Tag Archives: great_turning

A Different Place

By David Laveman | Bio 

David Korten certainly seems to have a grasp of the timely and seemingly intractable problems we face and a platform from which to raise critical questions. I read his book “The Great Turning” shortly after it was published and I found it provocative in the best sense of the word, laying out in clear relief the choices in front of us. His recent posts on “Beyond the Bailout” on Serene Ambition and on the New Economy initiative on his website spurred me to begin a deeper inquiry, the highlights of which I’d like to share here. 

Although Korten’s analysis of the source of our current economic problems makes sense, I do not see much by way of articulating the real implementation trade-offs, conflicts and behavioral reactions that his ‘New Economy’ solution will trigger. For instance, even on a smaller scale we can see the enormous reaction that would take place if the government bails out homeowners who are being foreclosed and do nothing for those who are struggling to pay their mortgage

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The World We Want: The Power of Authentic Stories

By David Korten | Great Turning website

Read more posts in The World We Want series.

Profound social change takes place when an important cultural story changes—and the impetus to challenge imperial rule rarely comes from within the institutions of Empire. Democracy took hold when we replaced the story of the divine right of kings with the story that the powers of government derive from the will of the people. People of color and women won recognition of their full human rights only as the civil

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The World We Want: Why Now?

By David Korten | Great Turning website

Read more posts in The World We Want series.

Change begins with a new story that celebrates the best, rather than the worst, of what we are and can be. It’s pretty straightforward. If we convince ourselves that we are innately brutal, greedy beings and that this is all for the good, then we set ourselves a goal of perfecting our capacity for greed and violence, thus perpetuating the world of our nightmares.

It is time to start filling our heads instead with

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