David Korten Speaks in Salt Lake City, Draws Plans for New Sustainable Economy

About ten years ago, i read an article by David C. Korten. I was immediately taken by the scope, basis, detail and hopefulness of David Korten's work, so i sought out other writings by him. He had already published four books, the best known of which is When Corporations Rule the World, first published in 1996 and revised in 2001.

What appealed to me in Korten's work was the detail with which he addressed nearly all the issues that concerned and troubled me, and the skill with which he took unwieldy and complex circumstances and put them in perspective. He described my concerns better than i could, underpinning them with his substantial experience in business and economics. I am a sceptical critical reader and it is uncommon for me to read about economics, politics, environment and labor without finding reasons to mistrust and i was especially encouraged to identify no flaws in David's assessment of the problems he addressed. Even more, i was encouraged that he actually saw means by which we might overcome the soulless consumerism and economic prestidigitation that has dominated our era.

So, back in 2000, i worked with a handful of local progressive organizations such as the Salt Lake Vest Pocket Coalition and the Utah Green Party to bring David Korten to Salt Lake City for a series of talks. Since i was the catalyst for the visit, i spent quite a bit of time with David and though i've only seen him once since then, i feel proud to consider him a friend.

When i learned that David had a new book that brings his prescient thinking to the current debate about how to repair our deeply messed up economic system, i was eager to coordinate another presentation and signing for him, and so i'm quite happy that he will speak and sign copies of his 2009 book, Agenda for a New Economy here in our bookstore on Thursday, June 25th, at 7:00 p.m. The sub-title of this new work is From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth and the front cover boldly presents the topic: Why Wall Street Can't Be Fixed and How to Replace It.

I won't attempt to explain David's theories here but i want to add that it was his work that convinced me that there is absolutely no way to earn money without providing goods or services, unless you are exploiting someone else or the earth itself. Yup, it sounds pretty radical but considering the present state of economic and environmental affairs, the imperative time is now, or maybe yesterday. It's a damned shame that the world is so slow to change, but since we are now forced to reconsider nearly all of our beliefs about economics, it is comforting to know that David Korten has been analysing these complicated issues for many years and has already crafted theories that can enable us to transcend this era of inequality, environmental degradation, and a headlong rush toward lunatic disaster, driven by greed, legal theft and the moron notion that growth can be perpetually sustained.

Most of my heroes are dead. David Korten is one who is not, and i encourage everyone who is concerned about our cultures future to hear him speak and read his books. I especially hope persons in positions of influence will see the ethical basis of the the sensible promise of his ideas and help to make them reality. It will take a super-majority of citizens to overturn the system as we know it. But face it, we have worshiped hollow gods and they have duped us. As long as we merely hope to become members of the exploiting class, we are part of the problem. But if we can look ahead and take true measure of the things that make life worth living and the basis of a sustainable economic system we can emerge from this dark era and leave our children more than waste. I believe Korten can show us the way.

To learn more about his work, in addition to reading his books and hearing him speak you can visit his website, www.davidkorten.org.

I hope to see you here, next Thursday.

Bone