Customer Reviews

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (BK Currents (Hardcover))

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have mixed feelings about this book. It is unquestionably a five-star work of reflection, integration, and focused moral intent. On the other hand, while it introduced a broad "earth-friendly" literature that I was *not* familiar with, it does not "see" a much broader literature that I have absorbed, and so I want to do two things with this review: feature the highlights from this book, and list a number of other works that support and expand on the author's reflections for the greater good of us all.

Early highlights include the continued relevance of Dennis Kucinich and the emerging value of the Case Foundation and Revolution Health as funded by Steve Case, founder of AOL. The author posits early on the choice we have been a great unraveling and a great turning. He describes all our institutions as failing at the same time that we have unlimited potential. He concludes, as have many others, that centralized authority is not working, and suggests that we must confront that which does not work and devise new constructive alternatives ("for every no there must be a yes").

In the middle of the book he describes the five levels of consciousness as magical, imperial, socialized, cultural, and spirirtual. I would have put socialized ahead of imperial, since the industrial era used schools to socialize us into both factory workers and conscripts for the armed forces. He concludes this section with a commentary on moral autism, which of course reminds us of nakedly amoral Dick Cheney.

The author moves toward a conclusion by pointing out that people are the new super-power, with the Internet and its many new features as the foundation for bringing people together and making people power effective.

A large portion of the middle section is a historical review of America, with its genocidal, slavery, and unilateral militant interventionist nature, and its extreme inequality now, which the literature on revolution clearly identifies (the latter, concentration of wealth) as a precurser to almost inevitable violent revolution).

The book ends with four strategic elements:

1) Awakening of cultural and spiritual consciousness
2) Resistance of the imperial empire's assault on children, families, communities, and nature
3) Form and connect communities of convergence
4) Build a majoritarian political base.

In parting notes he points out that the status of our children is the key indicator of our future, and that today one out of every two children is born into and lives into poverty (one reason why the High Level Threat Panel put poverty above infectuous disease and environmental degradation).

He ends by calling for local living economies at a human scale.

If you have the time to only read one book within the broad literatures of imagination, corporateism, and constructive prospects for the planet, this is probably that book. Below I want to a list quite a few that support this author's thesis, and for which I have provided a summative as well as an evaluative review within these Amazon pages:

The Corporation
WALMART-HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE (DVD/FF/FR-SP-SUB)
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions
Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids
Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency

See also:
Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth'
"The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past"
Imagine: What America Could Be in the 21st Century
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today's Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems
Deep Economy

There are many more should you wish to explore via my categorized lists, but the above both lend great credence to the author of this single book, and expand considerably on the reflections that he has distilled into this one book.

David C. Korten has done a wonderful job of exposing the five thousand year history of Empire building and social hierarchy around the world and it`s tragic trail of greed and control driven tyranny, but with special attention to the history of it in the U.S. and up to it's current form- corporate control and manipulation of society decimating sustainable economics, the environment- and ultimately, the health of our nation and the world.

Korten relates that the U.S. Constitution was a remarkable accomplishment for it's time and along with evolving amendments to include all citizens of it's benefits, on paper at least, it appeared as a grand experiment in democracy.

As Korten succinctly points out, however, every advancement in democracy and fairness has been fought against by corporate giants and the rich for selfish monopoly of the assets of our nation leaving us with a huge disparity in wealth between the relatively small numbers of elite rich in proportion to the larger numbers of middle class on down to the very poor. That there is a class structure at all is a sad commentary on equality, fairness, and our democracy.

Korten proffers that the Great Turning will gain momentum when we embrace the notion that "...a proper market economy operates with rules, borders, and equitable local ownership under the public oversight of democratically accountable governments." (p 15)

The Great Turning embraces the tenants of the Earth Charter in recognizing that this world is finite, resources are limited and need to be used in a sustainable/regenerative way with equal distribution for a healthy and harmonious existence for all of the world's citizens.

"Creating a mature society, however, requires leadership by people of a mature consciousness." (p 48). And this is the essence of the message Korten is disseminating, I believe. His Great Turning and Yes!Magazine websites have an abundance of info and resources on taking action and organizing local groups for dialogue on the Great Turning.

The Great Turning is a remarkable achievement and a monument to sustainable human conduct and relation with all other life forms and the environment that supports us all.

...and my expectations were high to begin with. I must confess to only being half way through it. However, it's kept me up late both nights since purchasing it. (I'm writing this at 1:36 am after staying up way past my bed time to read "just one more" chapter.)

The author makes history come alive for the reader. Although I have read numerous books on history over the decades, this is the first one that explains the positive feedback loop that has allowed Empire to emerge and persist for 5000 years so far, despite the immeasurable cost to humanity and the planet.

The author recommends that readers form discussion groups and provides some tools for facilitating discussion. If you'd like to join mine, come to my site's forum.

This will be one of the most important books you will ever read.

Drawing from a multiplicity of disciplines, The Great Turning identifies the consequences of empire and outlines a course for future corrective action. Korten leverages the work of numerous progressive thinkers and activists pulling their individual contributions together to guide the reader to his main thesis: a call for Earth Community. The well footnoted text leaves the reader with many opportunities to explore in depth the topics introduced from the fields of economics, history, psychology, theology, systems theory, biology, sociology and political science.

