These are the times that try peoples' souls. I believe

[Jackpine Radical]

we are really in for a long struggle in which the flight of jobs and capital from America will continue. In a major way, this is due to our dependence on an oil economy. We all realize that our conventional energy needs are largely driven by fossil fuels, and it is in the short-term financial interests of the corporations to keep this dependence going as long as they can. But keep in mind all the other things we use oil for. Everything is made of plastic, which starts with crude. Modern agriculture is the process of converting oil into food (pesticides, fertilizers, and farm machinery all depend on fossil fuels), and so on.

Things will not get better in any real sense until we take it upon ourselves to build a new, green infrastructure, and until we accomplish a major value-shift in which we place human quality-of-life issues ahead of the need of a small fraction of our population to accumulate obscene piles of material wealth.

I sometimes think that action at the conventional political level is unlikely to produce more than ephemeral results, and I have come to believe that for long-term, meaningful change to occur there must be a huge and persistent transformation in consciousness. Unregulated capitalism is successful in the same way that a cancer is--it is a process of unchecked cellular growth that occurs at the expense of the rest of the organism. When there is no sense of the greater whole, when there is no concern for the effects of one's actions upon our society, our species, our biosphere, our planet, then death will surely ensue. Capitalism has metastasized and we need to select as leaders those with the vision and fortitude to guide us through a terrible process of radical self-surgery. the Republicans are offering us carcinogens, and Obama is offering us aspirin. Until we gather the courage to look reality in the eye and to look upon our fellow humans with wisdom and compassion, these are the best we can expect from our leaders.

[BridgeTheGap]

1. One of the huge drawbacks of capitalism is its tendency toward monopolism (thank you Karl Marx!).

U.S. history is a tale of the attempt to keep capitalism alive while keeping the tendency of monopolism in check. The evolution of this "tale" no finds us at the mercy of the monopolized interests that flood our political system with campaign cash. Those whom we elect have to decide between honest representation of the people's interest or fulfilling the desires of those interests that donate so heavily to said representative's campaign. Clearly, the latter is dominant.

[The2ndWheel]

2. Why would a new green infrastructure not grow unchecked?

We are still talking about humans regulating other humans, right? The human institution of government needs as much growth as the human institution of business. The growth might even be worse than what we've seen, since all that green energy is theoretically limitless.

[RKP5637]

3. Exactly, the common root to most of this countries problems is "Unregulated Capitalism." n/t

[Beam Me Up]

4. Totally agree. The American people can do this . . .

and good leadership would help. But we should know by now that that kind of leadership isn't going to be forthcoming anymore. All we have to do is see what happened to our truly great leaders of the past: JFK, MLK, etc.

The elite want to retain a top-down, hierarchical market strategy to retain their hegemony. Whether we're talking energy, agriculture, or fiat money value -- they want to control the market. This is driving us to the brink of disaster and they aren't going to change. WE have to change. It is all about what we BUY (in every sense of the word -- socially, politically, psychologically and economically).

I'm not buying the corporate reality bubble any more. As much as possible, I'm leaving that behind. The more people do that, the more things will change.

[femrap]

5. Put your money where

your soul is! I don't buy crap made in China unless that's the only country that makes the product, ie, fans. I don't go to Walmart. I try to shop at local stores like Marc's which is HQed in Cleveland. What a fun place to shop as well.

If I eat out, it's a local restaurant. OK, I'll buy a Fresco Bean Burrito at The Bell for 99 cents on occasion. (Good cheap nutrition...)

I f*cking hate multi-national corporations.

edit: can't spell.

[villager]

6. It is indeed about what we buy! (And what we don't buy!)

Hopefully people are waking up to that -- but you can't keep shoveling money at the very people and institutions destroying your society and your planet.

Are "perfect boycotts" possible, at least right now? No. But nor is that an excuse to not get started, and start withdrawing your support from the Death Eaters.

[raccoon]

7. Well said, my good Jackpine! rec'd. nt

[GeorgeGist]

8. While right wing 'souls' decry Communism in the USA ...

the fine print says Made in China, Sold for Profit by a Capitalist, Taxed by a Government.

[Tsiyu]

9. My New Philosophy: Be Totally Disgusted - with detachment

My expectations were lowered years ago. so i set myself up to live the minimalist life.

I'm not going to get kicked to the streets or go hungry, but I have made a lot of real sacrifices to get to this point, and I live as few would want to.

So I could tune it all out and only care about myself, to save my sanity. Instead, I'm going to stay aware, but not let it get me down. Act locally, speak out globally or something like that.

We're nobodies by ourselves. But getting out into our communities, joining the causes that we care about, putting our money where our mouths are (I need to work on this as do most of us,) and helping whom we can will make us all somebodies.




If I know someone struggling and needing help, I can be the change I want to see. By helping.

Great OP Jackpine, as usual....


:kick: and rec