2020/01/25

Ecotopia Ernest Callenbach A novel 2004


Ecotopia
Ernest Callenbach

A novel portraying a future ecologically sustainable society located in what was formerly the states of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. 

It is a hopeful vision of what industrial society must become if it is to survive, presented in news-story and diary entry forms.

 Callenbach gives us a vivid, comprehensive, positive vision of what the earth's future might look like, if those who care about sustainability had a say. Highly imaginative, this much-loved book is at the same time blessedly down to earth. Nearly a million copies have been sold in nine languages.





$5.36 (USD)
Publisher:
Release date: 2004
Format: PDF
Size: 17.95 MB
Language: English
Pages: 172
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Ecotopia: A Novel Paperback – March 1, 1990
by Ernest Callenbach (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 144 ratings


A novel both timely and prophetic, Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia is a hopeful antidote to the environmental concerns of today, set in an ecologically sound future society. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as the “newest name after Wells, Verne, Huxley, and Orwell,” Callenbach offers a visionary blueprint for the survival of our planet . . . and our future.

Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a “stable-state” ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, this isolated, mysterious nation is welcoming its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.

Skeptical yet curious about this green new world, Weston is determined to report his findings objectively. But from the start, he’s alternately impressed and unsettled by the laws governing Ecotopia’s earth-friendly agenda: energy-efficient “mini-cities” to eliminate urban sprawl, zero-tolerance pollution control, tree worship, ritual war games, and a woman-dominated government that has instituted such peaceful revolutions as the twenty-hour workweek and employee ownership of farms and businesses. His old beliefs challenged, his cynicism replaced by hope, Weston meets a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman and undertakes a relationship whose intensity will lead him to a critical choice between two worlds.

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Editorial Reviews

Review


"A classic of earth consciousness." —Denis Hayes, original coordinator of Earth Day

"Essential reading for all who care about the earth's future."—Fritjof Capra, author of The Tao of Physics and The Turning Point

"None of the happy conditions in Ecotopia are beyond the technical or resource reach of our society."—Ralph Nader
From the Publisher


"Callenbach gives us a vivid, comprehensive, positive vision of an ecologically sustainable world. essential reading for all who care about the earth's future."--Fritjof Capra, author of the Tao Of Physics and the Tuming Point.

"A classic of earth consciousness."--Denis Hayes, Earth Day.

Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a "stable-state" ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, the isolated, mysterious Ecotopia welcomes its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston. Like a modern Gulliver, the skeptical Weston is by turns impressed, horrified, and overwhelmed by Ecotopia's strange practices: employee ownership of farms and businesses, the twenty-hour work week, the fanatical elimination of pollution, "mini-cities" that defeat overcrowding, devotion to trees bordering on worship, a woman-dominated government, and bloody, ritual war games. Bombarded by innovative, unsettling ideas, set afire by a relationship with a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman, Weston's conflict of values intensifies-and leads to a startling climax.

"None of the happy conditions in Ecotopisa are beyond the technical or resource reach of our society."--Ralph Nader
From the Inside Flap


"Ecotopia was founded when northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the Union to create a "stable-state" ecosystem: the perfect balance between human beings and the environment. Now, twenty years later, the isolated, mysterious Ecotopia welcomes its first officially sanctioned American visitor: New York Times-Post reporter Will Weston.

Like a modern Gulliver, the skeptical Weston is by turns impressed, horrified, and overwhelmed by Ecotopia's strange practices: employee ownership of farms and businesses, the twenty-hour work week, the fanatical elimination of pollution, "mini-cities" that defeat overcrowding, devotion to trees bordering on worship, a woman-dominated government, and bloody, ritual war games. Bombarded by innovative, unsettling ideas, set afire by a relationship with a sexually forthright Ecotopian woman, Weston's conflict of values intensifies-and leads to a startling climax.
About the Author


Ernest Callenbach is also the author of Ecotopia Emerging, The Ecotopian Encyclopedia, and Publisher’s Lunch. He is the co-author of The Art of Friendship and Humphrey the Wayward Whale (with Christine Leefeldt) and of A Citizen Legislature (with Michael Phillips). He edits natural history books and the journal Film Quarterly at the University of California Press, and lectures on environmental topics all over the world.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

