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

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reach Highest Point In Three Million Years

Click here to access article from CounterCurrents.
As global carbon dioxide, emissions teetered on the threshold of 400 parts per million (PPM) for the first time in three million years, delegates from countries all over the world yesterday started another round of talks on how to tackle climate change.
The unfortunate fact is that nothing will prevent a continuing increase of this climate-heating gas as long as we are plagued with the system of capitalism. Fossil fuels drives the system's engine which spews out carbon dioxide. We cannot prevent climate catastrophes unless we change the system, and meetings without this on the agenda are totally futile.