Author, Lecturer, Engaged Citizen
Welcome to DavidKorten.org
|
New Book Forthcoming Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth |
| Design for a New Economy Opportunity in a time of crisis |
| Historic National Event Enroll your faith institution |
| An Indigenous Perspective Conversation with Puanani Burgess |
| The World We Want Consumer Cooperatives Management Association Portland, June 2008 |
| Smart Security & the End of War |
| Finding Our Power in the Great Turning Joanna Macy and David Korten in a public conversation |
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Seattle Green Festival 2008
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| Only One Reason to Grant a Corporate Charter |
| Living Wealth: Better Than Money |
This site is my weblog or blog for sharing my current thoughts and reflections, as well as information on my schedule, current publications, and the personal history that informs my particular point of view. It is a companion to the Great Turning website, which provides an introduction to the Great Turning framework, resources for discussion, and stories of how others are using and contributing to these resources to advance a rapidly expanding national and global conversation on the work of creating a world that works for all.
Author Information
You can find all the usual author information on this website, including my calendar of speaking events, books currently in print, video links, recent articles and talks, biographical information, and organizational affiliations. My base organization is the People-Centered Development Forum, which is the legal home of the Great Turning Initiative. Personal Journey tells the story of the intellectual journey that informs my current work as author, lecturer, and engaged citizen.
Ideas
The most complete presentation of my current framework for understanding the epic choice we humans now face is my most recent book The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. The web page The Great Turning: Epic Passage summarizes the arguments, as does my article in the Summer 2006 issue of YES! magazine. Story Power sets forth the proposition that the key to changing the human course is to change the stories that frame the dominant culture. This idea is at the core of change strategy underlying my current work.My current focus is on the opportunity created by the Wall Street implosion to frame and build political support for a new economy agenda based on strengthening Main Street and building a new financial system devoted to serving Main Street needs.
If you are interested in a particular term take a look in the Glossary where you will find my decoding of key Empire words and some of the contributions of the Great Turning Initiative to developing a vocabulary for those who are charting a human course to a world that works for all. I regret that I cannot respond to individual questions, but you may find answers to your question in “Frequently Asked Questions”
Tools
If you are looking for tools to organize a Great Turning event, facilitate a Great Turning discussion or workshop , or want to know what others are doing to spread the Great Turning message you will likely find what you are looking for on the Great Turning website. For a broad range of tools and resources for getting involved in most any aspect of living Earth Community into being see the YES! magazine Action Resource Center.
Using This Site
This site is under continuing development. Use the syndication button on the left sidebar to receive notices when I post new content.
Most pages on this site invite your substantive comments. All constructive points of view are welcome. Spam and abusive comments will be removed. The site requires registration to comment solely to avoid abuse by automated spammers. Unless you choose to sign up for our periodic Great Turning Newsletter, your information will not be used for any purpose other than your access to this site and in no event will your e-mail address be shared without your express permission.
I hope you will find ideas and content on this website useful in advancing your work and understanding. Content that is not specifically attributed to someone else, is probably mine and you have my permission to reproduce and share it with proper attribution as you like. I believe that ideas are the common heritage of the species and should be freely shared in the ongoing process of deepening our collective knowledge and capacity as a species. My work builds on the work of countless others, as I hope your work may build on mine.
My thanks to Sam Rose and socialsynergyweb.com for technical support in creating
this website and to Kevin Audleman for technical support in maintaining it..
SOS?All over the world, satellite decipher the brain waves; the spirit of the electronic control; mental torture; study of the brain; secret trial!
The letter is very important, I hope you will be able to be translated into Chinese, it will shock the world!
Save me! came to see me!
All over the world there are hundreds of thousands of people claimed that their brains were controlling the government, in fact.
Many people in the world of human brain research project, but the secret experiment quite brutal. Test the spirit of the goods were destroyed. As "electronic concentration camp." Do not doubt us ------ because I was one of the two.
Save us! We are very sad ah! We want bright and Love.
Please do not inform the Chinese government. Otherwise, I would be very tragic. Prisons and psychiatric hospitals are hell. I was a little girl, weak and naive. I am afraid of the dark! Do not numb! Think about Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King.
SOS?All over the world, satellite decipher the brain waves; the spirit of the electronic control; mental torture; study of the brain; secret trial!
