In our monthly newsletters, David shares his thoughts and perspectives on the movement toward an Ecological Civilization – a world that works for all people and the living Earth. We hope you find the content thought-provoking and the short-form presentation useful for reflection, sharing, initiating important conversations, and taking action.
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October 2024 – Thank You, Donald
“We are in the midst of a profound reordering of politics in the United States” as we approach what may be the most consequential election in U.S. history. David shares his observations, contrasting the major political campaigns, and examines the role diversity, in every sense, plays in the search for political reforms that serve the rights and interests of everyone in a true democracy.
August 2024 – Equality: An Essential Requirement for Democracy, Peace and Earth Health
Tax the rich? A strategy that is long overdue. “To achieve…a true middle-class democracy in which everyone has enough, and we each have an equal voice in decision making, we must radically revise our tax codes and abandon economic policies grounded in neoliberal economic theory.”
June/July 2024 – Time of the Great Learning
The transformational advances in communication, understanding, and imagination during this brief period affirm that humans are a species with truly distinctive learning capacities. We are now called to actualize those capacities on behalf of one another, Earth, and creation’s continued unfolding.
May 2024 – The Essential Corporate Transition: From Imperial Shareholders to Community Stakeholders
The ever-more daunting barriers to a better future continue to trace to the abuses of power of transnational corporate monopolies. We are dealing with a corporate form designed to serve colonial extraction in the imperial era we must now put behind us.
April 2024 – For the Children
An objective of the people of any civilized nation should be to assure every person has access to the essentials of a healthy and meaningful life. The dedicated support of loving, caring trained professionals is essential, but supplemental to parental care. Both are essential to our quest to find our way to an Ecological Civilization.
March 2024 – SPECIAL: New Paper: Eco-nomics for an Ecological Civilization
This newsletter announces the release of David’s new paper, outlining a big picture conceptual and interdisciplinary framework for a new eco-nomics that recognizes our distinctive human nature and purpose as living beings born of and nurtured by a living Earth. It is dedicated to the love of life and calls us to bring forth a true civilization, an Ecological Civilization, grounded in the principles of the Earth Charter.
February 2024 – A Distinctive Species with Distinctive Responsibilities
In this newsletter, David reflects on his own life experience and the very distinctive nature of our human potential, purpose, and possibilities for coming together in an Ecological Civilization.
January 2024 – A Progressive Vision Grounded in Conservative Values
David was inspired to write January’s essay by a recent webinar hosted by the Deep Transformation Network (DTN), led by Jeremy Lent. The discussion focused on the Earth Charter, a global consensus document outlining the principles for an Ecological Civilization of care for Earth, equality, and peace, and featured Mary Evelyn Tucker, who was a member of the Earth Charter drafting committee, and Mirian Vilela, Executive Director of Earth Charter International.
December 2023 – Ecological Civilization: Naming and Creating the Future We Want
This newsletter includes the links to Nov 28 webinar, East-West Dialogue on Ecological Civilization and the scripts for David’s response to the questions that framed the conversation. David also elaborates on the role of the Earth Charter in framing the principles and actions that serve to move us toward the global transformation we so need. The naming and framing of an Ecological Civilization invites us to think and act from a holistic perspective to address the many interconnected issues of our time.
November 2023 (special) – You’re Invited! East-West Dialogue on Ecological Civilization
This special edition was sent as an invitation to participate in the November 28 webinar hosted by Earth Charter International. David joined three colleagues from China, South Korea, and the U.S. to define “ecological civilization,” explore the driving forces to get there, and share examples of what can be done to move forward. The recording is now available HERE…
October 2023 – How Philanthropists Can Make A Real Difference
What even serious philanthropists commonly miss, however, is that to have real impact they need to help with the transition from institutions that centralize power to institutions that support localization and sharing of power. Such decentralization requires leadership from those with influence within current institutions of power. David explores how and why the most obvious candidates for such leadership are philanthropists who are also successful corporate leaders.
September 2023 – Being More, Not Having More
In this newsletter, David shares his ever-deepening inquiry into how, in the context of how the prevailing conventional economics, that prioritizes consumption and growing financial assets, exacerbates inequality, and destroys the very systems that sustain life. Alternatively, an inquiry into many species of living organisms that self-organize to create and maintain conditions essential to their existence may offer alternatives.
August 2023 – The Great Wealth Illusion
David addresses the great wealth illusion that allows financial fraudsters to create imaginary financial assets to enrich themselves and impoverish the rest of us. “We are dealing with a corrupt financial system for which a substantial majority of current financial transactions are purely exploitative and best eliminated.”
July 2023 – Getting Our Purpose Right
This newsletter includes David’s reflections on – and links to – the June 17 world premiere of the film “For the Love of Life” Finding Our Way to an Ecological Civilization.” (See June Newsletter.) In his essay, David explores what we must do to get our purpose right, given that our defining institutions are transnational corporations dedicated to maximizing financial returns to the world’s richest owners.
June 2023 – You’re Invited! For the Love of Life: Finding Our Way to an Ecological Civilization
This special edition of our newsletter provides the information necessary to join us for the world premiere of the film, produced and directed by David’s long-time friend and colleague Audrey Kitagawa. Narrated by David himself, the film features a number of his long-time and new colleagues/collaborators and stunning video of the state of world and places where more loving, cooperative societies have existed for millenia or are now emerging. (Links to the recording of this session are included.)
May 2023 – Sharing and Caring for the Commons We All Inherited
Introducing the defining relevance of the commons as it applies to both human and non-human life and to the transition to an ecological civilization in relationship to equality and ownership in human systems is the topic of this newsletter essay.
April 2023 – The Special Importance of This Earth Day
To recognize the significance of this Earth Day and the human potential for bold and creative efforts to change direction for the benefit of life of Earth, David highlights the stories of two people who have been devoted to the cause – activist filmmaker Joshua Wright and former economic hitman John Perkins. “…we can create a future consistent with our true needs and nature only if we the people – all people – put extractive competition behind us.” We also feature the upcoming Celebrating Life series (May 2023) from Age Nation and a new book, The Progress Illusion, by David’s colleague, Jon D. Erickson. Read the newsletter here…
March 2023 – The Best Local Model for a Viable Human Future
David calls attention to the remarkable work of his long-time friend and colleague, Georgia Kelly, and the transformative achievements of the worker-owned network of businesses – the Mondragon Cooperatives – in Spain. For further consideration, we’ve included links to two noteworthy pieces – David’s recent conversation on the “Navigating Our Future” podcast with Larry Greene, and his paper, “Ecological Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence” – plus a short excerpt from Agenda for a New Economy relevant to the discussion of “ownership.” Read the newsletter here…
February 2023 – Let’s Ask the Right Questions
In this newsletter, prompted by a recent article in The New York Times related to population, David shares his thoughts on getting our questions right as we work to challenge the current narrative and ask, instead, what will lead to a better future for people and Earth. You’ll also find links to a video of a recent Work That Reconnects conversation with David and Della Duncan and to David’s special presentation recorded for Alternative Radio. Find it here…