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, August 28, 2013

George Melloan: Pity the Big Banks – the Problem Is Populists

Click here to access article by Pam Martens from Wall Street on Parade

I think you can skip the early part of this article referring to the timing of the Congressional hearings on banking misconduct. What I think is really important in this piece is that the material illustrates the overwhelming power of the banksters. Whereas, in the previous history of banking crimes, the government punished the central banksters by removing their authority to issue the nation's currency with the backing of the government, today they have taken over the government and the government is now unwilling and unable to respond to the welfare and needs of the public.