Originally November 2010
1. The world's people have never have been so connected - in terms of communication, commerce, and culture - yes or no?
2. The world's people have never been more in conflict or threatened - in terms of war, violence, inequity, environmental harms and climate change - yes or no?
3. When confronting the challenges of this globalizing and threatened world, the human race seems continually to come up short - yes or no?
Did you answer yes to all three? Jeremy Rifkin agrees. That led him to write THE EMPATHIC CIVILIZATION and ask question #4: Can a new, more empathic consciousness emerge and assert power soon enough? If it can, Rifkin believes that shift will likely be as profound as when Enlightenment philosophers replaced faith-based consciousness with reason.
Free Forum with Terrence McNally