David C. Korten

For many years, the world has been operating under a Story (or Narrative) that governs many aspects of daily life. It's all about money and markets, and it goes something like this: "Money equals happiness. Those who have a lot of money are to be admired and revered. Those who don't have a lot of money are just lazy or stupid. Slightly altering the 1980's bumper sticker: He Who Dies With the Most Money Wins. Nothing must be allowed to get in the way of economic growth, whether it's an show more increased level of air pollution, or an endangered animal whose forest habitat is about to be clearcut." Among the effects of such a Story are the near destruction of the American economy, and an income inequality gap the size of the Grand Canyon. Maybe the time has come for a new Story.

The author calls it a Sacred Life and Living Earth Story. It is designed to work in harmony with the Earth, and not treat this world like it's a dead rock for sale. The author calls for shifting employment away from activities that harm society to activities that help society. Unproductive financial speculation should be made unprofitable. In college, the focus should shift from pre-employment degree programs to facilitation of lifelong learning. Replace the business school curriculum of phantom-wealth economics with one of living-wealth economics. Get rid of the walls that isolate academic departments from each other and the walls that isolate formal learning from the living world. It is reasonable to say that these proposals have no chance of being adopted, given the current conditions in Washington. Don't all great social movements go through stages, from Impossible to Maybe to Inevitable?

The author does a great job diagnosing the present state of the world. His proposals for how to fix it are not exactly new, but they are still very thought-provoking. Perhaps it is time for a radical rethinking of our current impasse. This book is an excellent place to start. show less

For anyone who has doubts about how pervasive corporations are in global politics, this is a book you need to read. Korten published the original edition, which is the bulk of this 20 year anniversary edition, in 1995, but it is as fresh as it was then in unveiling the make-believe world of phantom wealth--money that is not based on any useful product or service. The mantra of continuous growth that, according to libertarian economic theory, will eventually lead to the end of poverty is a show more myth, and instead is more of a suicide economy which does not recognize the limitations that nature puts on us.

After fully outlining the death spiral we are inexorably heading toward as caused by the transnational corporations, which feel no responsibility to any community or person, Korten outlines what he calls a living economy. Such an economy is locally based, locally owned and responsive to community needs. It does not exploit nature beyond its limits, It is not based on growth of money, but rather on meeting the needs of society and respecting humans and nature. I am convinced, as is Korten, if we do not move more in the direction of market based living economies, instead of capital based exploitative practices, we may do irreparable harm to the earth and the people that inhabit it. It is easy to feel depressed about where we are and how far we have to go to even bring about modest change, but I think it is worth striving for. We do not have to let corporations rule the world, and if we band together and develop alternative market based, local systems, we might just have a chance. show less

Any reader of The Great Turning must remember one key fact: You're not reading this book because Korten is a noteworthy psychologist or theologian or anthropologist. Korten has some keen insights and his experience with international NGOs and in academia ensure that the telling of his vision is effective, grounded in reality, and at times inspiring. He finds great metaphors to convey concepts that otherwise might hover just above true comprehension. Korten not only defines and describes a show more new economy, he does so in ways that help you see that you never really thought logically about our contemporary system—even if you considered yourself knowledgeable in economics before.

Korten is right in that instituting his community-focused system would change everything—but he’s also right that our current system is inherently based on change and therefore everything will change anyway, so why not work to ensure that future changes are improvements and not just helping consolidate the power of the already powerful. In short, Korten is at his best when he stays focused on undoing the conventional wisdom he characterizes as “[Trusting] in the magic of the unregulated market to convert your unrestrained greed and self-indulgence into a better life for all.”

He reaches too far in his vision. His vision replaces an unsustainable global economy driven by conglomerates with a global sense of spirituality which is basically Gnostic garbage, often citing Borg and Fox—nothing new here, what he promotes has been commonplace theology since the dawn of Empires. It’s ironic, since Korten seems to really understand the importance of love and community but doesn’t seem to understand that the spiritual worldview he’s embracing won’t support his vision of loving local economies any better than the greed-centered worldview of crony capitalism. He equates love with tolerance, elevates the feminine above the masculine, and believes that knowledge is power. The economy he envisions requires love that doesn’t tolerate abuse of power, puts men and women on equal footings, and understands that wisdom comes from outside yourself and is marked by humility.

He gets tripped up on this last point because of his reliance on conventional psychological models which are essentially repackaged Gnosticism that encourages intelligent people to believe that they are at the top of a five-step scale of human development. Instead of recognizing that people are a mix of good and bad, he prefers models which basically categorize people as either enlightened or unenlightened—inherently belittling the humanity of children and mentally disabled.

Fortunately, the system Korten promotes would better serve the people his theological and psychological models would exclude. If his economic ideas start taking hold, hopefully theologians whose theology is better equipped to bolster his communities will have more of an impact on his thinking. show less

I was very very impressed by Korten's analysis of how capitalism has gone wrong, and how current law gives corporations goals that are bad for society as a whole. I was also very very impressed with his educated, well-thought-out, and creative solutions, such as changing the notion that corporations are in some senses legally "persons". What annoyed me, however, was the way he got from his analysis to his solutions, which was a new-age metaphor with ecology and evolution. Look, economics is show more not ecology, and having all of this crap in an otherwise fantastic book is going to make many potential supporters say, "just another tree-hugging wacko, ignore him"! As one of the most knowledgeable and articulate members of the anti-corporate movement, Korten has a responsibility to show to mainstream, non tree-hugging people, that his position is a moderate, sensible, reasoned solution, and is not associated with deep ecology, anti-technological movements, or socialism! The only way for us to win is to seem reasonable, to recruit people who want the material results of capitalism, and to avoid alienation at all costs! This book is two steps forward and one step back. show less