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, April 8, 2010

China maintains discriminatory measures against rural migrants

from World Socialist Web Site. Read how China's internal migrants provide the basis for capitalism in China to flourish, and how they defend this source of cheap labor. These internal migrants appear to be similar to, but more beneficial to capitalists than, "illegal immigrants" from Central America that provide so much cheap labor to US capitalists.
Without a major influx of new migrants, China’s advantage in cheap labour will erode in favour of its neighbours in southeast Asia.