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

Monday, July 6, 2015

How the Empire will strike back

Click here to access article by "The Saker" from A bird's eye view of the Vineyard.
Okay, now that we have all celebrated the beautiful Greek “NO!” to the EU plutocracy, we need to get real again and look at the Empire’s options.  Or, in fact, at the Empire’s option (with no ‘s’ at the end).

The Empire is extremely predictable.  The example of Greece is a textbook case of how the Empire uses banks to strangle a country with debt, creates a comprador ruling class, turns the national media into an instrument of imperial propaganda and tries to completely halt any democratic process by dealing only with the ruling class.  By some quasi miracle this last phase has failed in the case of Greece.
The author then proceeds to explain to us how Empire masters will attempt to punish Greeks for this insubordination. 

Also, see this by economist Michael Hudson entitled "Why No Means Yes" from his blog.