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(May 3) Here we go again, dear diary. A fresh notebook with all those blank pages waiting to be filled. Good to be on the way at last. Alleghenies already receding behind us like pale green ripples on an algae-covered pond. Thinking back to the actual beginnings of this trip–almost a year ago? Those careful hints dropped at the White House like crumbs for the President’s vacuum-cleaner mind to suck up. Until finally they coalesced into some kind of ball and came out as his own daring idea: okay, send some unofficial figure out there, purely informal–a reporter not to closely identified with the administration, who could nose around, blow up a few pretty trial balloons–can’t hurt! A tingly moment when he finally broached it, after a big Brazil briefing session. That famous confidential smile! And then saying that he had a little adventure in mind, wanted to discuss it with me privately. . . .

Was his tentativeness only his habitual caution, or a signal that if anything went wrong the visit (and the visitor) were politically expendable?

Still, an important opening in our foreign policy–lots of weighty arguments for it. Heal the fratricidal breach that rent the nation–so the continent can stand united against rising tides of starvation and revolution. Hawks who want to retake “lost last of the west” by force seem to be growing stronger–need neutralizing. Ecotopian ideas are seeping over the border more dangerously–can’t be ignored any longer, might be detoxified by exposure. Etc.

Maybe we can find a hearing for proposal to reopen diplomatic relations; perhaps trade proposals too. With reunification a gleam in the eye. Even just a publicizable chat with Vera Allwen could be useful–the President, with his customary flexibility, could use it to fend off both hawks and subversives. Besides, as I told Francine–who scoffed, naturally, even after three brandies–I want to see Ecotopia because it’s there. Can things really be as weird there as they sound? I wonder.

Have been mulling over the no-nos. Must stay clear of the secession itself: too much bitterness could still be aroused. But fascinating stories there, probably–how the secessionists filched uranium fuel from power plants for the nuclear mines they claimed to have set in New York and Washington. How their political organization, led by those damned women, managed to paralyze and then supplant the regular political structure, and got control of the armories and the Guard. How they bluffed their way to a stand-off–helped, of course, by the severity of the national economic crisis that struck so conveniently for them. Lots of history there to be told someday–but now is not the time. . . .

Getting harder to say goodbye to the kids when I take off on a long trip. Not that it’s really such a big deal, since I sometimes miss a couple of weekends even when I’m around. But my being away so much seems to be beginning to bother them. Pat may be putting them up to it; I’ll have to talk to her about that. Where else would Fay get the idea of asking to come along? Jesus–into darkest Ecotopia with typewriter and eight-year-old daughter. . . .

No more Francine for six weeks. It’s always refreshing to get away for a while, and she’ll be there when I get back, all charged up by some adventure or other. Actually sort of exciting to think of being totally out of touch with her, with the editorial office, in fact with the whole country. No phone service, wire service indirect: uncanny isolation the Ecotopians have insisted on for 20 years! And in Peking, Bantustan, Brazil there always had to be an American interpreter, who couldn’t help dangling ties from home. This time there’ll be nobody to share little American reactions with.

And it is potentially rather dangerous. These Ecotopians are certainly hotheads, and I could easily get into serious trouble. Government’s control over population seems to be primitive compared to ours. Americans are heartily hated. In a jam the Ecotopian police might be no help at all–in fact they apparently aren’t even armed.

Well, ought to draft the first column. Mid-air perhaps not the worst place to begin.



WILLIAM WESTON ON
HIS JOURNEY TO ECOTOPIA


On board TWA flight 38, New York to Reno, May 3. As I begin this assignment, my jet heads west to Reno–last American city before the forbidding Sierra Nevada mountains that guard the closed borders of Ecotopia.

The passage of tiem has softened the shock of Ecotopia’s separation from the United States. And Ecotopia’s example, it is now clear, was not as novel as it seemed at the time. Biafra had attempted secession from Nigeria but failed. Bangladesh had successfully broken free of Pakistan. Belgium had in effect dissolved into three countries. Even the Soviet Union has had its separatist “minority” disturbances. Ecotopia’s secession was partly modeled on that of Quebec from Canada. Such “devolution” has become a worldwide tendency. The sole important counterdevelopment we can point to is the union of the Scandinavian countries–which perhaps only proves the rule, since the Scandinavians were virtually one people culturally in any event.