Recognizing the turbulence of the times we live in as an opportunity, rather than a harbinger of certain disaster, Korten underscores the importance of the choice before American society: Will this be the time of the Great Unraveling or the Great Turning? The Great Turning's emphasis on choice itself is a refreshing reminder, "The capacity to anticipate and choose our future is a defining characteristic of the human species. (p.26)"

Peeling back the layers of Empire's distortions and its socio-political trappings is the target of the first three sections of the book. The remaining two sections explore the realm beyond Empire: building Earth Community. Korten takes the position that developing parallel structures at the local level, in anticipation of the collapse of Empire, is the most effective way to rid ourselves of 5000 years of dominator culture.

Numerous relocalization efforts across the United States are presented as evidence of a grassroots Earth Community movement already underway. A complementary Great Turning website (thegreatturning.net) highlights local community initiatives as well as provides discussion guides for the book -- and The Great Turning will undoubtedly inspire discussion. It is an ambitious book and at times falls short of delivering on the solutions for the nascent movement it puts forward, but Korten makes clear that The Great Turning is an unfinished story, and asks the reader to contribute to its narrative.

The strength of the book is in its breadth and Korten's ability to connect the dots between diverse elements within our culture. Ultimately, The Great Turning is a call to action, alerting the reader to the necessity of participating in the birth of a life affirming plan for the benefit of our children and the future of the planet.

If we judge a book by its intention, The Great Turning gets five stars. The values that are expressed are timeless and honorable. Korten sets out to both diagnose and prescribe a cure for the past five thousand years of world history, "Empire" in his words. It is a laudable goal, but in the end the book leaves one feeling empty.

The points made in the book have been made before by others, and made better. There is nothing new between the covers, no discoveries, no new research, no original insight.
Besides its lack of novelty, the scholarship isn't here. Scientists will wince at the liberties taken, the so-called experts cited, the theories proffered. Historians will be equally puzzled at the high altitude fly-over of the past five thousand years. By encapsulating the past in such a compressed manner and writing about it in a kind of muted progressive cant, nuance and granulation are lost, and history is reduced to a caricature of itself. Lost in the sixteen page summary of world history from Mesopotamia to Columbus was the rise of all of the world's great religions, most of which arose during the Axial Age as detailed in Karen Armstrong's book, The Great Transformation, a time when people turned away from barbarity and violence in order to create very different societies and moral codes. Instead of a human past that is varied and storied, you get unsupported assertions like, "Social pathology became the norm as the god of death displaced the goddess of life..."

There are many such sweeping generalizations. He anthropomorphizes: "Life observes the classic laws...." He waxes: "Human survival is now in question because our most powerful institutions have elevated assumptions and theories to the status of proven fact," which is exactly what the author does and it is a disservice to science and the book.

There is a great need for literature that truly touches and reaches others on the issues expressed in this book. Korten does try to weave the numerous elements of how he imagines a social awakening into a cohesive whole. There are parts of the book that will provide new ways of looking at the past. And Korten is hopeful, no small feat in these times. But there is no metaphor, story, insight, humor, delight or "aha." There is no room for humanity to sing, dance and play. You agree with the concerns, much as you would at homilies in church, but there is no emotional moment for the reader. There are no quotes that will be passed around, perfect restatements of old truths that deliver something special and new. And just as importantly, there is no space or air for the reader. You are not invited to consider what might be true; you are told the truth. The people who are cited are his friends, and they are his associates, and they are the people who blurb the book, so that in the end this feels like a conversation between a small group of people who know each other. My guess is that people who already believe these pronouncements will laud the book, as it reinforces their views. But I do not believe it will reach a wider community because in the end, the book is too taken with itself and doesn't make room for the broader community it would like to reach. And that is a loss.

"The Great Turning" by David Korten provides a well-organized and articulate description of what is wrong with our present, domination-based political and economic system, along with an envisionment of a proposed, alternative world in which things will be organized in a more cooperative and sustainable manner. In so doing, it makes an immense contribution to the vocabulary and literature describing not only our present conundrum, but also the new civilization that we might hope to create in answer to the present one's discontents. Since there are few, if any, authors who have even attempted such an ambitious project, this book is certain to occupy a central place in future discussions regarding the present crisis.

The book's descriptions of what is wrong with the present system of domination are insightful, and its descriptions of the more cooperative world to which we might aspire are visionary. Korten articulates the world view of what he calls "Empire" vs. that of "Earth Community" as first-person narrative "creeds" for each, an approach that has great clarifying power. Illustrating these distillations is an overview of the historical interaction of Empire with Earth Community, showing the recurring features of each through the ages. This reads almost like Howard Zinn's classic "People's History of the United States," only expanded beyond the U.S. to fill the world stage. Note that this is not a comprehensive history of human civilization; it is a view focused specifically upon the two conflicting tendencies that define our present-day life-or-death crisis. There are many other perspectives possible: the development of technology, the evolving view of nature, the vision and role of art, the biological evolution of the species, and so on. Korten chooses his particular focus in order to frame and explain the monumental decision facing us in the present historical moment.

