Bcc: Jerry Fresia, South End Press, David Korten
Friends,
Here's what I've got in mind for cj...
(1) The main thing is to flesh out the Guidebook, mentioned
back in cj#1110:
http://208.248.94.93/cj/guidebook/
For that, the best thing is probably an essay for each of
the six main topics, with lots of links off to more detailed
material. "Other material" includes the posting archives,
other articles on the site, other sites, and material not
now included on the site... such as the various drafts of my
book-in-progress ("Achieving a Livable World").
By the end of the year I'd like to have a good first draft
of the Guidebook, covering all the intended points with some
modicum of good sense and balance. From there it could
evolve as an online document, and hopefully the material
could be used to finally complete the book project.
Any suggestions or ideas regarding this project would be
welcome. Based on the existing outline, you may have links
or articles you'd want me to include, or books I could
reference. For such material, please include a paragraph or
two describing what is covered, or what you found most
useful, eye-opening, or relevant. Quite likely, I'll
include your comments. Also it would be most helpful, for
forwarded articles, to help with contacting the authors to
get permission for posting (or perhaps subsequent
publishing).
---
(2) South End Press and Jerry Fresia have been very gracious
to provide me with the text files of Jerry's "Toward an
American Revolution", together with permission to feature it
on the cj website. This book, still available by special
order from Amazon, has never received the wide distribution
it deserves. I hope its presence on the site will enable it
to reach a wider audience, and encourage more people to buy
the book. It's the best treatment I've seen of the
realities of power in the USA, how the Constitution was
written, by whom, and for what purposes.
The book as-a-whole will be a solid addition to the website,
and its many rich examples and insights will provide good
substantiating links for the Guidebook.
---
(3) David Korten sent me a revised version of his
"Civilizing Society" article, and was even so kind as to
credit me with significant contributions toward the new
version. David offers, I believe, a very cogent perspective
on the paradigm shift that is needed for humanity to break
free of its current shackles and move toward civilized
sanity.
There are countless people pointing out various problems,
and many of those people are willing to get out there and
try to do something about this problem or that. There are
also lots of people envisioning this or that aspect of a
better world... such as those who investigate the economics
of sustainability. That is all for the good.
But there are too few people, I think, who understand why
capitalism must be abandoned, who think about what that
means, and who try to envision a radical shift in societies'
directions, how that can happen practically, and how people
in general can comprehend such a thing in positive terms.
David Korten is one of those who is showing some success in
this area.
---
Korten's article will go up first, as that will probably be
the least work. Then Fresia's book, and then the work can
start on the Guidebook.
Meanwhile, I won't have much time to write things for the
list, and there will presumably be some contract work
intervening so as to keep food on the table. What I'd like
to do is begin posting some of the backlogged items people
have sent in, and forward useful articles that I get from
other lists. As long as I resist the temptation to comment,
you should get lots of good material and I can make progress
on the website at the same time.
all the best,
rkm
http://cyberjournal.org