Nonetheless, many Americans still remember the terrible shortages of fruit, lettuce, wine, cotton, paper, lumber, and other western products which followed the breakaway of what had been Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. These problems exacerbated the general U.S. economic depression of the period, speeded up our chronic inflation, and caused widespread dissatisfaction with government policies. Moreover, Ecotopia still poses a nagging challenge to the underlying national philosophy of America: ever-continuing progress, the fruits of industrialization for all, a rising Gross National Product.

During the past two decades, we as a people have mostly tried to ignore what has been happening in Ecotopia–in the hope it will prove to be mere foolishness and go away. It is clear by now, however, that Ecotopia is not going to collapse as many American analysts at first predicted. The time has come when we must get a clearer understanding of Ecotopia.

If its social experimentation turns out to be absurd and irresponsible, it will then no longer tempt impressionable young Americans. If its strange customs indeed prove as barbaric as rumors suggest, Ecotopia will have to pay the cost in outraged world opinion. If Ecotopian claims are false, American policy-makers can profit from knowledge of that fact. For instance, we need to access the allegation that Ecotopia has no more deaths from air and chemical pollution. Our own death rate has declined from a peak of 75,000 annually to 30,000–still a tragic toll, but suggesting that measures of the severity adopted in Ecotopia are hardly necessary. In short, we should meet the Ecotopian challenge on the basis of sound knowledge rather than ignorance and third-hand reports.

My assignment during the next six weeks, therefore, is to explore Ecotopian life from top to bottom–to search out the realities behind the rumors, to describe in concrete detail how Ecotopian society actually operates, to document its problems and, where that is called for, to acknowledge its achievements. By direct knowledge of the situation in which our former fellow-citizens now find themselves, we may even begin to rebuild the ties that once bound them to the Union they so hastily rejected.


(May 3) Reno a sad shadow of its former goodtimes self. With the lucrative California gambling trade cut off by secession, the city quickly decayed. The fancy casino hotels are now mere flophouses–their owners long ago fled to Las Vegas. I walked the streets near the airline terminal, asking people what they thought of Ecotopia out here. Most replies noncommittal, though I thought I could sometimes detect a tinge of bitterness. “Live and let live,” said one grizzled old man, “if you can call what they do over there living.” A young man who claimed to be a cowboy smiled at my question. “Waaal,” he said, “I know guys who say they’ve gone over there to get girls. It isn’t really dangerous if you know the mountain passes. They’re friendly all right, so long as you aren’t up to anything. Know what, though? The girls all have guns! That’s what they say. That could shake you up, couldn’t it?”

Had a hard time finding a taxi driver willing to take me over the border. Finally persuaded one who looked as if he had just done 20 years in the pen. Had to promise not only double fare but 25 percent tip besides. For which I got a bonus of dirty looks and a string of reassuring remarks: “What ya wanta go in there for anyhow, ya some kind of a nut? Buncha goddamn cannibals in there! Ya’ll never get out alive–I just hope I will.”

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Product details

Paperback: 181 pages
Publisher: Bantam; Reissue edition (March 1, 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553348477
ISBN-13: 978-0553348477
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches


Customer reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
144 customer ratings


Top Reviews

Long John

5.0 out of 5 stars 

a green world
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2014
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First read this nearly 30 years ago - I borrowed a copy from a friend and skimmed through it - I always wanted to reread it more thoroughly, but I sort of forgot about it. Reading that Ernest Callenbach had died put it back into my memory and I decided to see what 40 years would do to its vision. As anybody who has visited Portland can tell you, some of it has become real - and more of it should. Looking back, it seems funny that Callenbach has to explain what biodegradable means or that composting and recycling were once unknown. Though we are still learning that laws against victim-less crimes should be abolished.


