A preview of the unpublished book A CIVILIZATION WITHOUT A VISION WILL PERISH: AN INDEPENDENT SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH by David Willis. CHAPTER 1: INDIFFERENCE (Part 26). This blog is a continuation of the review of The Inner Limits of Mankind by Ervin Laszlo, written in 1989.
We must act together
We not only need ground rules to orient our aspirations for achieving our respective ideals, we also need ground rules of international cooperation to assure implementation; we may dream separately but we must act together, not uniformly but in concert. The new ground rule for the interrelations of nations and peoples is interexistence. It can be stated simply: Only those long-range policies which bring positive-sum results are to be implemented.
Advantages can accrue to all parties
No nation would risk being damaged or wiped out, and all could spend the major part of the huge sums which now go to defense and military projects on concrete human benefit. While in the old order the economic gains of the rich and powerful states and corporations entailed the exploitation of the weaker and poorer partners, in a new order real advantages can accrue to all parties.
Reforming the international monetary system
These can be conferred by achieving stable prices for vital commodities and fuels, a more equitable international division of labor with better access to science and technology by the poor, by reforming the international monetary system to serve the needs of all societies, and by assuring equal access to the global commons for all states and regions.
A humane future for the entire world community
If the nations and peoples of this world mustered the vision and the will not merely to coexist but to interexist, they could assure a humane future for the entire world community. Do we play a ‘game’ in which my gain is your loss, or do we create new rules which enable all of us to gain?