David C. Korten is cofounder and board chair of YES! Magazine, a prolific public intellectual, and cochair of the New Economy Working Group. This paperback expands upon the themes of many of his books and latest writings; it was prepared as a "Report to the Club of Rome."
We discover the meaning and purpose of our lives through shared cultural stories. When these narratives are wrong or ethically dangerous, we find ourselves heading for global catastrophe. According to Korten, the dominant Sacred Money and Markets story is controlled by corporations and money markets whose avarice creates poverty, unemployment, and a shabby enslavement to consumerism. Many men and women yearn for a story that is built upon a Living Economy, "a radical living democracy," and "an equitable sharing of wealth."
Korten believes that by changing the story we can change the future. But first comes the recognition of the Earth as a living being, our Sacred Mother. We must stop abusing the natural world and generate her long-term healing. We must vest power not in elites but in local households and ordinary people. These are the folk who have advanced the causes of racial and gender equality, environmental health, and peace.
Korten, as he has done so skillfully in the past, gives religious and spiritually independent people, along with progressives, marching orders for the days ahead!