The letter is very important, I hope you will be able to be translated into Chinese, it will shock the world!
http://blog.sina.com.cn/guoruquansos
An Announcement to the Whole World by Chinese Victims
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,Dear UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon,UN Human Rights Council,UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL,The International Criminal Court
First of all,please permit us to introduce ourselves to you. We are some of the Chinese victims from dozens of regions and cities across China, who have been cruelly harassed ?tortured and persecuted in a covert way by the means of secret remote control on human body & brain. Among us, there are corporate employees,teachers,students, retirees and other intellectual workers and physical workers. Our suffering period ranges from several months till over 30 years.
Thanks to Internet that builds a bridge for us to know each other, and it is same sufferings bring us to work together.
A group of secret criminals who abuse their powers, arbitrarily use “the means of secret remote control on human body & brain”, illegally manipulate our bodies and brains covertly, and also cruelly torture and harass us psychologically and physically and persecute us days and nights so that a lot of victims live a very miserable and horrible life.
Secret criminals utilize the weapons of “secret remote control on human body & brain” and remotely influence us, and consequently our bodies suffer from “physiological diseases and physiological behaviors” caused artificially from their weapons such as aching, itching, coldness, hotness, trembling, unwell feeling and unhappiness, and so that our brains suffer harrassments and tortures from “acoasma and hallucination”. Besides, criminals do all they could to shamelessly steal and indecently spread our privacy in our brains in a abnormal psychology?and crazily do all they could to intimidate and humiliate victims. All these vices do a great harm us psychologically and physically. Therefore , some innocent victims was forced to hospitals especially for being forced to accept mental treatment, some innocent victims were forced to suicide because of intolerable secret tortures and insults, and others died of “strange fatal diseases” yielded by criminals secretly in a special trap.
Such secret crimes as the wide abuse of their powers, the illegal use of “the means of secret remote control on human body & brain” and illegal violation of fundamental human rights, have resulted horribly in atrocity or the unprecedented anti-human catastrophe of human rights technically. These crimes not only challenge severely Chinese constitution and laws, but also human conscience, the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is NOT permitted by all the human beings at all!
Owing to the above-mentioned cases, Chinese victims jointly lodged “a collective complaint to Chinese President Hu Jintao” (please see attachment 1) on 3rd Dec. 2007, and emailed it to the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, every ministries of the State Council, major news media and the legal community who we asked to deliver the complaints to Chinese President.
Subsequently, we jointly announced " An Open Letter to the Head of Chinese Secret Institution" on 5th May 2008.(Please see attachment 2)
Chinese Goverment has the undisputed responsibility to take an immediate investigation into the secret criminals who abuse their power, and to sternly punish them according to the clause of "the State respect and protect citizens'human rights" set out by Constitution of PRC China. However, unfortunately,so far we have not received any response on the issue.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN General Assembly passed and published Resolution 217A (III) on 10th December 1948) stipulates in the following relevant clauses that:
Article 3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6 Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 12 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 19 Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
China is one of the creators of the United Nations, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a member of UN Human Right Council and one of the signers of UN Covenant on Human Rights. Therefore, China should seriously observe and enforce the relevant rules of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At present, the quantity of victims are increasingly rising around the globe. Thousands of victims strongly demand for an investigation into the sinful Hi-tech crimes which covertly violate human rights worldwide. A large quantity of the stated facts reveal that these secret fascist criminals are the common enemies of all the human beings who use Hi-tech means to arbitrarily secretly violate human dignity and fundamental human rights. The crazy secret Hi-tech crimes heavily threat and violate the fundamental rights of human livings in the world.
Challenged by the unprecedented worldwide catastrophe of human rights and the severe crimes of damaging human beings, we urge an immediate actions in union and bravely fight against the gangs of secret fascist criminals! We must disclose the horrible crimes which are covertly damaging human beings, and put them into the Judge Courtroom in International Criminal Court!!
Journalist and elites worldwide have the responsibility to provide supports for victims, the lawyers worldwide have the responsibility to stand by and offer a legal aid to victims.UN Human Right Council has the responsibility to safeguard human rights and to protect thinking right, sleeping right, health right and living right of all the human beings. International Criminal Court at Hague has the responsibility to carry out an investigation into the crimes denounced by victims, and to charge these secret fascist,the criminals who severely violate fundamental human rights with the Hi-tech Crime and the Antihuman Crime through and according to the relevant legal proceedings.
We, Chinese victims, support resolutely the global campaign of " Ban the abuse and torture of secret MIND CONTROL/PSYCHOTRONIC WEAPONS/Remote Human manipulation" through our practical actions. We strongly appeal for the United Nations to immediately stop the abuse of the means of the secret remote control on human body & brain which are used to cruelly harass and torture and persecute covertly common citizens.
