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The Seeking a just, inclusive, and sustainable world that works for all
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**** | DOCUMENTS Living Wealth: Better Than Money. by David Korten, YES! magazine, Fall 2007 issue on "Stand Up to Corporate Power. Taming corporate power is essential, but insufficient to heal our relationships with one another and Earth. We need a new prosperity story that gives priority to investing in the living wealth of healthy children, families, and communities and recognizes the essential role of government in maintaining the essential conditions of socially efficient markets, in particular the need for an equitable distribution of income and ownership. Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Arnie Cooper interviews David Korten in The Sun magazine, September 2007 on "Putting An End to Global Competition." The story of how Korten came to write The Great Turning From Empire to Earth Community and his current thoughts on the path ahead. The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David Korten, YES! magazine, Summer 2006 issue on "5,000 Years of Empire." Humanity faces a choice between two contrasting models for organizing human affairs. How we choose will determine our future course. A summary of key themes from Korten's book of the same name. Imperial Politics, Christianity, and the True Jesus: Reflections on the 2004 Election. Remarks by David Korten in Dialogue with Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Rauschenbusch Center Annual Dinner, November 12, 2004, University Congregational Church, Seattle. With Follow-on Remarks at University Baptist Church Brunch. Examines the challenge facing mainstream Christians in the light of role of the Christian Right in electing an administration dedicated to policies in sharp conflict with moral teachings of Jesus, who opposed Empire and called his followers to create a world of peace and justice. Renewing the American Experiment: A Post-Election Reflection. Keynote presentation to the 2004 San Francisco Green Festival, November 7, 2004. The results of the 2004 U.S. elections give new clarity to the work of renewing the American Experiment. Lists essential elements of the Economic and Political Democracy agenda before us. Examines how the far right won the election by defining Kerry as a "wishy-washy liberal" and calls on progressives to speak clearly in the language of values and discuss the spiritual foundations of their activism. BALLE and the Renewal of the American Experiment. Closing keynote, 2nd Annual Conference of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), May 23, 2004, Philadelphia. In 1776 America's founders met in Philadelphia to articulate a vision of the possibility of self-rule by all people and initiated a great social experiment dedicated to its realization. As a nation we have made substantial progress toward realizing that vision through a long and difficult struggle by the people to whom it held out a great promise. As the policies of the current administration remind us, however, much work remains. We meet in this same city of Philadelphia to renew the vision and carry forward the work of economic transformation essential to its realization. The presentation explores what this means for BALLE. [HTML] Social Health: Time to Make New Choices. Interview with David C. Korten in Lilipoh: The spirit in life magazine. The interview explores themes Korten is developing in the new book he is presently writing addressing what is required for human societies to move beyond the self-limiting violence of 5,000 years of Empire. Renewing the American Experiment. Keynote address, Seattle Thunder, Seattle, WA, Saturday, January 24th, 2004. It is time to renew the unfinished American Experiment the create a democratic society grounded in principles of liberty, justice, and opportunity for all. The real political divide in America is not between conservatives and liberals, but rather between principled conservatives and principles liberals committed to the Experiment on one side and power seeking extremists from both ends of the political spectrum who seek to roll back the gains of the American Experiment at the other. Right wing extremists control the political discourse and agenda because they control the stories that answer our questions about prosperity, security, and meaning. To gain a foothold in the discourse, progressives must come up with more holistic and compelling stories. [HTML] [PDF] Renewing the American Experiment. A January 2004 working paper. Presents the thesis that those who have gained control of the U.S. political agenda to take the country in a direction deeply at odds with its founding ideals have done so in part by gaining control of the stories by which as a nation answer basic questions about how we find prosperity, security, and meaning in a deeply troubled world. The fact that more progressive and mainstream groups have generally failed to address and provide answers for these questions has placed them at a decided disadvantage. [HTML format] [PDF format] [Feedback and Commentary] End of Empire and the Step to Earth Community, Keynote presentation by David C. Korten to the Twenty-Fifth Prairie Festival, The Land Institute, Salina, Kansas, September 26-28, 2003. The transformation of an increasingly destructive corporate industrial agriculture is an essential foundation of the human step from a 5,000 year Era of Empire to a new Era of Earth Community. [PDF format] Global Economics, Environmental Integrity, and Justice: Reflections of an "Economic Missionary. Keynote presentation by David C. Korten to National Council of Churches Conference "Enough for All: Sustainable Living in a Global World, Seattle University, June 20-23, 2003. Seattle Peace Vigil, March 21, 2003. Following the initiation of the second Iraq war, citizens gathered in peace vigils across America and the world. This is a statement presented by David Korten to the vigil held in Seattle at the Federal Building on the