Breaking Through Gridlock

Foreword

Some might say that the time for talking is over—that we have moved to such a polarized state that nothing much can be accomplished by conversation. It is now a win-lose world and we just need to be sure that our side, whichever that may be, wins. This is tantamount to saying that we are at war and it is down to battle tactics.

But whom are we at war with? The deep challenges in our world—climate change, destruction of species, profound inequity, underemployed and restless young people around the world, social instability, economies that produce a surplus of wealth and a deficit of meaningful work—were not produced by “the other.” They were produced by ourselves. We have a way of living that simply fails to generate basic conditions ...