We strongly urge the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to do his solemn duty to protect fundamental human rights of the whole world, and hold a urgent international conference on the ban of abusing “the means of secret remote control on human body & brain" so as to protect the validity of the UN Charter and UN Declaration & Covenant on Human Rights. Also, we demand for European Commission for Human Right to immediately put Article 27 of A40005/1999 into practice.
We strongly urge global news media to stand out to support justice, and to take a deep careful investigation into the secret Hi-tech crimes, and to expose truly the sinful facts of secret fascist criminals to the global people.
We strongly urge global legal community to stand out to offer a legal aid to all the victims and support justice based on the UN Charter and UN Declaration & Covenant on Human Rights.
We strongly urge UN Human Right Council to take an urgent investigation into these secret fascist criminals who arbitrarily use “the means of secret remote control on human body & brain” which have been crazily violating fundamental human rights.
We strongly urge International Criminal Court to take an immediate investigation into our complaints, and to charge these secret fascist criminals who heavily violate fundamental human rights with the Hi-tech Crime and the Antihuman Crime, and to make a historic great contribution to guarantee the fundamental human rights of all the human beings!!
With best regards?
Yours truly
Chinese victims' signatures as follows?
Nanjing Xin Zhongqing
13776686557? zwt762000@yahoo.com.cn??http://blog.sina.com.cn/xdj88?
Yunnan Wang Ronghai 15008719951 baiyun024@vip.qq.com
Hunan Li Chunze 13435768567 myinno@126.com
Dandong Gao Xiaowei 13898510756 cwzpp@yahoo.cn
Shanghai Yu Rongjian 13120847702 ayeeyo1226669043@yahoo.com.cn
Xiangfan Yu Feng 13995768279 yunfan201@sina.com
Guilin Yi Shenglin 13978302663 yfsb987@sina.com
Beijing Zhang Lei 13691103510 zlvever@yahoo.cn
Hubei Liu Wei 13597878369 liuw71@163.com
Shanghai Yu Lingbo 13321981271 lingbo-yu@163.com
Shandong Qi Changling 15154602071 635602318@qq.com
Guangzhou Jiang Jin 13535358871 65141399@qq.com
Hunan Guo Ruquan 15974413876 guoruquan163@yahoo.com.cn
Jiangsu Sun Wei 13917698052 108322515@QQ.com
Sichuan Zheng Yun 13559949568 854195278@qq.com
Zhejiang Cao Shijie 0576-86814070 847654242@qq.com
Fujian Gan Zhiheng ?0596?2302076 gzhxwq.xwqgzh@yahoo.com.cn
Liaoning Shi Yu 0410-2828530 minamijie@163.com
Hebei Li Guanping 0310-2326981 ligp741212@163.com
Zhengzhou Zhao Feng 13903863768 zfhb369@yahoo.com.cn
Hunan Fan Li 13646218013 fan0769@yahoo.cn
Guangxi Qiu Yongjin 0778-2565332 qyjcvn@sina.com
Zhuhai Zhang Lu 15812708601 jamesroad9@sina.com
Yantai Sun Bo 15064528015 dcxq@tom.com
Anqing Zhou Lianhong 13685568645 372330036@163.com
Jiangxi Lai Qixing 13712207193 lgs369369@163.com
Zhumadian Yuan Yuan 13525333332 aney0011@yahoo.cn
Sicuan Chen Xiaoyi 15982732725 babyhl@vip.qq.com
Hubei Long Wei 13469765313 longwei_312657421@qq.com
Xuzhou Pei Weichuan 13033539006 105118758@qq.com
Heilongjiang sky 13634601784 928318548@qq.com
Nanning Huang Shanbing 843622736@qq.com
Germany Wenxiu Zhou +49 162 7550 955 zhouwenxiu@yahoo.com
Jingzhou Zhang Sihai 15927724461 739394881@qq.com.cn
Yichang Wang Yang 13307203797 972188722@qq.com
Qinhuangdao Ma Xinlan 13230383403 yunzhongyu546@163.com
Jiangxi Xiong Lu 0795-7032879/7585069 615806775@qq.com
Xuzhou Bai Lu 13685161290 bailu8585@sina.com
Fujian Lin Zhen 283704958@qq.com
Li Xuanwang tonyqq66@yahoo.cn
Kunming Ma Chao 18536361@qq.com
Anhui Peng Yishan 13275779355 pys624@126.com
Nanjing Chen Shiwei 13211355448 329588460@qq.com
Shanghai Liu Huamingzhi 13818051167 274735961@qq.com
Hubei Zhang Chengzhu 13545372812 793556424@qq.com
Hunan Zhu Zhuoxiong 13187326593 514546363@qq.com
Guizhou Xin Yu 865403168@qq.com
Hubei Ren Danting 13872825547 420663268@qq.com
Hebei Di Manqi zheduandechibang2008@yahoo.cn
Gilin Wang Iacing 13894726370 picture_window@hotmail.com
Fujian Chen Mei 0595-87058567 234824602@163.com
Shandong Li Ye 15315609081 329644250@qq.com
7th Sep.2008
my email: guoruquan163@yahoo.com.cn
David,
Just finished reading your article published in Tikkun magazine. Excellent, as always. I'm particularly glad to see that you have begun writing about the need for monetary reform. I have only recently become aware of this issue through Ellen Brown's writings.