My main concern regarding this book has to do with its cursory, almost dismissive, treatment of the topic of coercive manipulation of movements by control systems. To all of the complex issues raised by this topic, it has but one response: non-violence. The non-violent approach is described in the book's section on strategy as follows:

"Metaphorically, the strategy might be thought of as a process of 'walking away from the king,' because it centers not on confronting the authority of the king, but on walking away--withdrawing the legitimacy and the life energy on which the king's power depends. Think of it as a conversation with the king along the following lines:

"'You have your game. It's called Empire. It may work for you, but it doesn't work for me. So I'm leaving to join with a few million others for whom the game of Empire isn't working either. We are creating a new game with new rules based on the values and principles of Earth Community. You are welcome to join us as a fellow citizen if you are willing to share your power and wealth and to play by the new rules.'"

Korton states clearly that Earth Community movements "must always adhere to the principles of non-violence...even in the face of violent police and military repression." His arguments for this are that it "underscores Earth Community's moral authority, draws attention to the illegitimacy of Empire, and breaks the cycle of violence." Unfortunately, none of these arguments proves that non-violence will actually work, in all cases, as a strategy for dealing with the coercive tactics used by control hierarchies to suppress Earth Community movements that threaten those systems.

This is no small matter. Non-violence is the only approach the book allows for dealing with the vast arsenal of collective and individual shock tactics at the disposal of Empire, from war to torture to economic disruption. If Korten's movements cannot overcome such coercion, then they cannot succeed. And yet, even though the success or failure of the book's proposed movements hangs upon that question of efficacy, there is no discussion or example of how a non-violent approach could deal with even a single instance of coercion.

It's not that non-violent strategy has no way of dealing with coercion; it does. It deals with it by developing such a strong collective identity that threats and rewards leveled by the control system at individual members have no significant effect on their determination to support the broader movement, even if those members are threatened with death. Because its individual members are committed enough to persevere despite such threatened consequences, the broader movement can continue to withhold its cooperation from the control system, without anyone getting scared off or bought off. Korten is no doubt describing such non-cooperation when he refers to "withdrawing the legitimacy and the life energy on which the king's power depends." The control system, being parasitic, will then, if it is rational, have to yield to the demands of the movement, because it cannot destroy the entire diverse and cooperative community upon which it depends without destroying itself.

I see three problems, however.

1) Not all control systems are rational, and not all control systems have an actual dependency upon the oppressed population.

An irrational or self-destructive system may not acknowledge its own dependence upon the underlying cooperative and diverse society that it exploits, and may therefore have fewer or no limits upon the destruction that it is willing to wreak upon that society in order to control it. Such systems will actively pursue the suicidal path of destroying the cooperative host organism upon which they depend in an attempt to control it, even in the face of a disciplined nonviolent refusal to cooperate.

In this situation, nonviolent movements for justice seem likely to lead to the equality of the grave. As author Naomi Klein has noted in a recent interview, belief in "The Rapture," in which all of the world is destroyed except for a chosen few, is the terminal psychological manifestation of such an elitism unto death. The prevalence of that belief among members of the Bush Administration and its supporters indicates that we may presently be encountering exactly that kind of implacable irrationality.

In other cases, the control system may actually not be critically dependent upon the population under attack. For example, the U.S. Prison Industrial Complex treats poor communities of color as "surplus" people suited only for filling up jails that it runs for a profit. In this situation, non-cooperation on the part of the oppressed has no effect on the oppressor, because the latter does not need the former to do anything other than sit in a cell, a requirement that can be directly and physically enforced, regardless of whether the victim "cooperates."

The successful non-violent movements of Gandhi and King were dealing with control systems which, while brutal, were not irrational or suicidal, and the control systems that they confronted were not able to destroy them with impunity.


2) There are approaches other than non-violence that have worked in some situations, and which have arguably fewer negative consequences than those that would be suffered using a non-violent approach. Korten seems to be rejecting these out of hand.

The book cites only two examples of successful non-violent movements, that of Gandhi and that of Martin Luther King. By contrast, there are quite a number of examples of movements that have moved us closer to Earth Community that were not grounded in non-violent principles. In Korten's own account of the U.S. Revolution, for example, he describes the military resistance of the colonists to British rule in laudatory terms, even though what the colonists did was the exact opposite of "walking away from the king." He sums up the U.S. revolutionary struggle as follows: "In the end, General Washington and his army expelled the British with the help of France, Spain and the Netherlands. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783. A rebellious people inspired by a vision of liberty gave birth to a new nation. It was a remarkable contribution to humanity's long journey beyond monarchy and theocracy, but it was only a beginning on the road to real democracy."

Why is violent resistance treated so positively for the U.S. revolution, but ruled out for present movements? It would be interesting to hear Korten's vision of how a non-violent colonial movement might have accomplished these same, or better, results. But the book does not analyze how and why repression works or does not work, the weaknesses that it plays upon, and what kinds of movements, non-violent or otherwise, have been successful in defeating it. Instead, it relies upon a mere reference to non-violent theory, leaving the proof of that theory to unspecified others who have already written on that topic. There is not even a reference to a specific work on how various forms of coercion can be overcome by non-violent methods.

