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

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Solidarity with the Greek people against financial markets

from Europe Solidaire Sans Frontiéres. This is a statement issued by members of movements and organizations that are members of the International Council of the World Social Forum, meeting now in Mexico, as a call for solidarity with the Greek people against financial markets.
The crisis in Greece reinforces our determination to oppose neoliberal financial policies and to reassert people's sovereignty over their economies, in the South and in the North.