David Korten Quotes

If there is to be a human future, we must bring ourselves into balanced relationship with one another and the Earth.

The professional study of economics has become ideological brainwashing. It is a defense of the excesses of the capitalist system.

Wall Street sees a social fabric or social contract as inefficiencies, which need to be removed.

In the US, most progressives start to see the differences between internationalism and economic globalization.

Capitalism and the market are presented as synonymous, but they are not. Capitalism is both the enemy of the market and democracy.

More humane societies are usually smaller, like the Scandinavian countries and Holland, where it is much easier to reach consensus and cooperation.

Money is a mechanism for control.

As long as you have a system that is based on the rational that if you are making money you are thereby making a contribution to society, these financial rogue practices will continue.

If you look internationally over the last 50 years there have been improvements in the third world, but in the last 20 years the reverse has happened, with debt crises and increased poverty.

We can have democracy and a prosperous, just, and sustainable human future. Or we can have corporate rule. We cannot have both.

So, there is enormous instability in the global economy with a shift of winners and losers.

I think one of the most important skills of a local organizer of a local economy is an ability to put on a terrific street party.

There is a huge shift taking place in the global awareness in the last 5 years with strong views about globalization and the power structures of major corporations.

Money is not wealth. Money is a claim on wealth.

But 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.

Moreover, statistics can be deceiving: the growth of jobs in the US in the 90s was due to many part-time jobs, with no benefits and generally low pay.

We should be moving toward local currencies not global or European currencies.

There are actually very few US politicians who have integrity and vision.

It is interesting to note that the 200 richest people have more assets than the 2 billion poorest.

Global competition is about winners and losers.

There is no visible sign that the current politicians in the US are willing to see the need for change.

Europeans say they are proud of their social fabric, of strong rights for workers and the weak in society.

If you look at the US economy over the last 15-20 years wages have been stagnating or even declining.

Capitalism has defeated communism. It is now well on its way to defeating democracy.

Our global economy is out of control and performing contrary to basic principles of market economics.

As an economy measures performance in terms of the creation of money, people become a major source of inefficiency.