The "plot" to this story is largely superfluous - it follows that standard device of having a stranger going into an Utopia and describing it for people back home. This has been used as far back as Thomas Moores Utopia and in one of my favorite utopian novels, Island by Aldous Huxley. The stranger is usually converted to the utopian life. 


The story of how Ecotopia was created seems unlikely, but if you look at all the countries that have devolved since the mid 70s like the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia and all the areas that would like to split away, like Scotland, Flanders, Catalonia and most certainly Kurdistan, then perhaps this is not so wild of an idea. A lot of people in Texas are always saying they want independence. At any rate, what is important here is how a green society would work - Callenbach could have placed it on another planet for all the difference it would make (you know, like Pandora in Avatar).

One of the things I like about Callenbachs proposed world is how it doesn't fit neatly into any currently existing political or cultural viewpoint. Or at least not any that will likely be allowed onto the pages of the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. His ideas will resonate best amongst the outsiders and freethinkers across the social spectrum, whether they be left or right or neither. But before you laugh it off, remember; a lot of these things have happened or are happening now. Perhaps back in the early 70s, when this book was being written, they only seemed possible through secession, but now they are being implemented state by state. The next twenty years should be be interesting - you can get a heads up by reading this book.

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Roy Staples

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, but a frustrating read.Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2014
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For those who read this book, I should warn you:
First, you must recognize the era the book was written in. Cold War mentality, strong ideas of nation and sovereignty, sexism rampant, to the point that the author's attitudes are actually more liberated.
Second, the author has a hard time making the character seem genuine and authentic. This is especially difficult to believe at the end of the book.
Third, that the author would concede that segregation would be a good policy seems tragically laughable. His naïveté on race relations is disgusting, from our perspective.

Nevertheless, one should read this book. If only for the exercise of allowing yourself to see that life here in America doesn't have to be this way.

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K. Atherton

5.0 out of 5 stars 

One Great Idea!!
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2013

Ah, but if we could actually build this society! Ecotopia is comprised of the States of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. The California demarcation eliminates the southern part of the state.
The new "country" actually builds walls and borders to keep others out, but since they are on the West Coast, they continue to have trade relations with the far east. The have corporate giants Boeing, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Apple, Intel, Weyerhauser, and Nike! They create a completely eco friendly society where everything is used, reused, recycled, or re-purposed. Even the paper money bio-degrades if it is dropped on the ground where microbes in the soil begin the process of degradation.
The people are industrious, happy, healthy, and 100% committed to the eco friendly society.
Trees are worshipped…
And the President is a woman!
Very well written, very fantastic, and very beautiful.
A must read….

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Mark M

4.0 out of 5 stars 

The author clearly had a lot of fun coming up with the details of the "utopia" described ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2015

The author clearly had a lot of fun coming up with the details of the "utopia" described in the book. Many of the aspects of the society seem a bit unlikely-- and kind of inconsistent with human nature. But cuodos to the author for coming up with something this detailed and more or less internally consistent. Note that there isn't really much of a plot here. The book is really more of a set of "travel essays" and "diary entries" that discuss how the society work and that show the gradual shift of the main character from being a skeptic to a lover of the utopia.

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Ingrid Straziota

5.0 out of 5 stars A view for an ecological way of life!Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2014
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This book was written in the sixties and it is still so advanced in its outlook of a society geared towards conservation of not only the physical but also the social environment. There is a perfect physiology in the way people interact and assume customs and beliefs that are for the good of the comunity and for the individual. People are convinced of the way things should be done because they really believe that it is for the best of everybody, and not because of fear of punishment. It shows the principles of a true democracy, when people go beyond their selfish ideals and understand that the good of the comunity is the good for the individual. The book is well written, the characters are well developed and the story is enticing. I recomend it to anywone who is curious about alternative ways of handling conservation of the environment through a social fabric that is truly in tune to this.

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J. Brown

5.0 out of 5 stars

A very good read!
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2015
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I read this book several years ago, and just now ordered one for myself, to have as a resource. Callenbach posits a breakaway republic comprising Washington state, Oregon, and northern California, who secede from the United States and create a new state with protections for the environment built into its constitution. The story concerns a newsman, visiting from what's left of the old U.S., and his gradual conversion to the ways in which people think in the new state. A very good read!