Perhaps the absence of such an analysis is why the book does not list any contemporary examples of repression to match the kinds of historical examples (slavery, violent strikebreaking, etc.) to be found throughout the book. For instance, we do not find analysis of the struggle against the mass warehousing of men of color in an ever-expanding prison industrial complex, the environmental justice movement's struggle against toxic pollution that is concentrated in poor communities of color, movements opposing the repression of immigrants, indigenous peasant movements such as the Zapatistas, or other militant movements fighting oppression against great odds. What we do find is "creative social entrepreneurs" from the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies "linking local independent businesses, nonprofit organizations, and local governments in mature, locally rooted, life-serving economies with the potential to displace the rootless, opportunistic, money-driven, and ultimately suicidal corporate global economy."

Forming local economic networks is both admirable and essential, but the corporate control hierarchy is not going to simply "wither away" in the face of such multiple positive initiatives. And entire sections of the population are under attack right now. If non-violence is the answer, then we need an analysis of why and how it can work in the face of coercive manipulation by the opposing control systems, because those systems will not sit idly by while the ground is taken out from under them.


3) Korten has not discussed how a non-violent movement with the required collective consciousness and willingness to sacrifice is to be built.

When one considers the kinds of brutality that even rational control systems may impose, developing a non-violent movement's tolerance for punishment becomes a very serious matter.

Many of the manipulative methods employed by control hierarchies are specifically intended to stop individuals and movements from ever getting to the state where they assume the kind of collective identity and discipline that are required to carry out non-cooperation in the face of rewards and punishments intended to divert them from that purpose. Therefore, a reference to non-violence as a response to such methods raises the question of how we can create a movement with the sense of collective identity that is required to be able to remain cohesive in the face of such attacks on its members.

If non-violence is to be used, then it is necessary to analyze exactly what is required to make a movement willing and able to sustain the kinds of injuries that are bound to be inflicted in the course of taking a nonviolent approach against a violent adversary. Such injuries were a prominent part of both Gandhi's and King's one-sided nonviolence in their encounters with oppressive control systems.

This last point raises the issue of how the sense of identity of a movement's members is related to its willingness to sustain injury on behalf of a collective interest. Korten describes the present hold of Empire over our society as a "cultural trance," but does not describe the ways in which certain states of mind allow a control system's specific threats and rewards to cause people to sacrifice their true collective interest on behalf of the institutions of Empire, while other states of mind have the opposite effect.

The book elaborates a kind of Maslovian hierarchy of individual identity, but it does not describe the ways, or reasons, that some kinds of identity are susceptible to coercive manipulation, while others are more able to stand up to it. Specifically, the book describes five levels of consciousness: Magical, Imperial, Socialized, Cultural and Spiritual, with Magical consciousness involving propitiation of authority figures (the state of a person serving as a manipulated cog within a control system), Imperial consciousness being the thought process of those performing such manipulation, Socialized consciousness being a state that acknowledges dependency upon (and hence the need to adapt to) a larger group of which one is a member, Cultural consciousness being a state that values and tolerates other cultures for the sake of the diversity that they contribute rather than merely for the direct contributions that they make to one's personal well-being, and Spiritual consciousness being an overall awareness of diversity and cooperation interacting as the essential process creating all Being.

While these are helpful and meaningful distinctions, they are also descriptions of states of mind, of perspectives, rather than of active engagements in responding to and creating one's reality. Furthermore, they are the states of mind of *individuals*, not of *movements*, and so they lack an explicit collective aspect. That is, they reflect what an individual may personally value, which can include valuing collective entities, but they do not reflect the interactions of those individuals (e.g., as citizens) with their communities, nations, and so on.

How these states of mind are generated and maintained, how they interact with one another, and specifically, how the Imperial mindset is able to manipulate and maintain the Magical mindset, and how Spiritual consciousness might confer some immunity to such manipulation, are not explored in the book. For example, to me it appears that the Magical mindset could be manipulated by applying a credible mortal threat, because its egocentric perspective cannot model (imagine) the world without itself in it, and so a mortal threat undermines that model to such an extent that it cannot function, exposing the individual to the uninterpreted sensory inputs that characterize an infantile state (i.e., a state of terror), which is an immensely vulnerable condition. By contrast, the Spiritual mindset sees the individual as a finite element of a larger universe that will continue on without the individual once she or he is gone. Hence, the presence of a mortal threat does not undermine that mental model, and consequently a spiritually-oriented individual can function much more effectively in the face of a credible threat to its life.

Maslow, in his own hierarchy of mental states, emphasized that progress "upward" through his various states is heavily dependent upon the degree to which the material needs of a person are met, but Korten does not explore or discuss such a relationship between satisfying basic material needs and the ability of people to advance through the hierarchy described in his book. Since economic need is one of the main ways that people are manipulated by control systems, exploring that relationship (of ideology to material sufficiency) is essential to those aspects of strategy that attempt to insulate against such manipulation. This might lead to an approach involving networks of mutual support to ensure that the minimal material needs of all persons involved in a broad-based movement are met out of the movement's collective resources. A simple example of such an approach is the strike fund of a union. These are the kinds of strategic issues that need to be elaborated. Just to refer to non-violence by name does not explicate this content.

