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, March 15, 2017

Most important today is to resist being discouraged

Click here to access article by Alina Perera Robbio from Granma (Cuba). 
...urgent work ... was discussed by the Network of Intellectuals, Artists, and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity during its 15th Encounter held here March 6-7, with more than 60 thinkers from Venezuela and other countries in attendance.

The gathering, entitled "Emancipatory communication or colonized homelands," took place in Marshall of Ayacucho Hall in the Casa Amarilla, and made clear that thinking from a humanist point of view exists in this world, but must be coordinated and become more agile in defending the peoples' truths.

Just minutes prior to the meeting's second day, Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Prieto Jiménez dedicated a few minutes to a dialogue with this reporter, and spoke of the times in which we live, insisting on the importance of the fight for critical, revolutionary thinking, saying, "The battle of consciousness and ideas must be won."
I couldn't agree more with the statement by Prieto Jiménez. I have argued this in an article that I posted last month entitled "Some observations and solutions about the contemporary class war being waged by our capitalist ruling class".

We, the people, have been feeling the effects of a class war that has been going on since the beginning of civilization. The current war is a one sided war waged only by the ruling capitalist class, and it's on us--only most remain unaware of their ongoing attacks on us. Their weapons serve to control our minds through their control of the indoctrination and misinformation agencies of education, corporate media, and entertainment. We simply must, if we have any hope of survival, organize our own institutions which serves our interests and a civilization that is in harmony with nature. I think the place to start is with an independent media network organized and funded by, and serves, working people.