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

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Russian sanctions as war and farce

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online.

With his usual cutting wit, he ridicules the latest sanctions imposed on Russia by the Obama administration to punish the Russians for interfering in the Empire's regime-change project for Ukraine and also for their other impudent actions regarding Syria and Iran. They have to be taught a lesson about which capitalist gang rules the world's neighborhood.

However, I think he, and other critics, miss the point of these sanctions: they are mostly designed to appease the right-wing in the Empire's ruling class and to satisfy indoctrinated Americans after their bellicose condemnation of Russian actions.

Meanwhile, other knowledgeable people are trying to figure out the delayed effects of this event and the next moves on the global chessboard as the capitalist gangs line up in their game called "world dominance". Tyler Durban at Zero Hedge sees Russia cozening up to China and India. Manlio Dinucci sees an increase in NATO power in Europe in his piece "The new Cold War 'shield'" and also sees this result:
...Washington has scored the first point: the mounting tension in Europe enables the U.S. to increase its influence over its European allies.
It is quite literally a game to these capitalist elites, but a game which often has dire consequences for us. As long as we allow them and their system to exist, we will never have peace or a sustainable ecosystem.