Philosophically, Korten's hierarchy of mental states implies an ethical metric in which spiritual motivation is preferable to the self-centered motivations of greed and fear. Starting from the co-related Magical and Imperial levels, which are narrowly focused upon the individual as such, the scope of identity moves outward to the increasingly more inclusive levels of one's own society (Socialized consciousness), other societies with which one's own society (but not necessarily one's self as an individual) has a relationship (Cultural consciousness), to the Spiritual level that encompasses the entirety of Existence.

The more narrowly-focused states are characterized by a lack of integrity that makes them more susceptible to manipulation by an external power (in the case of Magical consciousness), or to unilateral projections of their own power (in the case of Imperial consciousness) to capture needed resources (which undermine self-sufficiency) . The integrity of the person grows as more inclusive levels are reached until, at the Spiritual level, one has identified with the perfect integrity of Existence as a whole, an integrity which cannot be violated because there is nothing outside of Existence as a whole that might violate it, and no way that this singular Existence can be divided into anything other than itself. Ultimately, there is a relationship between such integrity within a community and the ability of an individual member of that community to resist manipulation (i.e., because it cares more about its larger context than about its self as such).

Another issue I have with the book is its preference for illustrative examples and stories at the expense of deeper analytical arguments. The stories are helpful, and are very well developed, but that does not mean that we should let them stand in place of a deeper analysis.

For example, Korten's hierachy of mental states implies an ethical metric valuing Spiritual consciousness more highly than, say, Magical or Imperial consciousness. However, the book does not make an explicit argument regarding *why* one such state is preferable to another. Similarly, it uses parables ("stories"), credos and envisionments to describe the present system and its alternatives, and strongly implies that its envisioned alternative of "Earth Community" is preferable to the present system of "Empire," but once again does not say exactly why this is so. While the desirability of what Korten calls Spiritual consciousness over what he calls Magical consciousness may seem obvious to many readers, we live in an age of moral relativism in which one view is as good as any other, and viewpoints can be changed like clothing to suit one's present needs and circumstances. Having a more fundamental ethical synopsis would help, because if we can answer the question of why certain outcomes are preferable, then we may be able to find the key to motivating people to pursue those outcomes. Stories, by contrast, illustrate "what" states are desired more than they describe "why" they are preferable, or "how" to accomplish them. This allows us to recognize the promised land when we see it, but does not provide a map of how we can travel there, or an argument regarding why it is better. Also, without such a metric, how can we know that we are making progress rather than regressing? Finally, once we are able to define the moral high ground, we may discover that it has pragmatic advantages that we can most effectively access when we have a specific abstract model of what that high ground is.

Korten has done a great job of deconstructing the stories of "Empire," and he seems to think that "Earth Community" advocates now need their own stories (which he has provided) to counterpose to those of the Right. But maybe the reason that the advocates of "Empire" resort to stories is because they have no underlying truths that would be acceptable if stated explicitly. By contrast, Earth Community's underlying truths should be resonant with the majority of people, and hence need not be presented solely as parables.

If I were to try my own hand at crafting such an ethical abstraction, I might describe Earth Community's general principles directly as follows: "Increase diversity and cooperation at every level of the hierarchy of inclusivity (e.g., family, community, nation, international community, biosphere) in which we hold membership, and when conflicts arise between doing this on one level vs. another, favor the more inclusive level (e.g., international community over nation) within which one has both knowledge and influence." Since Being itself is equivalent to diversity (i.e., total homogeneity equals total non-being), to pursue diversity can be shown to be simply a choice of Being over Non-Being, and there are few justifications more fundamental than that. As for cooperation, that is how distinct, diverse, bounded things come about - by the cooperative principle that unites their parts. So, cooperation must be pursued as a corollary to the pursuit of diversity. By contrast, the parasitic Empire's mode of operation reduces diversity by concentrating power in the hands of a few, and replaces cooperation with regimentation. Hence, when reduced to their fundamentals, Empire represents non-being, Earth Community represents Being, and it is not consistent for a living, breathing being to choose non-being, Q.E.D.

Another area that is not elaborated in this book is the transition from economic hierarchy to local economic control and bottom-up diversity and cooperation. This area also overlaps with the issue of how coercion impacts movements for change, because intermediate (e.g., reformist) economic forms must be able to resist such manipulation if they are to survive to become elements of a more lasting and systemic change to our social and economic structure.

Korten does express the concept of locally-rooted communities, but it is more of an urban planning concept (e.g., to save energy) than a means for managing the economy. And he does talk about "economic democracy," but only in terms of local ownership of homes and of businesses, not in terms of a model for cooperative decisionmaking. He talks about a "vibrant community life grounded in mutual trust, shared values and a sense of connection," but says nothing about how such a community will localize its economic and political decisionmaking. He says that "All people have a meaningful and dignified vocation that contributes to the well-being of the larger community," but says nothing about how more rewarding and empowering work, and work that is less so, will be allocated by the community itself among its various members. He says that "Intellectual life and scientific inquiry" will be dedicated to "life-serving technologies that address society's priority needs," but says nothing about how those priorities are to be democratically (and locally) determined.

