A Look At Freedom's Currents

A Look At Freedom's Currents
Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others. . .they send forth a ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Robert F. Kennedy

21st Century's Priority One

1) Implementation of: The Promise of New Energy Systems & Beyond Oil ___________________________________________ #1 Disolves the Problem of the ill designed "Corporism: The Systemic Disease that Destroys Civilization." through simple scientific common sense ___________________________________________ _________ Using grade school physics of both Newtonian and Nuclear models, does anyone foresee counter currents of sufficient size to minimize/change direction of the huge Tsunami roaring down on us, taking away not only our Freedom, but our Lives? Regardless if our salaries are dependant on us not knowing the inconvenient truths of reality (global warming, corporate rule, stagnant energy science) portrayed by the rare articles in the news media? I know only one - a free science, our window to Reality - that easily resolves the Foundational Problem of Quantum Physics and takes E=MC2 out of Kindergarten

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Energy and Human Evolution

 Energy and Human Evolution

A historical and scientific perspective of energy’s decisive bond to life

Terrorism Becomes insignificant Contrasted to the Deadly Massive Threats Limited Beliefs Will Impose on Life

The dangers of future designs and predictions born of limited concepts of energy cannot be overstated. That 21st century science is still stuck in oil and deadly amateurish nuclear concepts is incredible. Without access to advanced and decentralized energy systems, with their inherent double edge sword heralding in common sense, wisdom and understanding alongside their advanced scientific principles ushering in unparalleled new energy sources, the door to expanding freedom, prosperity, sustainability and survival is closed.








The Promise of Energy for Everyone A Power Point Introductory Presentation http://www.relaxspa.net/TheRadiusOfCurvature12-28-10PPShow2003.pps

Dieoff Concept: “But the exhaustion of fossil fuels, which supply three quarters of this energy, is not far off, and no other energy source is abundant and cheap enough to take their place. A collapse of the earth's human population cannot be more than a few years away. If there are survivors, they will not be able to carry on the cultural traditions of civilization, which require abundant, cheap energy. It is unlikely, however, that the species itself can long persist without the energy whose exploitation is so much a part of its modus Vivendi” Energy and Human Evolution by David Price 254 Carpenter Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

Dieoff Concept: “It is now being widely recognized that the human species is on the brink of massive changes as great as those resulting from the rise of industrialization, and perhaps even as great as the changes brought about by the development of food production. The interlocked problems of non-renewable resource depletion, accumulating industrial waste, biosphere degradation, and climate change lead both expert and lay observers to postulate drastic predictions about the foreseeable future. The events being predicted for the coming decades and next couple centuries are, by almost all current standards, extremely negative”. Anthropology: Real World Problems and Reflexivity Robert Daniels, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dieoff Concept: “Started in late 2008, The Zeitgeist Movement exists to address and overcome the lack of sustainability existing currently across the world and work to incorporate new methods and values before it is too late. In the view of The Movement, the world today has become very detached from the physical world, with techniques of production and distribution that have no relationship to the environment. Our use of a profit based, “growth” driven monetary system has become one of the greatest destroyers of the natural world, not to mention sustainable human values. The entire global economy requires “cyclical consumption” to operate, which means that money must constantly be circulating. Thus, new goods and services must be constantly introduced regardless of the state of the environment and actual human necessity. This "perpetual" approach has a fatal flaw, for resources as we know it are simply not infinite. Resources are finite and the Earth is essentially a closed system.”

Dieoff Concept: “By definition, energy "sources" must generate more energy than they consume; otherwise, they are "sinks". In 1972, the Club of Rome (COR) shocked the world with a study titled The Limits To Growth. Two main conclusions were reached by this study. The first suggests that if economic-development-as-we-know-it continues, society will run out of nonrenewable resources before the year 2072 with the most probable result being “a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity.” [[1]] The second conclusion of the study is that piecemeal approaches to solving individual problems will not be successful. For example, the COR authors arbitrarily double their estimates of the resource base and allow their model to project a new scenario based on this new higher level of resources. Collapse occurs in the new scenario because of pollution instead of resource depletion. The bottom line is traditional forms of economic development will end in less than 100 years – one way or another. The COR study has been much belittled but proof of the COR's thesis can readily be found in the real-world concept of “net energy” and that is the focus of this article.” ENERGETIC LIMITS TO GROWTH by Jay Hanson - Appeared in ENERGY Magazine, Spring, 1999



The old economy of greed and dominion is dying. A new economy of life and partnership is struggling to be born. The Outcome is ours to choose – David Korten

Energy and Human Evolution

by David Price 254 Carpenter Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
From Population and Environment: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
Volume 16, Number 4, March 1995, pp. 301-19 1995 Human Sciences Press, Inc. Is the global economy “net energy” constrained for many decades?