I thought you might be interested in this blog entry from the Preservation Institute's Blog, which suggests that Obama is aware of economic sustainability issues: http://preservenet.blogspot.com/2008/08/obama-calls-for-paradigm-shift-i... This gives me some hope that perhaps radical reform is coming.
Keep up the great work!
Joe
Dear David,
Tonight I will read the final pages of The Great Turning - savoring them slowly. I am so grateful that you invested your time and intelligence to bring this book into existence (with Fran's loving support, I am sure). The clarity of your ideas legitimizes a foundation upon which many of us can stand to do our life's work of service facilitating the Great Turning.
While reading I noticed a repeated omission that I consider to be quite serious, and I want to offer one possible solution we can think about together, opening the door to further distinctions, if you like.
The omission is: How can I, as a person committed to The Great Turning, learn the specific relationship and communication soft skills and thoughtware needed for Earth Community when they have been systematically exterminated for 5000 years by Patriarchal Empire (e.g. in witch hunts, book burnings, and inquisitions, for example)? Where do I find them now? How do I get authentic support during the often painful process of recognizing and unlearning old habits while lowering my numbness bar, learning to feel, and bringing new listening and communication skills into my life?
In The Great Turning you fiercely and repeatedly explained to us the necessity of learning whole new ways of relationship:
Learning to relate to other humans is thus foundational both to ensuring our survival and to actualizing the possibilities of our humanity. Pg. 42
Creating a mature society, however, requires leadership by people of a mature consciousness. Pg. 48
Taking the step to maturity requires that we accept individual and collective responsibility of the shadow side of our human nature and set about to create a mutual support system, rather like a global Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that provides the emotional support required to move beyond our psychological dependence on domination and violence. Pg. 55
Relationships, not money, are the true measure of well-being. What matters most is our connection to and participation in the life of community. Pg. 300
The deeper and more mutually affirming our relationships, the richer and more distinctively human we become. Pg. 301
Responsible citizenship, cooperation, and nonviolent conflict resolution come naturally to emotionally and morally mature adults. Pg. 306
The goal, however, is not to swing to the extreme of domination by females, but rather to achieve a synthesis that brings the feminine and masculine tendencies into a healthy dynamic balance. Pg. 324
Again, relationships are the key [to Earth Community]. Pg. 307
The Great Turning happens through many individuals successfully implementing the thoughtware and soft skills of mature adult and archetypal relationship. This learning cannot be legislated! That is why I propose that you expand your support to make suggestions as to where and how such things can be learned.
This is the reason I sent you a copy of my book Radiant Joy Brilliant Love www.radiant-joy.com. It is a handbook based on over 30 years of research and experimenting with creating the adult relationships of Earth Community.
I propose that you share such resources with readers of The Great Turning so that when they are ready for taking their next educational step they have a further place to continue.
I also ask for your support of certain high-integrity responsibility seminars such as www.ExpandTheBox.com that are “bringing the perspective of the higher orders of human consciousness to bear as they create new cultural spaces that give people the freedom to experiment with cooperative relationships.” Pg 302
With support like these available, continuing the Great Turning adventure can be really fun!
