Reimagining the World
The news item was brief and buried in the back pages: “India: Maoists Ambush Patrol, Killing 7 Soldiers. The attack occurred in a rebel stronghold in Jharkhand State. Thousands of people have been killed in the past decade in violence involving Maoists, who claim they represent India’s dispossessed, particularly indigenous tribal groups.” You may wonder, What’s going on? Isn’t India a democracy? In India, the U.S. and other countries the actual functioning of democracy has largely been hollowed out. Yes, there are elections and people vote but the nexus of decision-making power lies elsewhere. Corporations dominate the political process. With their fistful of dollars they are able to exact outcomes that benefit them. As environmental destruction continues unabated we must reimagine a different world. One in which people and the planet are more important than profits.
Speaker
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is a world-renowned writer and global justice activist. The New York Times calls her, “India’s most impassioned critic of globalization and American influence.” She is the author of the novels The God of Small Things, for which she received the Booker Prize, and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Her book of interviews with David Barsamian is The Checkbook & the Cruise Missile. A collection of her essays My Seditious Heart is published by Haymarket.
Terry Kester –
What an astounding speech. What an amazing grasp of the curse of consumer capitalism, Arundhati Roy just might save our depleted world if you and I listened to her world wisdom; If you and I embraced the depth of her world view. She is an eloquent blend of compassion and practicality; a mind and a voice that are not afraid of placing herself in the reality of the world wide conflict between you, me, and the corporate rape of our world. Her heart is centered in the fate of India. Her message is as universal as it is crucial. Read and listen to Arundhati Roy. Then have to courage to stand beside her re-imagining our world.