Chapter Thirteen

"Martin Luther King didn't become famous saying I have a complaint," said Van Jones speaking to the Network of Spiritual Activists.  As you have probably heard one of the most eloquent environmental justice activists in the U.S. has resigned from Obama's White House under a relentless right-wing assault of what he calls "lies and distortions."  You will get some idea of what a visionary he is by watching this short video from Fierce Light

 By Sam Gindin

Public sector strikes are frustrating to both the public and the strikers. The public is upset with losing daily services they have come to depend on, while the strikers are upset with the apparent lack of respect for the work they do.

The following is an article on the rather frightening rise of populist right-wing parties in Europe.  He concludes: "The left will only be able to fight the racism and right- wing populism spreading through Europe’s working class if it is prepared to take a critical look at itself. As the FrP’s highly successful leader puts it, ‘The Norwegian people are sick of being patronised. The other parties, and Labour in particular, show nothing but contempt for the people."  

So much for the new era of social economy and social entrepreneurship. NGOs and foundations are downsizing left and right. A prominent social change event attended by social entrepreneurs and social innovators has had to be postponed because of the economic crisis.

Finally there was something interested to read in the Globe and Mail this morning.  Todd Hirsch a Calgary based economist wrote about what might survive the crash of 2008.  In a piece called Long Live the New Capitalism, he argues that instead of trying to save the dying "greed driven"  Wall Street system we should accept that the old system is dying and shout long live whatever creative system emerges.  He suggests the new capitalists will invest in social good and sustainability if they want to make a buck. "It's not necessary for capitalists to agree with the environmentalists.  All you need to do is watch for the trends and capitalize on the opportunities."  Finally, someone is looking ahead only the blinder of capitalist ideology prevents him from seeing that most of truly innovative economic models are not the capitalist ones but neither are they strictly socialist.

Last night I went to a terrific lecture by Bruce Gilbert from Bishop's University about the MST, the landless movement in Brazil.  I was tired and expecting a boring academic lecture and instead found a terrifically engaging and educational lecture.  Bruce started as a student activist in the 80's as part of the Student Christian Movement and in his search for the meaning of the word social justice, he became a philospher.  Then he got interested in the landless movement and now he is coming back to being an activist.  Nice.