A Great Turning

I went to a presentation. It was given by David Korten and it was about his new book The Great Turning. The whole bit was fantastic. It started with the usual critiques of contemporary culture... Big Business has too much money, Climate Change is Real, We spend too much on weapons, THIS IS STILL AN EMPIRE etc. But then, he presented a few ideas/reasons that we might change. It wasn't anything new, but afterwards I felt a little bit relieved. People are talking about this stuff, on a larger scale than me and my croonies.

Actually, this isn't even the first time I have witnessed this type of discussion. We talked about the empire and its perceptions of race in my African Lit class, we talk about the advancement of industrialisation and the dehumanizing side effects of technological diefication in art history, Eugene Druecky spoke about finding our place in this world, taking a stance for what we believe in and then working at those ideas for the rest of your life and I watched Bob Burkebile, an Architect, give a presentation to the Green Building industry about taking responsibility for the work one does and how this impending crisis is also the greatest opportunity that our species has ever been presented with.

All of these discussions tend towards an idea of this nature. We are approaching a threshold and the direction that we chose will be decided by my generation. Not that every generation hasn't felt this way, but it is the sense of urgency that is so pervasive that makes me wonder if now, it is more true than ever before. Either way most of these events are clearly dominated by a more elderly demographic and I guess I was just wondering what type of consideration is being given to these issues, in the younger crowd. I live in a bubble in the NorthNorthWestWest. I receive little exposure to my colleagues. Maybe this is happening everywhere. Maybe not. I hope so. I am also realistic...