System Transformation

We the People Are All In This Together

(Commentary originally published by YES! Magazine, October 7, 2022)

The purpose of human institutions is to secure the well-being of people and Earth. Despite our differences, all of Earth’s people share a common destiny that depends on our learning to live together with mutual commitment to a foundational truth recognized by our early ancestors: […]

2022-10-31T15:04:12-07:00October 31st, 2022|Categories: Ecological Civilization, System Transformation|

How 9/11 Set Progressive Causes Back – and How We Rebounded

(Commentary originally published by YES! Magazine, October 5, 2021)

As the 20th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center approached, I wasn’t paying much attention. But then I received an email from my longtime colleague John Cavanagh, former director of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. It was a private […]

2021-10-12T16:48:48-07:00October 12th, 2021|Categories: Capitalism, Ecological Civilization, Globalization, System Transformation, YES! Column|

When Less Is More

(Commentary originally published by YES! Magazine, August 12, 2021)

Science tells us that we now have fewer than 10 years to reduce the human burden on Earth or trigger tipping points in Earth’s natural systems from which there is no return. Most discussion centers on the climate emergency, but we also have crises related to air, […]

2021-08-26T15:34:20-07:00August 26th, 2021|Categories: GDP, System Transformation, YES! Column|

Ecological Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence

by David Korten
May 25, 2021 (updated with minor revisions on November 3, 2021)
(This is the best version to read on mobile devices. Also available as a PDF for reading, downloading, printing, sharing, and republishing.)

BACKGROUND

This is a personal white paper directed to those who seek a future that works for all of Earth’s […]

2021-11-15T18:27:59-08:00August 13th, 2021|Categories: Civil Society, Ecological Civilization, System Transformation|

Earth is Warning Us We Must Change. Will We Listen?

(Commentary originally published by YES! Magazine, July 30, 2020)

Our present course puts humans on track to be among the species that expire in Earth’s ongoing sixth mass extinction. In my conversations with thoughtful people, I am finding increasing acceptance of this horrific premise.

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with climate change, drives home […]

2021-01-08T14:01:25-08:00July 30th, 2020|Categories: Empire, Living Earth, System Transformation, YES! Column|

From Emergency to Emergence

(Commentary originally published by YES! Magazine, April 23, 2020)

The COVID-19 emergency has exposed our societies’ failure to address the needs of billions of people. Simultaneously, we are witnessing a fundamental truth about human nature: There are those among us eager to exploit the suffering of others for personal gain. We can […]

Why Coronavirus Is Humanity’s Wake-up Call

(Commentary originally published by YES! Magazine, March 18, 2020)

The rapid spread of novel coronavirus has prompted government, business, and civil society to take dramatic action—canceling events large and small, restricting travel, and shutting down major segments of the economy on which nearly all of us depend. It is […]

2021-01-08T14:01:26-08:00March 24th, 2020|Categories: Globalization, Politics, System Transformation, YES! Column|

Three Questions to Lead Us Away from Self-Extinction

Transformation begins with clarity on the nature of the choice that confronts our species. 

Some ideas hit us in a way that is hard to shake. Last year that happened to me. I was in a public conversation with my friend and colleague, theologian Matthew Fox, when he made this observation: “Humans might be the first […]

2021-01-08T14:01:32-08:00July 5th, 2018|Categories: Cultural Shift, Earth Community, System Transformation, YES! Column|
Go to Top