Life on Earth is driven by energy. Autotrophs take it from solar radiation and heterotrophs take it from autotrophs. Energy captured slowly by photosynthesis is stored up, and as denser reservoirs of energy have come into being over the course of Earth's history, heterotrophs that could use more energy evolved to exploit them, Homo sapiens is such a heterotroph; indeed, the ability to use energy extrasomatically (outside the body) enables human beings to use far more energy than any other heterotroph that has ever evolved. The control of fire and the exploitation of fossil fuels have made it possible for Homo sapiens to release, in a short time, vast amounts of energy that accumulated long before the species appeared.

By using extrasomatic energy to modify more and more of its environment to suit human needs, the human population effectively expanded its resource base so that for long periods it has exceeded contemporary requirements. This allowed an expansion of population similar to that of species introduced into extremely, propitious new habitats, such as rabbits in Australia or Japanese beetles in the United States. The world's present population of over 5.5 billion is sustained and continues to grow through the use of extrasomatic energy.

But the exhaustion of fossil fuels, which supply three quarters of this energy, is not far off, and no other energy source is abundant and cheap enough to take their place. A collapse of the earth's human population cannot be more than a few years away. If there are survivors, they will not be able to carry on the cultural traditions of civilization, which require abundant, cheap energy. It is unlikely, however, that the species itself can long persist without the energy whose exploitation is so much a part of its modus vivendi.

Where is Anthropology When You Need It?

Real World Problems and Reflexivity http://www.unc.edu/~rdaniels/papers/EASA/Daniels-EASA-Paper-Bib.doc

Robert Daniels, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Nothing human is alien to anthropology. Indeed, of the many disciplines that study our species, Homo sapiens, only anthropology seeks to understand the whole panorama--in geographic space and evolutionary time--of human existence. American Anthropology Association

Motivation

It is now being widely recognized that the human species is on the brink of massive changes as great as those resulting from the rise of industrialization, and perhaps even as great as the changes brought about by the development of food production. The interlocked problems of non-renewable resource depletion, accumulating industrial waste, biosphere degradation, and climate change lead both expert and lay observers to postulate drastic predictions about the foreseeable future. The events being predicted for the coming decades and next couple centuries are, by almost all current standards, extremely negative: e.g. the replacement of democratic civil society by authoritarian police states, the permanent collapse of electric power grids, resulting in the loss of all digitally encoded information, the collapse of industrialized food production and a "die off" of human population, etc.

Three times over the past several years I have offered a seminar course entitled "Anthropological Perspectives on the Energy Crisis." Anthropology (using the term in its inclusive American sense that seeks to combine human evolution, bioanthropology, archaeology, culture history, linguistics, and much more with social anthropology) is the social science that most fundamentally takes a global view, looks at the human species over the long (indeed evolutionary) scale, and has investigated the collapse of past civilizations with a comparative, multidisciplinary, cultural-ecological approach. The seminar examined the validity of the dire predictions of an energy shortage and climatic crisis. We also looked at various studies of the trajectories of past civilizations. And we searched for analyses in the social sciences, and particularly in anthropology, that might help us understand current processes and help us anticipate and prepare for the future. Surely, we asked, anthropological theory and research has something to contribute to these debates. In short, of what use is anthropology?

To date the results of this quest have been very slight. Rather than being centrally concerned with these issues, academic anthropology is largely silent, and seems about to be overwhelmed by the truly global transformations occurring among its own subjects and to be rendered irrelevant. This paper is my attempt to explain why I think the discipline is not dealing with the real world (and a plea to colleagues to save me from my ignorance if there are anthropologists who are addressing the crisis).

(The Zeitgeist assessment of current affairs is widely accurate, but chokes the range of future possibilities with our contemporary narrow energy definition)

The Zeitgeist Movement

exists as the communication and "Activist Arm" of an organization called The Venus Project. The Venus Project was started many decades ago by Social/Industrial Designer Jacque Fresco and his life's work has been to address and overcome the lack of sustainability existing currently across the world and work to incorporate new methods and values before it is too late. The basic pursuit of The Movement is to begin a transition into a new, sustainable social design called a “Resource-Based Economy”. This term was first coined by Jacque Fresco of the Venus Project and refers to an economic structure based exclusively on strategic resource management as the starting point for all decisions.

