms go to The Empire's accomplices to maintain its hegemony over the world. The weapons industry is also highly lucrative because the sales go to governments that taxes its working people to pay for them.