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Jeffrey Sachs - The Deep Forces of Globalisation
18 Mar, 2009 | CATEGORY: 21st Century SocietyFuture StudiesOne Future
Great talk from December 2007 about the complex of issues in globalisation. I think i should explain my okness with the word "globalisation" on my blog, as it's a pretty dirty word these days!
Robert Wright points out in his book Nonzero that the entire pattern of human history from the day dot has been a story of greater and greater networks of association and unification. From small tribes to chiefdoms and nation states to empires to global collectives there is a very distinct trend in cultural evolution toward greater and greater levels of unification that essentially points to a unified world at some point sooner or later. It's inevitable. The unification of Europe is to be expected, and further developments, like a genuine form of global governance is eventually likely. So any good talk on this general process is of great interest to me. I would call this process (at this point) - globalisation, and I think this is the way Sachs is using the word here - if you have a better name let me know! Come to think of it - I think we should steal this word back from the corporate multinationals and the big superpowers, it belongs to all of us.
Sachs talk also contains this great quote form President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis:
"Our problems are man made - therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable - and we believe they can do it again...."