Korten seems to realize that something is amiss, because at the end of this litany of desired outcomes, he writes: "The first time through, this list may read like a radical utopian fantasy, but only because it constrasts so starkly with our present experience." Actually, what makes this list seem utopian is the lack of a concrete envisionment of, and plan for, how these various desirable outcomes could actually be realized.

In considering the above issues, it is useful to view Korten's work in the light of that of two other authors: Naomi Klein, with her recent breakthrough analysis of economic and psychological coercion, "The Shock Doctrine," and Michael Albert, with the model for decentralized, democratic and cooperative economic decisionmaking presented in his many writings on "Participatory Economics" (also called PARECON). The work of Klein and Albert, in particular, complements "The Great Turning" by going in depth exactly where "The Great Turning" is brief. We need visionaries, and we need realists, and (aside from Vandana Shiva) it seems nearly impossible find them both in the same body, so it is important to hone the views of visionaries like Korten by considering how their proposed movements would respond to the tactics revealed by eye-widening exposes of capitalism's dark side such as those of Klein, and to concrete economic planning models such as those created by Albert, as well as to the daily problems encountered by grass roots activists organizing real movements on the ground. One planned conference that aims to create that kind of synergy is the "Building a New World" international conference [...] scheduled for this coming May.

In "The Shock Doctrine," Klein analyzes and explores the coercive methods employed by dominator hierarchies to enforce their top-down control. These could be used as starting points for an exploration of how the positive solutions developed in "The Great Turning" can be made resistant to the coercive attacks so aptly delineated in Klein's book. In "The Great Turning," the elitist bias of economist Milton Friedman's writing is analyzed and rejected, but since Friedman's writings do not acknowledge the coercion that has been routinely and necessarily employed to implement his economic program, an analysis of the writings per se will also not encounter that topic (which may be why it is not discussed in "The Great Turning"). That is why it is essential that "The Shock Doctrine" be read along with the Korten analysis, because the Klein book is focused upon exactly that issue.

While Naomi Klein's work has provided an essential additional piece of the puzzle, for each coercive method that it documents, it raises a parallel, unanswered question regarding how to resist such techniques. There are two related aspects to such questions: 1) how to evolve from the present hierarchical systems to the new systems that will replace them without the intermediate, transitional systems being shattered and divided by coercion, and 2) how to prevent the resurgence of hierarchy once a more cooperative system has been put into place. Korten's answer of "nonviolence" at least does not entirely ignore this question, but as noted above, more detail as to how and why this approach would work is required.

Although nonviolence may not be sufficient to prevail in all circumstances, the willingness of individuals and groups to face coercive harm narrowly focused upon them rather than yield to manipulation by betraying the broader community (which is also required for nonviolence) is still an essential part of any resistance (nonviolent or otherwise) to the coercive methods of dominator hierarchies. If a movement's goals are to replace dominator hierarchies with a cooperative, bottom-up system, then that kind of broadening of identity can be accompanied by a movement's active protection of its communities and individuals, without any fundamental contradiction arising between such a movement's methods and its goals.

In his work on PARECON, Michael Albert has answered some of the questions just cited regarding how to build robust movements in the face of repression. If Empire is defined as a top-down, hierarchical system, then it seems to me that its alternative will be a bottom-up system that emphasizes cooperative relationships between independent entities, each of which has its own unique, self-determined integrity and character, and that is the kind of system that Albert describes.

Regarding the question of how to keep diverse and cooperative alternatives from getting dragged back to a hierarchical mode, Michael Albert has pointed out that in the Argentine factory takeovers (which, perhaps not coincidentally, have been documented in Naomi Klein's film, "The Take"), despite the democratic decisionmaking implemented by workers restarting the idled Argentine factories themselves, pre-existing hierarchical relationships were preserved in the stratified work complexes, in which certain persons had more access to operational information, and more ability and time to launch initiatives, which ultimately discouraged the participation of others who had less enabling assignments. So, part of the problem of protecting new, more democratic and localized control over decisionmaking may be the difficulty of detecting and eliminating such vestigial elements of hierarchy (e.g., through the balanced job complexes proposed by Albert's Participatory Economics, or Parecon, approach). This involves an analysis of how the modality of hierarchical control has grown like a fungus into the flesh of our present economy and society, with an eye to rooting it out and replacing it with bottom-up, cooperative systems that are respectful of their individual members. This is the kind of detailed analysis that we need to make the vision of "The Great Turning" a reality.

Despite its omissions, "The Great Turning" provides important abstract views of the two defining tendencies of our present crisis. In so doing, it brings to the table one important piece of an overall solution to that challenge. However, its lack of transitional and structural detail, and its sparse practical treatment of the issue of coercive manipulation by control hierarchies, make it necessary to add perspectives from other sources to attain a more complete picture of how "The Great Turning" might actually occur.

