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The Seeking a just, inclusive, and sustainable world that works for all
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LIVING ECONOMIES FOR A LIVING PLANETWalking away from Empire A PCDF Web Essayby David C. KortenPart I: IntroductionThe great work of humanity at this historic moment is to negotiate a transition from an Era of Empire to an Era of Community. Economic transformation from a global suicide economy to a planetary system of living economies is an essential centerpiece of this transition.
The publicly traded, limited liability corporation is the defining institution of a suicide economy driven to destroy life to make money for those who have money. It is by design an institution of domination and the champion of a materialistic consumer culture that has no evident place in healthy societies. Living systems are self-organizing, emergent, and predominantly cooperative. Transformative change in ecosystems commonly occurs through processes of succession and displacement that offer important insights into the processes of economic transformation toward the healthy, mature societies of the future. Humanity is experiencing a deep awakening of cultural and spiritual consciousness that opens the way to a conscious recreation of human culture and institutions. This awakening opens the way to human possibilities that the culture and institutions of Empire have long denied. The step to the cultural and institutional maturity of an Era of Community has become a human imperative. The living economies of the new era will be comprised of life serving living enterprises that function as communities of people engaged in the creation of meaningful livelihoods. Millions of life serving, community rooted for profit enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and public programs already exist as potential building blocks of living economies. Many are reaching out to one another, growing into being the webs of relationships of emergent living economies. This is a key to transformational change.
NEXT: Introduction See also The
Path to Living Economies
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