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

Sunday, September 4, 2016

The Ultimate 21st Century Choice; OBOR or War

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Sputnik (Russia).

There is a two day G20 meeting starting today in China which may have major economic consequences.
...most of all China will seek greater G20 backing for the New Silk Roads – or One Belt, One Road (OBOR), as they are officially known – as well as the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

China has proposed OBOR; a pan-Eurasian connectivity spectacular designed to configure a hypermarket at least 10 times the size of the US market within the next two decades.
But the meeting of the world biggest economies got off to a public relations snafu with the arrival of the US delegation including Obama. From The Guardian we see this article entitled "Barack Obama 'deliberately snubbed' by Chinese in chaotic arrival at G20", from the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post we see another report entitled "G20 ‘staircase snub’ for Obama was United States’ decision, reveals Chinese official", and then the Washington Post with this piece "Obama’s China visit gets off to rocky start, reflecting current relations".