In The Great Turning David Korten's basic optimism comes through, even as he weaves together the usual litany of post-modern ills, (such as climate change, resource depletion, and the failure of corporate capitalism), with the history of empire from the early chiefdoms to Mesopotamia and Egypt through Rome, Western Europe, and finally, the United States. In this recitation it is the synthesis that is remarkable more than the litany of ills and the history per se, both of which are familiar to educated people.
Korten's thesis is that at one time there was a matristic Earth Community, and that this primordial state was overtaken by what he names Empire in the generic form. This turning away from our most ancient ancestor's more ecologically sound lifeway has puzzled others before Korten. In Jared Diamond's 1987 essay The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race the precursor to Empire is explored in some depth. I have recently been wondering if the seed of the current global meltdown of the 20th and 21st centuries was somehow endemic to the human species. Korten's story of Empire goes far in filling this particular intellectual void.
Korten's analysis of the current situation is extremely cogent. He describes the `divide and conquer' tactics of the right wing corptocracy, which has been somewhat successful in turning a beleaguered middle class against the usual suspects, gays, people of color, and even Jews, when the true source of their economic and social distress are the plutocratic policies of the far right global capitalists that are the current rulers of Empire. These policies are represented as being democratic, but they are actually the antithesis of democracy. Korten rightly points out that ordinary Americans, whether they label themselves liberal or conservative, have the same basic desire for strong communities, healthy families and a clean environment. It is in the basic goodness of ordinary people that we may find hope for the necessary cultural transformation.
Korten is at his best when he moves into the possibility of global solutions to these ills.
In order for humankind to survive it must move out of the adolescence of Empire on a species level, and into the maturity of a new Earth Community. This change must take place on a cultural level before it takes place on an economic level and on an economic level before it occurs on a political level. The Great Turning requires all three. The true democracy involved in creating global civil society is one piece of the puzzle we must solve for the sake of the world. Reading Korten it seems possible.

I think this is the single most important book written so far for helping the average person to awaken to the larger issues and the fundamental decisions each of us is going to have to make during the early decades of the 21st century. It provides the conceptual tools and the historical and contemporary perspectives for embracing the great challenge of our time: to unite the people of North America and the world in the common task of saving ourselves and the planet from the destructive and pathological impacts of allowing the exploitive and competitive imperial culture of transnational corporations to dominate all aspects of mainstream thinking and life in our modern industrial and commercial societies.

In The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, David Korten writes about how the majority of people, who can be characterized as having a Socialized Consciousness, the "Good Citizens," will be faced with the choice of either following those with an Imperial Consciousness, the "Power Seekers," in building, supporting and participating in Empire, or of becoming inspired by those with a Cultural Consciousness, the "Cultural Creatives," and a Spiritual Consciousness, the "Spiritual Creatives," in developing, supporting and participating in Earth Community. Those with a Socialized Consciousness are the swing voters. They will move along whichever path - Empire or Earth Community - that appears to be most prominent or popular in the groups they identify with.

I found David Korten's eloquent presentation of the five orders of human consciousness - Magical, Imperial, Socialized, Cultural, and Spiritual - and his explanation of how these different levels of psychological development relate to the diverse ways people view and deal with ethical, social and political issues, to be extremely insightful and helpful for understanding why people have these different views and what we can do to assist each other to become more open to making positive changes in the way we organize our lives, our communities and our economies. I believe this analysis is a very effective approach for empowering the vast majority of people to live up to our greater potential to work for a mutually beneficial, respectful and creative life for everyone based on partnership, cooperation, celebration and sharing, rather than to live under the oppressive conditions, as well as the locally and globally devastating effects, of a social, political and economic arrangement based on domination, control, exploitation and greed.

The good news indicated in the book is that, according to public opinion polls, the values and ideals of most people in the United States of America (and likely Canada and many other countries as well) are already aligned with the democratic, social and ecological principles of Earth Community articulated in The Great Turning. We can mobilize a progressive political majority by changing the stories we tell, and that most people hear, from the Imperial versions of how best to achieve prosperity, security and meaning, to ones which are oriented toward the genuine opportunities and values inherent in the inclusive and integral ways of Earth Community. David Korten contrasts the Great Unraveling that will result from continued ignorance or acceptance of the sorrows of Empire, with the Great Turning that will take place if and when we, as an entire society, appreciate, embrace and contribute to the joys of Earth Community.

This book is a clarion call to progressives and conservatives alike to join together in the Great Work of moving from sickness and despair to health and hope for the survival, well-being and fulfillment of present and future generations of people and all life on Earth. What could be more important for us to dedicate our time, energy and attention to accomplishing than the healing, liberation and recovery of authentic human cultures and diverse, functional and vibrant bioregional communities? Please, read this book and find out for yourself what is possible and imperative for each of us to do in our rapidly changing world. Then tell everyone you know about it. Celebrate the choice for Earth Community and a sustainable, prosperous, democratic and equitable future!

Book Review:

The Great Turning, From Empire to Earth Community by David Korten
Kumarian Press & Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. (2006).

David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World, delivers a powerful argument that human beings possess the potential to create an Earth Community that sustains and enhances life for all species.

