Context and World Trends

Much Negative, Some Positive

• Wars, threats of war, and militarism
• Deep cultural and economic divisions between societies and people
• Half of world's population live on 2 US$ or less per day
• 11,000 children die every day due to malnutrition
• Environmental crisis
  • Climate change, desertification, drinking water shortages, fish stock depletion, etc.
• Economic crisis
  • how deep? how pervasive? how serious?
• Cultural imperialism?
  
  • How many voices are blocked by media monopolies?
• Rise of civil society -- Citizens are leaders!
  • Transnational advocacy, environmentalism, decline of patriarchialism, human rights

     

• Chaotic times -- infinite number of possible paths from here...
• People create history: the relationships we form and the ideas we share are critical to how the future unfolds.
• We are in very bad shape and it's difficult to take in. Denial is not an option. We don't want to just be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!