It took a while, but after several hundred years feudalism was called into question in Europe, and later the "divine right" of kings was tossed into the ashcan of history.
These beliefs did not go gently into the night. The defenders of the established order considered their critics quite mad, and most certainly dangerous.
As I watched the video I included with this article I thought that the critics would be considered quite mad as well especially, in this case, the critics happen to be some 500 indigenous people in the Amazon, who don't want their river and their way of life destroyed.
The Brazilian government wants to build a $6 billion dollar hydroelectric dam, only the first of many. A government spokesperson states that his country's economic growth is about 5% a year but has to grow much faster if Brazil is to remain competitive. Ah, of course, progress. The story is hardly unfamiliar.
Yes, yes, but competitve with whom and for what sustainable end? The global economic system, whether one calls it the "free" market or the "planned" economy, is now the 21st century feudal society and its "divinity" quite likely psychotic. Of course this is only my opinion, but the dangerous voices are gathering.