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tli

4.0 out of 5 stars 

Decent
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2019
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Some interesting ideas, not all of which will be old hat to the modern reader. Ending wasn't great. There's a romance that serves a purpose but still manages to be grating.



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Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Good readReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2015
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Very good book which although impracticable is an excellent view of a future of uncertainty.


J. Tupone
4.0 out of 5 stars an entertaining readReviewed in Canada on December 21, 2008
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Ernest Callenbach's novel is written in a clever and well thought out manner. The novel tells the story of an American journalist who travels to the independent state of Ecotopia which is a country formed by environmentalists who managed to secede northern California, Oregon and Washington from the American union. The journalist spends time in Ecotopia learning about the young society and how its inhabitants strive to live in a stable state with nature.

It is a well written novel and it is quite clever. The novel clearly serves as a kind of call to arms for environmentalists, not in the military sense but in a "how-to" manner. It describes in fair detail the system of government that has been put in place, how energy, food and consumer goods are produced and how the people live and interact with each other.

The novel reads a lot like a manifesto for a "new" kind of environmental movement and is also full of several contradictions and oddball ideas. One part talks about a secret 3 day war between the USA and Ecotopia shortly after independence and how the Ecotopians shot down about 7000 US combat aircraft. Well, today, the US air force has less than 7000 aircraft and it seems rather absurd that the strongest military on earth would be foolish enough to lose its entire air force in a few days. That being said, the novel is fiction of course.

Callenbach is an entertaining writer, but to really love this book I am fairly certain that you have to be a strong environmentalist. If you're not, you can still enjoy the story and be intrigued by the detail that Callenbach has put into the utopia he created.
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Ecotopia: (40th Anniversary Ed.) Paperback – November 1, 2014

by Ernest Callenbach (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

Paperback
$12.0925 Used from $4.5025 New from $8.09

Twenty years have passed since Northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the United States to create a new nation, Ecotopia. Rumors abound of barbaric war games, tree worship, revolutionary politics, sexual extravagance. Now, this mysterious country admits its first American visitor: investigative reporter Will Weston, whose dispatches alternate between shock and admiration. But Ecotopia gradually unravels everything Weston knows to be true about government and human nature itself, forcing him to choose between two competing views of civilization.

Since it was first published in 1975, Ecotopia has inspired readers throughout the world with its vision of an ecologically and socially sustainable future. This fortieth-anniversary edition includes Ernest Callenbach's final essay, “An Epistle to the Ecotopians,” and a new foreword by Callenbach's close friend and publisher, Malcolm Margolin.




Editorial Reviews

Review


An environmental classic. --Time

The newest name after Wells and Verne and Huxley and Orwell is Ernest Callenbach, creator of Ecotopia. --Los Angeles Times

''One of the most important utopian novels of the twentieth century that still has very important lessons to teach us. It will always convey to perfection the wild optimism of that moment: a feeling we need to recapture, adjusted for our time.'' --Kim Stanley Robinson

''One of the most important utopian novels of the twentieth century that still has very important lessons to teach us. It will always convey to perfection the wild optimism of that moment: a feeling we need to recapture, adjusted for our time.'' --Kim Stanley Robinson
From the Inside Flap


Twenty years have passed since Northern California, Oregon, and Washington seceded from the United States to create a new nation, Ecotopia. Rumors abound of barbaric war games, tree worship, revolutionary politics, sexual extravagance. Now, this mysterious country admits its first American visitor: investigative reporter Will Weston, whose dispatches alternate between shock and admiration. But Ecotopia gradually unravels everything Weston knows to be true about government and human nature itself, forcing him to choose between two competing views of civilization.

Since it was first published in 1975, Ecotopia has inspired readers throughout the world with its vision of an ecologically and socially sustainable future. This fortieth-anniversary edition includes Ernest Callenbach's final essay, "An Epistle to the Ecotopians," and a new foreword by Callenbach's close friend and publisher, Malcolm Margolin.
About the Author


Ernest Callenbach was a writer and editor known primarily for his environmental fiction and nonfiction. He founded and edited the internationally acclaimed Film Quarterly. He also concurrently edited University of California Press's extensive list of film books as well as books in art and science, including the California Natural History Guides series. He occasionally taught film at the University of California, Berkeley, and at San Francisco State University.


