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

Friday, June 25, 2010

G20: Doves on finance reform, hawks on austerity [9:58m video]

from The Real News Network. The guest is associated with liberal think tanks, The Institute New Economic Thinking and Economic Policy for the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. 

Such people are concerned about threats to their beloved system, capitalism, resulting from the social cataclysms in the offing due to austerity cuts, the attacks on public spending and social safety nets. These people largely represent the old, more secure aristocracy of capitalists who largely inherited their wealth and who know that unbridled greed could create a powerful backlash that can destroy the system.