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

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

'Democracy kidnapped!' Madrid police fire rubber bullets as thousands surround Spanish Congress

Click here to access article, photos, and videos from RT. 

Violent clashes between the people and the enforcers of the One Percent are once again occurring in Europe.

RT provides us with a video and report of such recent street battles in Greece.
Police in Athens have clashed with protesters during a nationwide strike in protest at a new round of austerity cuts introduced in return for vital EU-IMF loans.
The protesters threw firebombs, smashed windows and set fire to garbage on the sidelines of the demonstration on Wednesday near luxury hotels on the capital's central Syntagma square.
The police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a group of around 200 protesters.