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, November 15, 2012

#14N: millions join largest European strike ever

Click here to access videos and photos of mass protests across Europe, from Reflections on a Revolution.

Mainstream media in the US seems totally focused on a few stories--the Petraeus scandal, the "fiscal cliff", Israel "defending" itself against Palestinian rocket attacks, and some kind of settlement between the US Justice department and BP related to criminal charges (of course, this "settlement is subject to federal judicial review", which means that it may be held up in the courts for a decade or more like the Exxon-Valdez case.) Hence, I thought I'd try to fill in another story that One Percent directors of mainstream media really don't want you to think about: the ongoing huge protests across southern Europe against austerity policies.