second full day of the war. A Good Time to Speak for Change. Presentation by David Korten to the national conference of Responsible Wealth, Seattle, March 8, 2003. The extremist agenda of the present U.S. administration is driving a national and global political awakening and creating an unprecedented opportunity for deep change. Global Civil Society: The Path Ahead, with Nicanor Perlas and Vandana Shiva. This paper, which is now available in draft, builds on the foundation of the IFG report Alternatives to Economic Globalization to place the discourse on globalization in a larger historical context, update the IFG analysis and recommendations to address the implications of the consolidation of right-wing extremism post-September 11, and suggest a strategic framework for global civil society in the work ahead. Updates, revisions, and commentary will be posted as they are available. "Living Economies," Plenary Panel presentation to the Social Ventures Network annual Fall Conference, El Capitan Canyon, Santa Barbara, CA, October 10-13,2002. Outlines how the SVN living economies initiative takes business responsibility to a new level and places it in an evolutionary perspective of the critical choices now facing the human species between American empire and Earth democracy. "The New American Agriculture," Luncheon Presentation to the Annual Conference of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), Seattle, October 7, 2002. Contrasts dead agriculture and food with living agriculture and food. Discusses the centrality of the work of the CFSC to citizen efforts to create living economies and Earth democracy as alternatives to the global suicide economy and American empire. "From Empire to Earth Community," Seattle keynote presentation to the Earth Charter Community Summits 2002, September 28, 2002. Places the Earth Charter in the context of an epic struggle between the forces of empire and the forces of Earth community. Empire has reached the limits of the social and environmental tolerance of a finite planet. The Earth Charter sets forth a vision of Earth community the global civil society is living into being. A web cast of this and other 2002 Earth Charter Community Summit presentations is available at <www.earthchartersummits.org/WebCast.htm> "Economies for Life" by David C. Korten, YES! A Journal of Positive Futures, Fall 2002. This is the lead article for a landmark YES! issue on "Living Economies." Across America and throughout the world people are rising to the challenge of creating local living economies based on human-scale locally owned and accountable enterprises. This work is the key to democracy, equity, sustainability, and a better life for all. "A Perspective from Outside the Corporation" Ethix Bulletin interview with David C. Korten. Ethix Bulletin is written for top level corporate executives by a professor of business ethics and a former top executive of the Boeing corporation. The interview explores and tests the thesis that the institution of the publicly traded corporation bears major responsibility for downward social and environmental trends. "Revitalizing Democracy — Transforming Society" by David C. Korten. Keynote presentation to Revitalizing Democracy Conference, Duluth, July 28-30, 2002. Democracy in America has always been an unfinished project. The current right-wing assault on democracy in America places the entire project at risk. It also, however, creates a moment of opportunity to advance national awareness of the historic gap between American ideal and American reality and engage the work of reclaiming the initiative and advancing the project as an act of true patriotism. "Beyond the Global Suicide Economy" by David C. Korten. Keynote address to Global 6 Billion People's Summit, University of Calgary, June 22, 2002. Names three issues citizens groups will be addressing in Calgary that the G8 will not address: the threat of official terrorism, why growth is an agenda of the rich, and the need of African's for greater control of their own economies. Presents a strategy for replacing the global suicide economy with a planetary system of local living economies. PCDF Bulletin #3: Ideas and Resources at the Leading Edge of Change. March 22, 2002 Report and Reflections by David C. Korten. Observations on global civil society post September 11, 2002 examining the evolution from an alternatives movement to a confident emerging majority forging a new mainstream. Provides a preview of the IFG report on alternatives to economic globalization, an update on a U.S. initiative in support of local living economies, and comments on popular YES! magazine issues on nonviolent responses to terrorists violence and what it really means to be an American patriot. The Path to Living Economies, by Larry Brilliant, Edgar Cahn, Duane Elgin, Hazel Henderson, David Korten, Bernard Lietaer, Amory Lovins, Russell Means, Richard Perl, John Robbins, Elisabet Sahtouris, Michael Shuman and Judy Wicks. A collaborative working document on living economies to frame discussions on this theme at October 2001 meeting of the Social Ventures Network. "From the Love of Money to the Love of Life," by David C. Korten, September 29, 2001. Keynote Address to the First Annual Earth Charter Community Summits, Tampa, Florida, at the U.S. launch of the Earth Charter. The tragic events of September 11, 2001 bring into focus the choice for America and humanity between escalating violence and undertaking the Great Work of creating a world that works for the whole of life. The Earth Charter provides the framing values and principles for this work. "Living Economies for a Living Planet" by David C. Korten, July 2001. The corporate global economy is most accurately described as a suicide economy. It is destroying the foundations of its own existence and threatening the survival of the human species. Unfortunately, its mutually reinforcing cultural and institutional relationships render it virtually impervious to internal reform. This essay outlines a strategy for economic transformation based on