Basic Observations:
In the view of The Movement, the world today has become very detached from the physical world, with techniques of production and distribution that have no relationship to the environment. Our use of a profit based, “growth” driven monetary system has become one of the greatest destroyers of the natural world, not to mention sustainable human values. It is important to understand that the entire global economy requires “cyclical consumption” to operate, which means that money must constantly be circulating. Thus, new goods and services must be constantly introduced regardless of the state of the environment and actual human necessity. This "perpetual" approach has a fatal flaw, for resources as we know it are simply not infinite. Resources are finite and the Earth is essentially a closed system.
The true goal of any economy is to preserve - or "economize" - this is not occurring and cannot occur in a monetary driven system where labor for income requires consumer demand. We actually live in a global "anti-economy" by all rational standards.

Also, the intents inherent within a monetary system are counter progressive and derive a strategic edge from scarcity. This means that depleted resources are actually a positive thing for industry in the short term, for more money can be made off each respective unit. This is known as the basic law of supply & demand and hence “value” in economics. This creates a perverse reinforcement to ignore environmental problems and the negative consequences of scarcity, for it literally translates into profit. There is little intrinsic motivation to "solve" any problem or to make things that last in the current model. It is much more beneficial for jobs and hence profit to "service" things- not resolve them.

In other words, the system requires problems/constant consumer interest in order to work. The more people who have cancer in America, the better the economy due to expensive medical treatments. Needless to say, this generates an inherent disregard for human well being. The monetary arrangement, whether in the form of capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, free-market or the like, is utterly detached from natural resources and thus human well-being. It is erroneously assumed that the incentive to seek money is also the incentive to help society. Nothing could be further from the truth. For example, every single product created by a corporation today is immediately inferior by design, for the market requirement to cut creation costs in favor of lowering the output "purchase price" to maintain a competitive edge, automatically reduces the quality of any given item by default. In other words it is impossible to create the “strategically best”, long lasting anything in our society and this translates into, again, outrageous amounts of resource waste. This is entirely and provably unsustainable as a social system and the world you are beginning to see emerge around you, with growing starvation, poverty, unemployment; along with the growing scarcity of water, food and arable land, is the result.

In other words, it is time to update society to present day knowledge, taking the carrying capacity of the earth into account and realigning our methods based not on the reward of monetary gain..but the goal of social sustainability as a whole. This is the purpose of The Zeitgeist Movement- to create a global awareness to thus transition into a new, sustainable direction for humanity as a whole http://www.zeitgeistmovingforward.com/about-film/about

ENERGETIC LIMITS TO GROWTH

by Jay Hanson – www.dieoff.com
Appeared in ENERGY Magazine, Spring, 1999 PDF Version
By definition, energy "sources" must generate more energy than they consume; otherwise, they are "sinks".

In 1972, the Club of Rome (COR) shocked the world with a study titled The Limits To Growth. Two main conclusions were reached by this study. The first suggests that if economic-development-as-we-know-it continues, society will run out of nonrenewable resources before the year 2072 with the most probable result being “a rather sudden and uncontrollable decline in both population and industrial capacity.” [[1]] The second conclusion of the study is that piecemeal approaches to solving individual problems will not be successful. For example, the COR authors arbitrarily double their estimates of the resource base and allow their model to project a new scenario based on this new higher level of resources. Collapse occurs in the new scenario because of pollution instead of resource depletion. The bottom line is traditional forms of economic development will end in less than 100 years – one way or another. The COR study has been much belittled but proof of the COR's thesis can readily be found in the real-world concept of “net energy” and that is the focus of this article.

Net Energy: One seldom thinks about the energy that is utilized in systems that supply energy – such as oil-fired power plants. But energy is also utilized when exploring for fuel, building the machinery to mine the fuel, mining the fuel, building and operating the power plants, building power lines to transmit the energy, decommissioning the plants, and so on. The difference between the total energy input (i.e., the energy value of the sought after energy) minus all of the energy utilized to run an energy supply system equals the "net energy" (in other words, the net amount of energy actually available to society to do useful work).