All the best to you,
Clinton Callahan
www.callahan-academy.com
www.just-stop.org
www.radiant-joy.com
I am glad to find another enlightened and interlectural person with real alternatives. To further refine some of your proposed programs may I suggest that the transfer tax be universal to include all money transactions, legal or illigal. Also to encourage sound use of non-renewable resources, energy coupons could be used whereby the government decides how much non-renewable energy is needed for the year and each citizen is given their share and each transaction requiring that energy must be paid in dollars and coupons - very similar to WW11. This system would alleviate food stamps since the poor would get the same number of coupons and could sell their excess to people who require a lot of energy. All imports would be assessed the energy coupons. Another idea is to designate railways to be one way toll whereby any rolling stock can pay the toll and go non-stop between states. Thanks, Rod Rylander
You say "I believe that ideas are the common heritage of the species and should be freely shared in the ongoing process of deepening our collective knowledge and capacity as a species."
Then where are my comments from 11/8/08 saying that to save the earth all Nations need to build only Tower cities connected to Trains?
Dear David:
I find your writing very interesting. I am most interested in your own inner and outer process through the 'establishment'. I am curious when you realized that your values and beliefs were incongruent with the institutions you represented? From that point I am curious how you managed to navigate yourself in these institutions, how long you continued serving them and how (and if) you stay in partnership with them today.
I ask as someone who is recovering from the inherent mass propaganda and cultural brain wash I was born into, going from confusion, to enlightenment and then back to brain washed. Currently I am not enlightened nor confused but partnering with anyone who is interested in learning the tools of Self As Instrument. It seems my goals and destiny are to be in the stream of our modern world, trying to wake up and help others wake up. I believe that your personal journey would be valueable for both learning and role modeling. Thank you in advance for sharing your story.
Sincerely,
Dr. Anna Gomez
Arvind Patil
I see that David is going to be in Henderson, NC on April 17 - 19, 2009. I want to explore the possibility of his coming to Charlotte, NC after that for a speaking engagement on behlf of Piedmont Liberal Forum. We are a non-profit organization that seeks to bring well known speakers on socio-economic, spiritual , cultural and scientific topics to Charlotte area. So far we have organized talks by Bill Schultz of Amnesty International, Eugenie Scott, Sister Prejean and Father Coyne, to name the few.
What are the chances of having David come here after his engagement in Henderson NC? We are only 3-4 hours drive from there. How much will it cost us? Who is the contact person that we can get in touch with to continue further discussions on this topic?.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Arvind Patil, Ph.D.
VP-Technology
Ricura Corporation
11515 Vanstory Dr., Suite 135
Huntersville, NC 28078
Ph-704-875-0366 X 102
arvind.patil@ricura.com
Hello David Korten,
My name is andrew lord. I wrote a song for the great turning, as well as a recorded a video message to you, explaining my story about the biomimetics of the great turning, a story I call the Science of Proactive Peace Production. I hope you can find the time to watch. You can find both the song and your message on youtube. The message is called dear david korten, and the song is called the great turning.
Have a beautiful day!
a-
Andrew: I took a look at the video. Have you recorded the song for the Great Turning? I didn't see any reference to it in the video.
David Korten
Thank you very much David! The song is called The Great Turning, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yknaoxWYIc. I also have many other songs on youtube about proactive social change at (andrewlutherlord) Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my work. My email is, proactivepeace@yahoo.com. Any pointers would be great. I am working on a short book, and now that I have actually contacted you, I better get my butt in gear and get at least a rough draft finished. My first real goal is to do everything i can go create a "human Identity system". I am very tired of being the property of the u.s.a., and know that it is my human right to be a global citizen, and not owned by the nation state. I am currently staying in malaysia, teaching scuba diving. I am trying to save enough money to be able to go to Den Haag, to the Peace Palace, to try to find someone at the international court of justice to help me with a legal case. I know that it is a violation of my human rights to be owned by nationalism, as I am a human, and therefore, I have equal ownership with others of nationalism, and therefore, denying my right to a human identity is mental and physical slavery, and the Dec. of Human Rights has made slavery illegal, at least in theory. I know i have legal and ethical grounds for a human identity, independent of nationalism, i just have not figured out who to talk to, and how to get it done. You are the only person I can find who speaks openly about the need to imporve this failing system. I just get the same old "utopia" devils advocate story from everyone I talk to. If you have any advise for me, I am in need of it. I would also like to send you my CV and letters of reference, so that you can better what kind of experience i have.
Have a super day, and again, thank you so much for taking the time to look at my work. I have read and watched as much of your work as I have been able to get during my travels, and know that, though my work is rough, I have to start somewhere, and your work keeps my confidence fueled. I know that the UN drew the lines over the world within one year, and put a bunch of people in charge. Change to a better system can happen just as fast, even this year. When we landed on the moon, fiction became reality in the minds of everyone on the planet in one day, and the reality of a new, higher quality social system can go from fiction to reality just as fast. It only takes one news report, from all of the top scientists in the world, to prove that nationalism is nothing more than a failed experiment, and that there is a new, better science, already created, for all of us to use.
