On April 4, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Climate scientists warn that we are already perilously close to tipping points that could lead to cascading and irreversible climate impacts. But high emitting governments and corporations are not just turning a blind eye; they are adding fuel to the flames. They are choking our planet, based on their vested interests and historic investments in fossil fuels, when cheaper, renewable solutions provide green jobs, energy security, and greater price stability.”
We are no longer ruled by kings and queens, but we are not free of the top-down structures designed to enable their rule. Power now rests in the hands of global financiers who rule by their control of our access to money. They enjoy the support of economists who assure us that the lust for power through wealth is inherent to human nature, and that maximizing our individual financial return ultimately maximizes the well-being of everyone...
The deeply flawed economic theory that drives this disaster ignores or denies three foundational truths:
- Money has no intrinsic value. It will buy only that which is for sale. It will be useless on a dead Earth.
- Science now confirms what thoughtful humans have long recognized: Life exists only in communities of living beings that self-organize to create and maintain the conditions on which life depends. The Indigenous peoples of South Africa call it ubuntu: “I am because you are.”
- While we know from daily experience that there are demented souls among us who gain pleasure from harming other people, most people derive their greatest pleasure from caring for and sharing with others...
...We cannot expect our dominant institutions to lead us to the transformation on which a viable human future depends.
Change will come, and can only come from committed people mobilizing in common cause as a powerful social movement. Together, we can transform the institutions of global society to distribute power and organize from the bottom up...
...the continued deepening of humanity’s environmental, social and political crises has drawn ever more people to active engagement in one or more of the many elements of the essential human transformation. These forces are most visible in local communities that are committed to reducing dependence on fossil fuels; supporting local organic farms; forming unions and cooperatives; working for racial, gender, and religious justice; supporting local businesses; providing housing for the homeless; aiding refugees; assuring clean water and sanitation for everyone; and much more...
...The current failed system dehumanizes us all — including the rich — and threatens the future of all our children. Our viability as a species depends on reshaping our relationships with one another and Earth...
...The institutions responsible for the current crisis will not transform themselves. A redistribution of wealth and localization of power can only come through bottom-up initiatives...
...We will survive and thrive together, or we will perish together.
What we humans have created, we can change.
David Korten
Taken from here
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