We mine our minerals and fossil fuels from the Earth's crust. The deeper we dig, the greater the minimum energy requirements. Of course, the most concentrated and most accessible fuels and minerals are mined first; thereafter, more and more energy is required to mine and refine poorer and poorer quality resources. New technologies can, on a short-term basis, decrease energy costs, but neither technology nor “prices” can repeal the laws of thermodynamics:

** In the 1950s, oil producers discovered about fifty barrels of oil for every barrel invested in drilling and pumping. Today, the figure is only about five for one. Sometime around 2005, that figure will become one for one. Under that latter scenario, even if the price of oil reaches $500 a barrel, it wouldn't be logical to look for new oil in the US because it would consume more energy than it would recover. [[7]]

Decreasing net energy sets up a positive feedback loop: since oil is used directly or indirectly in everything, as the energy costs of oil increase, the energy costs of everything else increase too – including other forms of energy. For example, oil provides about 50% of the fuel used in coal extraction. [[8]]

Oil One of the most important characteristics of energy is its “quality”. Fuels come in varying qualities. For example, coal contains more energy per pound than wood, which makes coal more efficient to store and transport than wood. Oil has a higher energy content per unit weight and burns at a higher temperature than coal; it is easier to transport, and can be used in internal combustion engines. A diesel locomotive wastes only one-fifth the energy of a coal-powered steam engine to pull the same train. Oil’s many advantages provide 1.3 to 2.45 times more economic value per kilocalorie than coal. [[9]]

Oil is the highest quality energy we use, making up about 38 percent of the world energy supply. No other energy source equals oil’s intrinsic qualities of relative ease of extraction, transportability, versatility and cost. The qualities that enabled oil to take over from coal as the front-line energy source in the industrialized world in the middle of this century are as relevant today as they were then.

Unfortunately, forecasts about the abundance of oil are warped by inconsistent definitions of “reserves”. In truth, every year for the past two decades the industry has pumped more oil than it has discovered, and production will soon be unable to keep up with rising demand. For the last 50 years, many geologists and oil companies have published estimates of the total amount of crude oil that will ultimately be recovered from the Earth over all time. Remarkably, these assessments of EUR oil have varied little over the past half century [10] and global oil production is now expected to peak around 2005. [[11]]

The End of the Consumer Economy Although economists are trained to treat energy just like any other resource when it comes to “supply and demand”, it is manifestly not like any other resource. Net energy is the pre-condition for all other resources. The coming peak in global oil production signals the end of the consumer economy because nothing can replace conventional oil.

Money Is Not Energy Energy companies are in business to make money – not energy. For example, economic subsidies allow ethanol companies to waste energy while making a profit. Specifically, about 71% more energy is used to produce a gallon of ethanol than the energy contained in a gallon of ethanol. [[24]] Obviously, alternative energy technologies that require energy subsidies are only viable as long as we don't need them! From the standpoint of achieving society’s goal of a long-term solution to our energy problems, profit is simply the wrong objective for energy companies. Even without direct and indirect subsidies of $650 billion a year [[25]] it's conceivable that energy companies could make money – but lose energy – by burning one $10-barrel of oil today in order to pump one-half of a $50-barrel tomorrow. The price of oil is expected to rise sharply – and permanently – when global oil production peaks in less than ten years.

Economists Can't See It Coming "Energy" is defined as the capacity of a physical system to do work. Over a hundred years ago, scientists pointed out that energy – not money – is the true source of the capitalist's wealth:

Monday, September 05, 2011

Evolve or Perish – The Unifying Principle of Transformation

Continued from The Promise of Energy http://radiusofcurvature.wordpress.com/



Evolve or Perish – The Unifying Principle of Transformation

As I observe the continuously sideways and declining state of the economy of this once great nation, DePaul’s recommended reading book comes to mind, When Things Fall Apart, a preparatory introduction to the more extensive scope of George T. Land’s General Systems view Grow or Die: The Unifying Principle of Transformation (Paperback)



I personally feel we are at a stage where Nature’s Unifying Principle of Transformation will have to be considered for continued human survival and sustainability:
  • From the stalemate in the shallow definition and stagnant application of energy threatening the future of all life
  • To an economic model where multinational mergers have transformed into economically strangulating, bezerk nightmares of the dragon eating its own tail.
The dunce (& lethal) Stagnation Cap in the energy sector of 21st century science marvels have been sufficiently detailed in this blog and surmised on the following links:
This limited energy concept has been shown to be directly tied in to the impossibly bloated and unbalanced economic system.