Product details

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Banyan Tree Books; 40th Anniversary Epistle Edition edition (November 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159714293X
ISBN-13: 978-1597142939
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Top Reviews

Joyce

5.0 out of 5 stars 

Prescient!
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase


This book, called prescient in 2008, is more stunningly so today. Ecotopia translates “home place” and was born out of an attempt to deal with a practical issue – sewage. Written in 1975, it is set in the future of 1999. In 1980 the states of Washington and Oregon had joined northern California in seceding from the union. Most Americans have been barred from traveling to Ecotopia and the book is made up of the newspaper articles and the diary entries of Will Weston, the first American mainstream reporter to visit. The book is one of the manuals of the bioregional movement I have been a part of since 1984, as the country of Ecotopia was formed out of a vision of relating to the earth sustainably, emphasizing biology more than physics. The vision involves being rooted to place. Community relationships are central. Everyone is an artist of some kind and everyone sings and dances. Attitudes toward sex are looser and politically it is egalitarian (Ecotopia has a woman president). Ecological values rule.
In 2012, Callenbach, aware of his upcoming death, left an epistle to us Ecotopians. It is included in the 40th anniversary edition and can also be found online. It is his “thoughts and attitudes that may prove useful in the dark times we are facing.” He discusses hope, mutual support, practical skills, organizing, learning to live with contradictions, and the Big Picture. In one paragraph he describes with amazing specificity (in 2012, mind you) our present president. He closes with an encouragement to appreciate the Japanese wisdom of the beauty of wabi-sabi. “Let us embrace decay, for it is the source of all new life and growth.”

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Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Washington, Oregon and Northern California secede from the union! Great idea!Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2017
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Even though this book was written in 1985 a lot of the content is relevant today. Fun read and if it became reality I'd be the first in line at the gates of Ecotopia!


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Gregory Coffey

4.0 out of 5 stars Gift itemReviewed in the United States on June 15, 2019
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As specified


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Jerry A. Moles

5.0 out of 5 stars California Magic in the 1960sReviewed in the United States on March 28, 2018
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Special book that reflected the ethos of the 1960s around Berkeley and NW California. Certainly worth a read.


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Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, though written in the 70's so a ...Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2017
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Arrived promptly, and was in new condition. Great story, though written in the 70's so a bit dated in some areas. Would love to live there!


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Kassandra Juanebe

5.0 out of 5 stars Hey Millenials... Read this book!Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2017
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Fantastic. Deserves to be read by all the new generation of environmentalists.


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Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on May 23, 2018
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Well-produced reprint of an old classic, with some bonus material.


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Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on June 26, 2017
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book was in new condition


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Ecotopia Emerging: Ernest Callenbach: 9780960432035: Amazon.com: Books



Ecotopia Emerging: Ernest Callenbach: 9780960432035: Amazon.com: Books






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Ecotopia Emerging Paperback – June 1, 1981

by Ernest Callenbach (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 67 ratings

See all 5 formats and editions

This prequel to Callenbach's classic Ecotopia is a multi-stranded novel that dramatizes the rise and triumph of a powerful American movement to preserve the earth as a safe, sustainable environment.

The story springs from harsh realities: Toxic contamination of air, water, and food has become intolerable. Nuclear meltdowns threaten. Military spending burdens the economy. Politicians squabble over outdated agendas while the country declines. But then dedicated people begin to respond in their own ways to the crisis, and a fresh hope arises.

A panorama of history about to happen, Ecotopia Emerging weaves many individual destinies into an absorbing epic: the birthing pains of a new nation.


Editorial Reviews
Review


''The newest name after Wells, Huxley, and Orwell.''--Los Angeles Times

''No one I've given this book to has been able to put it down.'' --Renewal
About the Author


Ernest Callenbach, who also wrote Ecotopia, grew up in rural central Pennsylvania, attended the University of Chicago, and has lived in Berkeley, California, since 1954. He edited natural history, science, art, and film books for the University of California Press. He now devotes full time to writing (his newest book is Ecology: A Pocket Guide) and lecturing; he gardens ardently, has two compost bins, and walks a lot.