The top scientists just have to get together, and say it. "Breaking news!! A new, better social system has been invented to replace nationalism! Once which works to create social equality for all. We all just need to begin using it! Everyone, wake up!! It is scientific fact, it has been proven that humans are actually a cooperative species!!! Healthy competition has been Disproven!!! Just as the world is not Flat, Humans are not competitive, we have just been using the wrong social system!! Breaking News!! Everyone wake up, holster your guns, go into the streets, stop fighting for nationalism, it is not real, it has been disproven!! Today we can change!!!
It is pure neglegence for social scientists to continue the argument about the possibility that humans are genetically bad. This line of thinking only makes genocide ok, because if there is a possibility humans are bad, then then only solution is to kill or imprison the bad ones. The top scientists just need to wake up, go to the news paper, print in the scientific journals, that it is now proven, since human cells are cooperative, then humans are obviously genetically cooperative, and are just choosing to use a competitive social system, one which is completely opposite of true human nature.
Anyway, have a great day!!
a-
Dear David
I work for the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz California, a local peace and justice center. We frequetly bring in speakers. Could you give me an estimate of your speaking fee. I notice you will be in the Bay Area from time to time and maybe 2009 would be a good time for you to visit. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Barbara Hayes
barbara@greybird.com
Resource Center for Nonviolence
515 Broadway, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-423-1626
David K. - It was a true pleasure to have met you at the BALLE conference in Boston last month. I appreciate that we had a chance to talk for a bit and I have continued to wrestle with the ideas we discussed. From our discussion, I followed your suggestion that I read "The Great Turning." I am about half-way through and I have a question for you regarding the relationship between equity and sustainability.
In TGT, you write near the end of Chapter 3, ". . . equity becomes an essential condition of a healthy, sustainable society in a full world . . ." I agree intuitively (and on principle) to that statement. But I am hoping you can refer me to some materials that flesh out the logic that leads one to our shared conclusion. I am also interested in the extent to which that statement applies to one or both of the following: that equity is a condition needed to make the Great Turning itself, and/or if equity is a condition that, as an outcome, will inform us that Great Turning efforts are succeeding.
And finally, if we take equity to mean "economic equity," I am also curious to know your opinion on the extent to which the purpose of seeking equity is to ensure, as you write on the same page, that "all persons have an adequate and meaningful means of making a living for themselves and their families," and/or that through the achievement of equity (however measured/defined), there will simply be less of a chance for too much wealth to be under the control of too few.
Thanks in advance for your time and any documents you may send me in responding to my questions.
All the best to you,
-- Jonathan Kevles
Jonathan: Good question. I plan to do a Frequent Questions piece on it when I find the time. Beyond issues of justice, there are a number of reasons why equity is essential. Basically In a world in which we are already consuming well beyond what the planet will sustain, equity is essential to meeting everyone's needs. Extreme inequality without hope for redress results in social breakdown and violence --- exactly as we are experiencing. There is also a growing body of evidence that the societies that are highest on both health and happiness indicators are those that are most egalitarian. I just returned from a conference in Australia on this specific subject. I'll try to do something more on this with references in the near future as it is a fascinating subject that goes to the core of the necessary agenda for the turning.
David Korten
Michael Kinsley has posted a piece on the Huffington Post (6/26/08) asking for input and new ideas for new economic systems. Wanted to inform you in case you're interested. His article/blog provides details.
E
Thanks for the heads up. I'll take a look. My ideas for a new economic system are pretty well covered in my books and YES! magazine articles. More current reflections are pretty well covered on this website. David Korten
Dear David
I have long admired you and your work that relates so fundamentally to the Forum for Stable Currencies that I've been organising at the House of Lords in London.
Once upon a time, I even put one of your fundamental articles "The ABC of Financial Capitalism" on my old website www.monies.cc
http://www.monies.cc/forum/actions/submission/the_abc.htm
As I'm gathering blog speed, I've also learned to edit Wikipedia pages and am now in conversation with an editor of "Wikisource" who needs reassurance that any documents are free of copyright restrictions.
Can you possibly let me have an email to the effect that you're ok with my efforts to publicise our thinking and analysis?
With many thanks in advance,
yours in the spirit of citizen engagement,
Sabine
Organiser, Forum for Stable Currencies
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