Consider extrapolating the philosopher David Hume’s method, from the original corporate model, to current and future multinational corporate concepts, culminating with a few multinationals and investors who will soon own 98-99% of all the world’s wealth and resources required for human life.

It does not require much thought that “free market”, “unregulated”,” it’s all mine”, no longer fits the picture, no longer has the right, the license, to do as it pleases, with the current world’s population of seven billion lives resting on the whims of one or two lords and kings owning everything required for human life, whose only mandate is increasing the bottom (profit) line.

The job question also emerges, as surmised in the previous blog, (carrying Hume's concept outward) what will seven billion people do with no jobs?

Symptoms of Systemic disease - A world exploding in population and unmet needs demanding massive economic growth, we have instead: Unsustainable inequality in the USA and the world - The current standard model of Physics remains dangerously idle (1960's) - The major outcome of humanities work and labor, worldwide today, is ever-increasing debt - Corporations awesome, accelerating, obscene hoard of cash, profit and wealth - As 16 Million American Children now go hungry - As families continue to lose their homes, their home equity, their life savings in crooked, corrupted, unregulated, stock and hedge fund speculation - As retirement age stretches toward 110 with increasing productivity, decreasing pay, encroaching toward zero benefits for the majority workers - As State and local governments face bankruptcy in a sideways and declining economy with no jobs – While all adapt to the perils of global warming. As corporations continue to merge with employee reduction, controlling all resources and wealth, and technology continues to replace the worker – what will seven billion people do?



Clearly, the old economy of greed and dominion is dying. A new economy of life and partnership is struggling to be born. The Outcome is ours to choose – David Korten



In the Living Economics Forum, http://livingeconomiesforum.org/the-new-economy David Korten begins to probe the transformational survival elements lacking in our dated economic concept: “Imagine an economy in which life is valued more than money and power resides with ordinary people who care about one another, their community, and their natural environment. It is possible. It is happening. Millions of people are living it into being. Our common future hangs in the balance”

To Evolve or Perish – Nature’s Mandate, as subtitled in a new wordpress blog, The Promise of Energy http://radiusofcurvature.wordpress.com/, continues with a probe of possibilities when things begin to fall apart, signs from Nature signaling us to move toward a Unifying Principle.

George T. Land’s General Systems view Grow or Die: The Unifying Principle of Transformation (Paperback) prefaces:

“Evolution carries with it the message of extinction. If we isolate ourselves from the “system” of life; if we do not find a balance of trade with our environment, we face a future known in all of its frightening dimensions. We, as a culture, as a species even, will join with the other unfit systems of our world. The message is abundantly clear: Grow or Die, evolution or extension. It is in our hands, not just as governments or even cultures, but as humans.


The manifestations of Human Nature are forever in the process of becoming. As mutuality becomes the norm, we can expect to discover more of the richness of “human nature”. Rather than viewing a Human as a creature born perhaps good or evil or simply subject to environment, we shall be able to see human character as a result of the interwoven effects of the pruning or flowering of innate evolutionary growth urges. Humans can become the transdetermining agents of their own nature.”

For those who insist on clinging to traditional ways of looking at the world, change will continue to come so fast and in such unexpected forms that the future will no longer be a desirable place. But for those who are willing to move ahead with conscious awareness of the natural laws of change, the future offers unparalleled opportunity to reshape our lives, our organizations, and our world, into what we want.

Notes

Today`s change is not just more rapid, more complex, more turbulent, and more unpredictable. Today`s change is unlike any encountered before. The surprising fact is that change itself has changed! By looking to our greatest teacher, Mother Nature, we can understand the natural change process. The ceaseless process of change takes on unique characteristics at different points in time. The rules governing change shift dramatically and almost without notice. These "Breakpoint" shifts follow the same master pattern whether they occur within a single atom, one`s personal life, or an entire organization.

Transformation has become a popular, overused and misunderstood word in organizations in the twenty-first century. Hundreds of organizations hear the mandate for transformation. The mandate comes from Congress, the Pentagon, government agencies, the senior military, corporate executives or school Superintendents. Leaders and their organizations are compelled to respond to the mandate. They attempt to “talk the language” and take action in pursuit of transformation. Often the response, however, is a reaction, actions and mere incremental changes that are neither sustainable nor systematic. Unfortunately, few individuals understand transformation or why there is an imperative for transformation, not merely incremental or transitional change. Often, people confuse transformation with any kind of change, technology breakthrough, innovation, process improvement or transition. However, few changes are truly transformational.

