David C. Korten
Author, Lecturer, Engaged Citizen

Welcome to DavidKorten.org

 NEWS FLASH!!

Visit David Korten's new YES! Magazine Blog

Discussion Guide for Agenda for a New Economy

We humans are Creation's most daring experiment with reflective consciousness. This gift is the source of our distinctive capacity to choose our future as an intentional collective act. For some 5,000 years, we have demonstrated our ability to use this capacity foolishly at an enormous cost to ourselves and to other living beings. We must now take the step to a new level of species maturity and demonstrate our ability to act with collective wisdom and foresight. 

This weblog is my place to share my ongoing reflections on the nature of this challenge and report on my own attempts to contribute to its realization in my role as an active citizen.

The Path to a New Economy

New Economy perspectives
on current news & commentary

Don't miss the YES! web feature "Path to a New Economy." 

Homelessness and economic failure in America 

Obama on real wealth
3/17/2009

Too big to fail, is too big. 3/15/2009

NPR perpetuates phantom wealth fallacy 3/15/2009
For much of my adult life I have been embarked on a quest to understand the institutional sources of human dysfunction and map a pathway to positive change. Beginning with the launch of When Corporations Rule the World in 1995, my most widely read books have addressed the dysfunctions of a global economic system that values money more than life. For all the tragic pain created by the recent financial collapse, it is in the larger view a blessing as it demonstrates so conclusively that the economy we came to collectively worship as an engine of perpetual wealth creation was nothing more than an illusion based on massive fraud and self-deception. My most recent book, Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth exposes the truth and maps a path to a new real wealth economy. You can follow my New Economy blog on the YES! Magazine site. See also the ongoing YES! web feature "Path to a New Economy."
 
Much of my attention is currently focused on the New Economy Working Group, a partnership of the Institute for Policy Studies in DC (IPS), YES! magazine, the Business Alliance for Local Livinng Economies (BALLE), and the PCDForum. I am co-chair with John Cavanagh of IPS. We are developing a New Economy website intended to take the discussion of a transformative economic agenda to a new level. We hope to do an initial launch before the end of 2009. 
 

The Great Turning

The framework I find most useful in understanding the nature of the challenge before us is summarized in my article "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community" in the Summer 2006 issue of YES! and in my book of the same name. See also my web essay "The Great Turning: Epic Passage."  .

We can change the human course by changing the framing stories of our dominant culture. The prevailing Empire stories celebrate the individualism, violence and greed that express the pathologies of our collective human immaturity, while denying the potentials for community, love, and nurturing service that define our more mature human nature. The turning from Empire to Earth Community depends on changing these stories through conversations that make public the transformative inner wisdom we posses as individuals. Institutional change will follow naturally.

The companion website, Navigating the Great Turning, offers a rich source of ideas and resources for Great Turning Navigators who are working to turn the culture by changing its framing stories.

 

Featured Items

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Information

You can find all the usual author information on this website, including my calendar of speaking events, books currently in print, video links, recent articles and talks, biographical information, and organizational affiliations. My base organization is the People-Centered Development Forum, which is the legal home of the Great Turning Initiative. Personal Journey tells the story of the intellectual journey that informs my current work as author, lecturer, and engaged citizen.

Tools

If you are looking for tools to organize a Great Turning event, facilitate a Great Turning discussion or workshop , or want to know what others are doing to spread the Great Turning message you will likely find what you are looking for on the Great Turning website. For a broad range of tools and resources for getting involved in most any aspect of living Earth Community into being see the YES! magazine Action Resource Center.

If you are interested in a particular term take a look in the Glossary where you will find my decoding of key Empire words and some of the contributions of the Great Turning Initiative to developing a vocabulary for those who are charting a human course to a world that works for all. I regret that I cannot respond to individual questions or participate in individual dialogues, but you may find answers to your question in “Frequently Asked Questions." For inquiries my availability for speaking engagements or media interviews, please use the contact form.

Using This Site

This site is under continuing development. Use the syndication button on the left sidebar to receive notices when I post new content.

Unfortunately, abuse by automated spammers who breeched our sign on defense has forced me to disable the comment function. If you sign up for your periodic Great Turning Newsletter, be assured that your information will not be used for any other purpose and will not be shared with anyone without your express permission.

I hope you will find ideas and content on this website useful in advancing your work and understanding. Content that is not specifically attributed to someone else, is probably mine and you have my permission to reproduce and share it with proper attribution as you like. I believe that ideas are the common heritage of the species and should be freely shared in the ongoing process of deepening our collective knowledge and capacity. My work builds on the work of countless others, as I hope your work may build on mine. 

My thanks to Sam Rose and socialsynergyweb.com for technical support in creating 
this website and to Kevin Audleman for technical support in maintaining it. 11/24/09