Product details

Paperback: 334 pages
Publisher: Heyday Books; First Edition edition (June 1, 1981)
Language: English

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Customer reviews
3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
67 customer ratings


Mr. C.

5.0 out of 5 stars They are both two of my favorite books.Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2014
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I have the original Ecotopia and now this "prequel". They are both two of my favorite books.

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Bit Twiddler

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting readReviewed in the United States on April 11, 2010
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I read Ecotopia first. This was good prequel but personally think first was better. That being said, I was a lot younger when I read the first one and it had more impact on me. Am saving both for my granddaughters when they grow up.

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B. D. Hellmann

5.0 out of 5 stars We need another kind of society, and this is itReviewed in the United States on December 7, 2014
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If you've read Ecotopia, you'll want to know how Callenbach conceived that terrific story'


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Joyce Adams

5.0 out of 5 stars Callenbach Pens Another WinnerReviewed in the United States on November 12, 2013
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A great follow to one of the best books ever, "Ecotopia", and went straight to my favorites. The author makes more sense than most in his vision of what the future could be.

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jOHN GUERRIERO

5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United States on January 2, 2015
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good sequel


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Aristeros

2.0 out of 5 stars Ecotopia Floundering: Doesn't Work as Propaganda, and is Not Even Remotely BelievableReviewed in the United States on April 5, 2015
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Callenbach's prequel novel to "Ecotopia," which describes the why and wherefore of a secession of a good chunk of the Pacific Northwest in favor of being green, takes an ethical stance of "the ends justify the means," or, more specifically, "It's okay to bomb places, because The System is evil and gave you cancer." The characters are fairly one-dimensional, with a lot of "tell" and not too much "show. The plot is a bit heavy-handed, with villains almost cartoonishly villainous, a government with over-the-top evil and incompetence, convenient plot devices (so I can power a city with how many solar cells?) where I'd have preferred at least pseudoscience, and so on.

This is to be expected of a propaganda piece, but it should not be taken as such. The trouble is, even when read as an attempt to convert, an even slightly skeptical reader will not be converted--this piece will only be loved by the leftist choir Callenbach is preaching to. As a manifesto-cum-fantasy, it's childish where with plot and character development it could have had literary and social value.

If you want an Ecotopia, it's not going to emerge this way, guys.

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Alexis

5.0 out of 5 stars A mostly realistic approach to the choices that need to be madeReviewed in the United States on August 7, 2011
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I loved this book because it is an entertaining and thoughtful approach to the eminent threats of environmental destruction. In the 21st Century and especially in the United States (because we have the luxury to think about how to improve our state) we should consider practical solutions to the imposing threats of environmental decay. We need to allow nature to thrive because that allows for us, as humans, to live better. This is one solution to that problem.

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Lynn Hamilton

3.0 out of 5 stars Clean, Green, and MeanReviewed in the United States on March 11, 2005
Format: Paperback
Ecotopia Emerging is a wonderfully detailed utopia based on the ecological values that have been emerging in the northwestern United States for around the past thirty years.

Callenbach, who first developed his notions into a sort of sim city, went on to convert into a novel. It starts with Vera Allwen, a strong-willed matriarchal type who launches a new political party based entirely on environmental principals. Gathering together a few of her best tree-hugging friends, Vera proceeds to lay the groundwork for a takeover of northern California, Oregon, and Washington. Callenbach, who is incredibly optimistic about human nature, imagines that Vera's ideas take off like wild fire, and, in no time, those three states declare themselves independent from the rest of the United States. "Ecotopia now!" is their fierce battle cry.

In many ways, Callenbach's book captures the intense ecological convinctions of many (not all) people who live in the northwest. And his novel is realistic to the extent that the Ecotopians don't expect to convert the rest of the country any time soon.

Callenbach has taken quite a bit of criticism for the poverty of his character development and story telling abilities. And it's true that his characters basically all talk like nice college professors, folksy, but knowledgeable. When the writer tries to create a different argot for his villain Whitey Whitehead, Whitey's ignorant patter sounds hopelessly corny and stereotypical.