Transformation. Transformation is what happens when people see the world through a new lens of knowledge and are able to create an infrastructure, never before envisioned, to the future. Transformation is motivated by survival, by the realization that everything needs to change or the organization will die; that a significant breakthrough in mindset is needed in order to pursue new opportunities.

We must transform, not merely change or improve if we are to create a viable future. It will take leadership with profound knowledge and courage to have the stamina and commitment that transformation requires. Transformation is not easy, but it is critical to the health of our families and global society. Transformation is not for the other person to do, but for every individual to take personal responsibility to help create new futures, to ask questions, to take risks, and to make a difference

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Prelude to Evolve or Perish – The Unifying Principle of Transformation

Idea Submitted to “Contract for the American Dream”:

Knowledge is Power. Remaining ignorant of far advanced and decentralized energy systems possessing unlimited potential - a major requirement for human survival - will prolong the application of yesterday's ineffective disconnected trivia hot air game show actions by all “good-willed” organizations attempting to improve the deteriorating state of economic affairs . These stale, scientifically uninformed action agendas have been, and continue to be, totally ignored by the Shapers of our Future.



This is a systemic disease, man-made, designed with the fatal flaws attributed to the Dark Ages of Lords and Serfs. In General Systems Theory terms, the concept of Grow or Die, the Door to Transformation, to Sustainable Survival, is nonexistent and unrecognized by today’s shallow, surface scratching, immediate profit gratification, childlike, I want it NOW, It’s all mine, priority economic goals.

Without access to advanced and decentralized energy systems, with its inherent double edge sword of heralding in common sense, wisdom and understanding, alongside its advanced scientific concept of infinite energy/resource  principles, the door to freedom and life is closed.

Symptoms of Systemic disease:
A world exploding in population and unmet needs demanding massive economic growth, we have instead:

Unsustainable inequality in the USA and the world - The current standard model of Physics remains dangerously idle (1960's) - The major outcome of humanities work and labor, worldwide today, is ever-increasing debt - Corporations awesome, accelerating, obscene hoard of cash, profit and wealth - As 16 Million American Children now go hungry too - As families continue to lose their homes, their home equity, their life savings in crooked, corrupted, unregulated, stock and hedge fund speculation - As retirement age stretches toward 110 with increasing productivity, decreasing pay, encroaching toward zero benefits for the majority workers - As State and local governments face bankruptcy in a sideways and declining economy with no jobs – While all adapt to the perils of global warming..........this is just the tip of the iceberg

David Korten:
Labor Day Harbringer "Where have all the jobs gone?http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/04/sunday/main20101490.shtml?tag=stack  
As corporations continue to merge with employee reduction, controlling all resources and wealth, and technology continues to replace the worker – what will seven billion people do?
http://possiblefuturesfilmcontest.org/film_24402363  http://planetforward.org/idea/looking-to-nature-for-a-new-take-on-energy

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community

http://livingeconomiesforum.org/great-turning-book
David Korten’s classic bestseller, When Corporations Rule the World, was one of the first books to articulate the destructive and oppressive nature of the global corporate economy. Now, ten years later, Korten shows that the problem runs deeper than corporate domination—with far greater consequences.
In The Great Turning, Korten argues that corporate consolidation of power is merely a contemporary manifestation of what he calls “Empire”: the organization of society by hierarchies of domination grounded in violent chauvinisms of race, gender, religion, nationality, language, and class. The result has been the same for 5,000 years, fortune for the few and misery for the many. Increasingly destructive of children, family, community, and nature, the way of Empire is leading to environmental and social collapse.
The Great Turning makes the case that we humans are a choice making species that at this defining moment faces both the opportunity and the imperative to choose our future as a conscious collective act. We can no longer deny the need nor delay our response. A mounting perfect economic storm is fast approaching. A convergence of climate change, peak oil, and the financial instability inherent in an unbalanced global trading system will bring an unraveling of the corporate-led global economy and a dramatic restructuring of every aspect of modern life.
We cannot avoid the unraveling. We can, however, turn a potentially terminal crisis into an epic opportunity to bring forth a new era of Earth Community grounded in the life-affirming cultural values shared by most all the world’s people and eloquently articulated in the Earth Charter.

The Great Turning in Bullet Points http://livingeconomiesforum.org/the-great-turning-in-bullet-points

Ten Common Sense Economic Truths http://livingeconomiesforum.org/ten-common-sense-economic-truths