Between the covers of this book, Korten brings together the evidence for this potential transformation, setting it in an analysis of Empire - a 5,000 year model for organizing human communities that is presently threatening life's future on the planet. He describes being a part of a transitional generation that is realizing we are "one people sharing one destiny on one small planet."

Through his years working in international aid organizations, Korten observed the natural tendency is to centralize control to create order. In this model, those who make the decisions benefit most and local people grapple with the consequences. His premise is that the health of communities depends on its ability to set economic priorities and have control over its own economic resources. Local governance is more democratic than centralized control.

Korten contrasts two models for human organization, two stories about the nature of human beings that are part of a continuum of human potential, ranging from violence at one end to love and service at the other. The book argues for moving toward the positive end of our potential or else face the perilous future by clinging to an old model which results in violence toward people and the environment. This is our choice now.

The challenge is one that Korten sets in the context of changing the stories that we tell about ourselves. Are we selfish, greedy individuals for which a competitive model of governing ourselves is the only truth, or are we loving, cooperative human beings who recognize the good of the whole is the good of all? Korten maintains that since these are on a continuum, we need a new model - new story - that balances these two human tendencies.

For readers who may not have time or inclination to read from the progressive leaders writing about this transformative opportunity (economists, biologists, psychologists, political leaders, humanists and activists) Korten brings their works together, condensing the essential vision and experience of world leaders on the growing edge of a cultural and spiritual rising consciousness sweeping across the planet.

We are entering a period of great change as a result of forces of our own creation that are largely now beyond our control. We can shape a positive outcome if we "embrace the crisis as an opportunity to lift ourselves to a new level of species maturity and potential."

The two models of human organization are presented as based on two assumptions about our human nature:

Empire Earth Community
Life is hostile and competitive Life is supportive and cooperative
Humans are flawed and dangerous Humans have many possibilities
Order by dominator hierarchy Order through partnership
Compete or die Cooperate and live
Love power Love life
Defend the rights of the self Defend the rights of all
Masculine dominant Gender balanced

From Table 1.1: The choice p. 34

The Great Turning presents five levels of human consciousness, based on psychological and spiritual expertise, and illustrates how Empire is mired in the two lower levels of consciousness and represents an immature level of thinking. In order to grow to more mature levels of conscious living, we need a new story about ourselves that includes the entire continuum of our potentials. Korten presents several potential new stories but invites readers to actively participate in birthing the Earth Community story.

In the discussion, Korten reviews world history from the perspectives of feminist writers like Riane Eisler (Chalice and the Blade), illustrating how the top-down, patriarchal model of governing ourselves came into being, and what was lost from crushing the more egalitarian matriarchal model. He reminds us that patriarchy and matriarchy are not about men or women dominated models, but rather are two ends of the human continuum and balance between them is where we have to move to create a more sustainable human community.

He examines the "Athenian experiment" of democratic principles through Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, contrasting their vision of a good society working to bring out the human potential in all its members, with the later Enlightenment interpretation by Locke and Rousseau which upholds the rights of the individual, eclipsing the power of government over them. Korten invites us to reexamine the democratic dream and strike the balance.

In less than 400 pages, Korten integrates the best thinking and experience to date on creating a kinder, more creative and sustainable way of living on this blue planet. As an environmental educator, I most appreciated the metaphors from nature that biologists like Elizabet Sahtouris offer as models for the transition from an Empire model to an Earth Community model of governing ourselves.

This book is far from theoretical. Korten offers us a blueprint. He outlines steps we can take at cultural, economic, political and spiritual levels of society. He describes how people are creating this new future now and encourages readers to expand consciousness through conversations with colleagues, friends, neighbors and family about our human story. He suggests that readers organize discussion groups around the book as part of galvanizing an expanding awareness of our human potential to affect the future in positive ways that are free of fear and unlock everyone's creative talents.

The strong message is that we have a choice to make right now. The choice between these two futures is made by each of us every moment of the day. Korten reminds us "we are the ones we have been waiting for."

[...].

Korten writes like a man on fire with care. He has spent decades trying to empower local communities around the world as they face enormous challenges. And this has always involved trying to influence top-down, overly centralized organizations -- to serve their clients more than they serve their managers. That experience gives Korten a global view from the grassroots up. It also gives him a potent mixture of practical insight, real compassion, and sheer moral fury. Now, instead of tinkering with pyramid-shaped organizations to make them somewhat more effective, he tries challenging the whole set of assumptions behind our traditional order. He takes his best shot at a better, more compelling story of how we are changing and what we are putting behind us.

Like most big picture painters, Korten pulls together history, politics, science and spirituality. And in each of these fields he shows himself passionately insightful. I think the price of the book is worthwhile just for the myth-recasting reality-check on U.S. history. Many scholars, consultants, or religious leaders try to paint the big new picture. But Korten's particular experience gives him a pragmatism and universalism that is rarely seen. His vision of transition from an imperial-style system to a real earth community compliments Riane Eisler's vision, of change from cultures of domination to partnership. And his presentation could hardly be more clear or forceful.

-author of The Gardens of Their Dreams