Crises Can Be Openings: Defeating our enduring fatalism.

This article was written by Sasha Lilley.  She’s the author of Capital and Its Discontents from which this piece was taken.   http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/99/crises-can-be-openings.html

The past several years have witnessed the spectacular unraveling of capitalism, or so it has appeared.

 

Venerated investment banks have vanished overnight, titans of industry have permanently shuttered their doors, and rich nations have lurched perilously close to default. The ideology of the free market, once seemingly unassailable, lies in tatters. While the death knell of capitalism may not yet be tolling, the crisis is undoubtedly of a different order of magnitude than anything seen in decades.

Dispatches from the Apocalypse

An excellent, moving article from the Utne Reader written by Junot Díaz, from Boston Review

"Isn’t that after all the logical conclusion of what we are wreaking? The transformation of our planet into a Haiti? Haiti, you see, is not only the most visible victim of our civilization—Haiti is also a sign of what is to come."

DEBTOCRACY (English Subtitles)

This documentary provides comprehensive and insightful commentary about the Greek economic crisis and the related unrest in Greece. It presents a great history of European economics and examines the economic relationships which have developed around the world in the last few decades. It also provides a critical look at the EU, the IMF, and American banking and economic practices.

END:CIV – RESIST OR DIE – Full Documentary

From http://submedia.tv/endciv/

The Oil Spill Disaster & Fundamental Flaws of the Overall System

As many of my regular readers might suspect, I've been following the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico rather closely. But a particular event related to that catastrophe really brought together my overall opinion of the whole mess. In an obscenely ludicrous turn of events, those applying to respond for the clean-up efforts on the gulf coast were subjected to drug tests and immigration raids! I was almost too furiously disgusted to guffaw.

But, frankly, maybe this potentially predictable event is just what was needed to allow us a chance to see the oil spill in a broader and more comprehensive context. As destructive, disruptive, and outright calamitous as this epic and growing oil spill has been... it's easy to forget or overlook the fact that humanity was already in and facing serious crisis. Even without our terminal addiction to oil (which is easily one of the most comprehensive and pressing issues) we still face issues which are often, at best, only incidentally related to petroleum extraction.

A primitivist response to Andrew Flood's question: Is primitivism realistic?

The following is a response to an article written some time back by Andrew Flood (hereafter often referred to as "the author"). The article is in circulation again on one of the social networking/bookmarking/link-sharing sites (reddit.com) which I peruse. Although this response is somewhat late, I feel it's still relevant and will remain so. I should also point out that I do not primarily identify myself as a Primitivist, but I do see much worth in the ideas of anarcho-primitivism. My response starts and continues by taking on quoted statements made in the original work by Andrew Flood: Is primitivism realistic? An anarchist reply to John Zerzan and others.


Since when was the "basic purpose" of anarchism "the creation of a free mass society?" And if that was the simplified basic purpose, why does it have to remain so? Maybe these are word games the author is playing, but a free society doesn't necessarily have to be a "mass" society and I personally could see complications arising in a mass society that was too large. This would be especially true if the mass society was constantly encroaching on bioregions and cultures that could not survive the intrusion. What does freedom really mean if your version of mass industrialism imposes itself as far and as densely populated as possible? More to do with "faith than reality" indeed.

Why and how I oppose the G-20

As they ride in limousines from their mansions to sip champagne with the other aristocratic oligarchs, I don't feel that the G-20 leaders really understand or care about the state of the world or the people in it. It is my contention that they believe their opulence and power is well deserved – despite the wars they orchestrate and the suffering they intentionally allow to continue. Hundreds of millions go hungry each day around the globe and the G-20 ministers facilitate the policies which allow that so that they may maintain the status quo of their power. They are the modern day ladies and lords of the kingdom and they rule over others as if they were serfs or slaves (which for all practical matters they are).

G-20 Protest Links (will be updated regularly)

Dignity, Freedom, Idealism & Expectations

"We are far too slow to outrun it now but not too far gone to care"
--Balance by the Mountain Goats

I was recently chatting with a dear friend about various philosophical perspectives and, being mildly provoked and not completely devoid of ego, I felt the the need to defend my own perspective. People always seem to try and pigeonhole me as being an excessively idealistic hippie or an excessively cynical anarchist. Perhaps there is some truth in both assessments (I can only hope that Derrick Jensen has the same problem). In any case... this is my personal perspective/self-assessment in regard to what I write and stand for philosophically.

Definancialisation, Deglobalisation, Relocalisationn (by Dmitry Orlov)

This post is in reference, and redirects, to an excellent article appearing at the Cluborlov blog which I highly recommend.

The talk from which the article was derived was presented at The New Emergency Conference in Dublin, on June 11, 2009.

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2009/06/definancialisation-deglobalisation.html

A brief socio-economic point...

Looters in New Orleans, after hurricane Katrina, were shot on sight. Looters on Wall Street were given a bailout.

Is that not the ultimate of double standards and irony? I mean come on, who needed the bailout more and who was really looting?

Anyway... here is a link to a video of a U.S. Congressman, speaking in congress, stating that members of congress were threatened with martial law if they didn't immediately pass the $850billion bailout plan.