Make the connection

Sometimes, especially after a group session of examining the world's ills, I wonder why people don't follow the logic out to the end. There is terrible suffering in this world, with great differences in wealth, privilege and opportunity. The entire global financial market, political institutions domestic and foreign, and social systems have not only brought us to our current state (if you like floods, then this is gonna be your century), they also perpetuate the status quo. The state system and global capitalism have both failed the majority of people, even by their own standards; people in both Africa and Latin America are poorer today, after two decades of economic liberalisation, than they were twenty years ago.

The conclusion we should draw? More reform? More tinkering with the system?

Bah.

The only true solution is a complete reworking of politics, economics and society. Anarchism just may be that hope. The alternative? Continued wage slavery for the lucky, starvation for the rest, and instability and violence for all.