There are two distinct futures of food and farming. One leads to a dead end. A dead planet: poisons and chemical monocultures spreading. The second leads to the rejuvenation of the planet through rejuvenation of biodiversity, soil, water, rejuvenation of small farms diverse, healthy, fresh, ecological food for all.
Source: The New Internationalist
What it’s like when narcos run your privatized water system.
It’s rainy season here in Puebla, Mexico, and water is dripping through my concrete roof, taking chunks of plaster and paint from the ceiling with it. Ironically, we still don’t have enough running water to shower everyday. Other people here have no running water at all, and our drainage system is in a state of utter abandonment.
Yet we all pay 10 times the rates of the rest of Mexico, because here in Puebla – unlike the rest of the country – our water is privatized. What’s more, the men at the helm of the consortium that run it are a collection of corrupt millionaire and billionaire businessmen who have allegedly laundered money for some of the region’s biggest drug cartels.
One hundred Q’eqchi Maya families have established an encampment next to the Presidential Palace in Guatemala City to protest the government's unwillingness to resolve agrarian conflicts in their territory. “We are here in front of the National Palace because of the failure of the state," indigenous activist Carlos Choc explained. "Our Q’eqchi communities have risen up."
What is fascism, really? This question seems to be coming up more and more since the electoral victory of Donald Trump, and most recently following the events in Charlottesville. The new book Against the Fascist Creep is a useful guide to the many ideological and subcultural manifestations of the contemporary fascist movement.
The radical left has emerged as a strong force in a large number of countries over the past decade. In all of these countries there is an internal debate among left militants about future tactics. Should they seek electoral power or should they seek to control the streets?
Source: In These Times
Communities in Charlottesville, Va., are reeling from a murderous Nazi and white supremacist march on their town—one that stole the life of anti-Nazi protester Heather Heyer and wounded many more. I spoke with Lisa Woolfork, a member of Charlottesville’s Black Lives Matter chapter, about what solidarity and anti-racist organizing looks like in this moment.
She explained that Charlottesville’s Black Lives Matter chapter formed in June as “committed Black folks coming together from a variety of walks of lives, to stand up for preservation of Black lives, to stand up and make sure Black issues are not forgotten.” Woolfork, who is an associate professor at the University of Virginia (UVA), underscored that she is proud of everyone in her community who rallied together to resist organized white supremacists. “This is what community defense looks like,” she said. “You say, ‘Not here, not in my town.’”
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019