More humane societies are usually smaller, like the Scandinavian countries and Holland, where it is much easier to reach consensus and cooperation.
David KortenEntranced by promises of a material paradise of limitless luxury, humanity has too long ignored the mismatch between the imperatives of our existence as living beings on a finite planet and the imperatives of the institutions of money that chart our path to the future. Created to build colonial empires in service to kings, global corporations are ill suited to the task of building just, sustainable, and compassionate civil societies that nurture sufficiency, partnership, and respect for the whole of life.
David KortenAs corporations gain in autonomous institutional power and be-come more detached from people and place, the human interest and the corporate interest increasingly diverge. It is almost as though we were being invaded by alien beings intent on colonizยญing our planet, reducing us to serfs, and then excluding as many of us as possible.
David KortenBut we can also take the radical view that the test of an economy has to do with the extent to which it is providing everybody with a decent means of living.
David KortenCapitalism and the market are presented as synonymous, but they are not. Capitalism is both the enemy of the market and democracy.
David KortenThere was a time in the United States when most of our financial institutions were local. Which essentially meant that local communities were able to create their own credit, or their own money, in response to their own needs. We still depended on banks, but it was a much more democratic process.
David Korten