a process of natural succession by which the suicide economy may be displaced by a healthy living economy, much as natural ecosystems evolve from colonization to maturity through the displacement of fast growing, competitive, and transient species by patient, cooperative, and settle species that learn to efficiently conserve and share the energy and materials on which they mutually depend. "A Story for Our Time" by David C. Korten, May 2001. Theologian Thomas Berry makes an eloquent case that the human crisis is rooted in old stories that are out of tune with our current reality and understanding. "A Story for Our Time" weaves together old and new stories of creation and the human experience to place the choices now facing humanity in their larger context. Reflections and an Interview on donor priorities and strategies. The growing citizen resistance to corporate globalization has attracted the attention of a number of grant making foundations. The Funders Network on Trade and Globalization held a briefing on corporate globalization on December 11 - 13, 2001 at the Tides Center in San Francisco, CA. David C. Korten was a presenter. The Environmental Grantmakers Association published "It's About Democracy," Korten's reflections on the meeting, in its quarterly newsletter, EGA Updates. Subsequently, Korten responded to questions from representatives of a private foundation regarding foundation funding strategies to address corporate globalization. "The World According to George Soros" by David C. Korten, Tikkun, March/April 2001, pp. 71-74. Review of George Soros, Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism, (Public Affairs, 2000). Summarizes Soros' excellent critique of financial capitalism, but argues that his solutions fall far short of his analysis and would serve largely to keep the world safe for financial speculators at the public expense."Creating a Post-Corporate World," Plenary presentation by David C. Korten to Bioneers, October 21, 2000, Marin Convention Center, California. Argues that the awakening of cultural consciousness is the necessary foundation from which a civil society may be created. "The Corporation" by David C. Korten reprinted from Marianne Williamson (ed.), Imagine: What America Could Be in the 21st Century. Two contrasting scenarios from 2050. In one a world of sharply contrasting class division lives under America's corporate world order. In the other a human planetary order has emerged. "Investing in Planetary Health and Human Survival," Keynote Address by David C. Korten to SRI in the Rockies Conference, October 5, 2000, Snow Mass Resort, Aspen, CO. Examines the deeper issues of social investing in a world of corporate rule, highlighting the conflict between the prudent person rule for institutional investors and needs of planetary health and human survival. "One World -- One Governance System: UN Yes! Bretton Woods No!" Presentation by David C. Korten at the IFG New York/ United Nations Summit Teach-In, September 5, 2000. A framework being developed as a proposal of the International Forum on Globalization for restructuring the institutions of global governance. "Civilizing Society," The Annual FEASTA Lecture presented by David C. Korten, Dublin, Ireland, July 4,2000. Humanity is living an old story out of step with both advanced scientific understanding and ancient religious wisdom. An awakening of cultural consciousness to a new story may provide the foundation for social transformation toward the creation of a truly civil society. "The Mindful Market Economy," Resurgence, No. 200, May/June 2000. Humanity faces the choice between a global economy or a planetary society. It is a question of whether money or life is to be our defining value. "For the Love of Life," by David C. Korten, Tikkun, January/February 2000. Explores how the "New Story" of creation, ala Thomas Berry, may translate into a new politics and a new economics. "Ending Corporate Claims to Human Rights," by David C. Korten, published in At Work Vol. 8, No. 3, May/June 1999. Corporations have gained more rights than people, eroding the ability of individuals to live freely, fully, and well. Offers six ideas for restoring human rights and dignity. "We Are the Capitalists. Resistance is Futile," by David C. Korten, Tikkun, Vol. 14, No. 4, May-June 1999. Review of Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, ( Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc., 1999). Friedman is perhaps the foremost spokesperson of the position that corporate globalization is both inevitable and universally beneficial. This review uses Friedman's own words to reveal his uncritical boosterism to be both ethically and intellectually challenged. "The Post-Corporate World," YES! A Journal of Positive Futures, Spring 1999, by David C. Korten. If we are to create economies that serve life rather than money we must base the design of our economic institutions on principles derived from the study of healthy living systems. The Difference Between Money and Wealth," Business Ethics, January/February 1999, by David C. Korten. How out of control speculation is destroying real wealth. "Life After Capitalism," Presentation made during speaking tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan Provinces in Canada, November 1998 by David C. Korten. The relationship of capitalism to the market and democracy is much like that of a cancer to the body. Capitalism is killing us. Democracy and a healthy market economy are the cure. This presentation is available on broadcast audio tape from Alternative Radio. "The Global Economy: Can It be Fixed?" Presentation to the Bellerive/GLOBE International Conference on Policing the Global Economy, Geneva, March 23-25, 1998, by David C. Korten. This conference was organized by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan to bring together leading proponents and critics of economic globalization. This paper presents a case for closing the WTO as an organization inherently at odds with the human and planetary interest.
Updated November 15, 2004 |