Top Down or Bottom Up? Brand Vs. Korten

Should the very rich control our climate? Our food?

In the Radio Ecoshock for last week, I may suprised listeners with a very different point of view. Former Whole Earther Stewart Brand came out swinging for nuclear power, genetic engineering, and geoengineering as the new "green." I'll reply in just a minute.

Our main speaker this week is a refreshing antidote to Brand. David Korten was recorded at the University of British Columbia. He's a well-travelled specialist in the economy and cultural systems, author of the book "When Corporations Rule the World." Korten has a much better idea, in my opinion.

We'll finish up with an example of corporation concentrating functions as Stewart Brand says is inevitable. This time it's our enslavement of animals, in Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations. There's a set of two new books out - we'll talk with editor Daniel Imhoff.

This week we offer you a new talk by author David Korten. He describes where phantom wealth comes from, and how it distorts our world. Then he has some options of how we can re-build community a better way.

Korten's books "When Corporations Rule the World" and "The Great Turning, from Empire to Earth Community" have set the pace. His latest book,"Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth" (A Declaration of Independence from Wall Street) - couldn't come at a better time. This new talk was recorded September 27th, 2010, by the presenters, the UBC Reads Sustainability program.

But I begin this week’s program with a rant about Stewart Brand. His new “eco-pragmatism” reeks of the old conservatism, in my opinion. To be fair, I ran his recorded conversation last week, with little comment. This week, I tell you what I really think, in this piece:

"What’s the Matter With Stewart Brand?" Click on "Read more" below to find a link to that rant in print....

We end this week’s program with an example of what happens in the country, when big business takes over our food system. Daniel Imhoff is the editor of two companion books on CAFO - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Earth Aware publishers have just brought out two new books on "The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories". There is a CAFO Reader<, and a big, big book of companion photos, that should frighten you.

READ MORE - Including a raft of supplemental audio for this program....