By Jim Selman | Bio
I was playing a trivia game and had to answer
what the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are. I got three out of four,
but had to go to go to Wikipedia to get them all: War, Famine, Conquest
and Death. These traditional Biblical symbols mark the ‘end of time’,
when all things are put right and presumably all karma is erased and
this journey will be complete. In researching each of them, I learned
that ‘conquest’ is best translated in today’s language as ‘corruption’.
The ancient notion of ‘famine’ can also be understood to encompass
epidemics and plagues. ‘War’ represents violence in all forms and Death
is pretty self-evident. These seem to me to be a good list of the dark
side of “The Force” which threatens our way of life and our collective
future.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
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 By Lauren Selman | Bio
This was first published at The Life of Lauren. It is kindly republished here with permission.
This morning, I woke up at 6:30am to get on the road. My lack of sleep over the past couple days is finally hiting me as I stumble out of bed, down the stairs and to the airport. I was blessed because my friend Melissa took me to the airport. (Thanks hun!) I follow the signs for the Black Diamond Expert Traveler (because that's what I am) right? In my half asleep stupor, I forget that I am wearing hiking boots which do not result in Black Diamond traveling ease. Luckily I managed to take them off in line so my slumber went unnoticed. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
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By Jim Selman | Bio
Do you know that terrible sinking feeling when
something really bad happens that you didn’t expect—something that you
know will have a major and probably permanently negative impact on your
life and the lives of those you love—and there is nothing you can do
about it?[ Read More]
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
Being alive at any time is preferable
to the alternative. However, as the years go by, I am increasingly
appreciative of the extraordinary time in which we are living. I don’t
mean this as some sort of a “Pollyanna” platitude, but as a serious
reflection on our world and who we are becoming at this particular time
in human history. I believe that what is happening today is analogous to
what people who were conscious and aware of what was happening
experienced in the Renaissance. This is not a commentary on the wonders
of technology—although they are amazing. Nor is this an optimistic
prediction and inventory of the serious environmental and social
problems we are facing—although they too are unprecedented. No, I think
what is extraordinary is what is happening to us as human beings. [ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
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By Jim Selman | Bio
Last Friday night I had the pleasure and
the privilege of attending an “ Awakening
the Dreamer, Changing the Dream” Symposium, an event offered by the
Pachamama Alliance. This short program has each of us examine ourselves
and our relationship to a world “in crisis”. The purpose of the
Symposium and the Alliance is to change our collective vision (dream)
and to “bring forth an environmentally sustainable, socially just and
spiritually fulfilling human presence on this planet” as the guiding
principle of our times. Lynne Twist, the author of The Soul of Money,
an old friend and constant source of inspiration, led the evening.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
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Climate change, peak oil and soil depletion will inevitably drive up
food prices globally in the future. Some nations are looking to secure
their future by investing in farming in developing countries. This can
create the possibility of addressing local food shortages and rural
development. But when wealthy developed countries (like China, Saudi
Arabia, India and Japan) start purchasing land in poor countries (like
Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Sudan),[ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
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 By Shae Hadden | Bio
Perhaps as a reaction to the annual peak of
consumerism (the pre and post-Christmas holiday season sales), I’m
thinking these days of ways of alternative non-material gifts for my
friends. What comes to mind are the types of things we, in our
technology-driven world, may be taking for granted as everyday
conveniences. Yet, in many parts of the world, these are considered
luxuries. It’s easy enough now to[ Read More]
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By Jim Selman | Bio
I am not an economist. Thank goodness. This is not a good time to be one. There is a wonderful overview of the field, “ How Did Economists Get it So Wrong?”, by Paul Krugman in the New York Times.
The bottom line is that the current situation “which nobody could have
predicted” was predicted and it doesn’t take an economist to know that:[ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
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 By Jim Selman | Bio
It was said that
the philosopher Martin Heidegger’s last words were “Only God can save
us.” He was, perhaps, one of the deeper thinkers (at least in modern
times) on the question of who we are and what is really going on. As
far as I know, he wasn’t religious. So what he meant by these words, if
indeed he said them, is open to question. My view is that he was
talking about the fact that all human beings live in interpretations of
“reality”—cultural and linguistic inventions—and that humanity is now
‘trapped’ in an interpretation that has no back door. That is, the
‘Cartesian’ worldview that now dominates the globe is so powerful that,
like a black hole,[ Read More]
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By Jim Selman | Bio
Future
historians may mark the first decade of the 21st century as the time
when democracy died. And if they do, they will say that democracy died
because people became so resigned and afraid that they retreated into
closed and cloistered communities motivated by self-interest,
ideological fervor and ignorance. History will note that what began as
honest differences grew into an irreconcilable fragmentation of the
body politic.[ Read More]
Written by eldering at The Great Turning
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