Newsletter / May 6, 2026
by David Korten
We are rapidly dismantling the living systems on which our future depends—forests that regulate climate, wetlands that filter water, grasslands that sustain biodiversity, and migration corridors that keep ecosystems whole. These losses are undermining water security, food systems, and climate […]
Newsletter / March 23, 2026
by David Korten
Efforts to advance progressive taxation are gaining renewed visibility in response to accelerating wealth concentration, even as political resistance remains strong. In the United States, proposals such as a 5% annual tax on billionaires’ wealth—targeting roughly 900 individuals—aim to directly […]
Newsletter from David Korten / February 2, 2026
Dear Friends,
We have just posted the third in a trilogy of strategic briefs on humanity’s transition to an Ecological Civilization. The first, Ecological Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence (2021), focuses on why a global civilizational transformation of human society is essential. The second, Eco-nomics for an […]
December 18, 2025
Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter! We welcome your feedback and comments at e-news@davidkorten.org. This special Noteworthy edition of our newsletter is a collection of important and timely works we highly recommend. As always, please share with friends and colleagues, and initiate conversations […]
DAVID KORTEN | November 25, 2025
A defining issue of our time is not merely who controls the creation of money; it is for whose benefit they create it. When money is created by private banks for the primary benefit of the few, […]
by David Korten/October 28, 2025
In Part I of this two-part series, I examined the conflict at the heart of China’s Two Mountains Theory—the promise of both “green mountains and clear waters” and the “gold and silver” of economic growth. I argued that this framing is […]
This is the first in a two-part series exploring how China’s pursuit of innovative ecological policies alongside fossil fuel-powered economic expansion will have serious consequences for the world’s poor majority. Read Part II here…
David Korten/October 21, 2025
Humanity faces a defining choice: do we climb the green mountain of ecological health and community well-being, or […]
by Fran Korten and David Korten
October 2, 2025
On Tuesday, September 30, Pete Hegseth, now serving as Trump’s Secretary of War, called together roughly 800 U.S. generals and admirals at the Marine Crops Base in Quantico, VA. No one was told exactly why. It wasn’t framed as a strategic summit or a war council. It wasn’t […]
David Korten | July 16, 2025
Introduction
A disturbing film, a forgotten history, and a deeply personal journey through Indonesia helped my wife Fran and me better understand both the horror and hope that dwell in the human spirit—and what that might mean for healing the divisions we now face in the United States. Many […]
DAVID KORTEN | July 3, 2025
I recently spent two nights in a local hospital for a minor surgical procedure. It was an unexpected pause in my daily routine and, in many ways, a gift. Not the surgery itself—though […]