But ultimately it's hard to fault Callenbach for his Ecotoia series. His vision is certainly one that is intended to save humanity from itself, and he has thought through the elements of a future Ecotopia with amazing thoroughness.

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Remembering Jim Lehrer | PBS NewsHour



Remembering Jim Lehrer | PBS NewsHour




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Remembering Jim LehrerNation Jan 23, 2020 1:00 PM EST


PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer, a giant in journalism known for his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news, died peacefully in his sleep at home on Thursday, at the age of 85.

For Jim, being a journalist was never a self-centered endeavor. He always told those who worked with him: “It’s not about us.”

Night after night, Jim led by example that being yourself — journalist, writer, family man, citizen — can be a high calling.

For 36 years, Jim began the nightly newscast with a simple phrase: “Good Evening, I’m Jim Lehrer.”

As an anchor of several iterations of the NewsHour, Jim reported the news with a clear sense of purpose and integrity– even as the world of media changed around him.

Jim and his journalism partner Robert MacNeil’s approach to reporting the news became known as the “MacNeil-Lehrer style of journalism.” Their approach helped lay the foundation for modern public media reporting.

The nine tenets that governed his philosophy included the assumption that “the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am,” that “there is at least one other side or version to every story,” that separating “opinion and analysis from straight news stories” must be done clearly and carefully, and last but not least: “I am not in the entertainment business.”

Jim Lehrer’s Rules

Do nothing I cannot defend.
Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me.
Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.
Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am.
Assume the same about all people on whom I report.
Assume personal lives are a private matter until a legitimate turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise.
Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and clearly label everything
Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should be allowed to attack another anonymously.
“I am not in the entertainment business.”

Jim was born in 1934 in Wichita, Kansas, the son of Lois, a bank clerk, and Harry, a bus station manager.

He attended Victoria College in Texas and then studied journalism at the University of Missouri.

Having his father and brother before him enlist in the Marines, Jim served three years as an infantry officer in the late 1950s, including time in the Pacific. He saw no combat, but spoke often of how the experience shaped him.

“Seldom a day goes by, that I don’t know that I am doing something because of something I learned in the Marine Corps,” he said at a 2010 parade the Corps put on, in his honor.

In 1960, Jim married his lifelong partner and love, Kate Staples.

He also began his journalism career in earnest that year. He reported for both the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times-Herald from 1959 to 1966, covering local politics. He became the Times-Herald’s city editor in 1968.

On Nov. 22, 1963, a rainy morning, Jim was asked by an editor to check on one aspect of President John F. Kennedy’s visit to Dallas: Would the president’s limousine have a plexiglass bubble top attached to shield him and the first lady from rain? In 2014, he told the NewsHour that he approached a secret service agent to ask that question, and that the agent then proceeded to direct the bubble’s removal from the car.

Jim was also at the Dallas police station when Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy’s assassin, was brought in for questioning.

“I wrote his name down. I still have the notebook. I’m one of those people who asked, hey, did you shoot the president?” Jim recalled.

MacNeil, who would go on to become Jim’s lifelong friend and partner in journalism, also covered the assassination for NBC News. They both described the experience of bearing witness to such a significant historical event, and its long-lasting effects on them personally, during an appearance on the NewsHour.

“What I took away and have taken away — and it still overrides everything that I have done in journalism since — what the Kennedy assassination did for me was forever keep me aware of the fragility of everything, that, on any given moment, something could happen,” Jim said, “I mean, my God, if they could shoot the president–”

“And that president,” MacNeil added.

Jim said that because of that day, when he became city editor, he “had a rule that every phone that rang in that newsroom got answered, because you never knew who was on the other line.”



Lehrer’s television career was also launched in Dallas, at public station KERA. His move to the national stage with PBS was when he became a correspondent for what was then called the National Public Affairs Center for Television, or NPAT.

It was there he first joined MacNeil to cover another watershed moment — the Watergate hearings in 1973.

In addition to gavel-to-gavel coverage throughout the day, Jim presented a rebroadcast with analysis late into the night — some 250 hours in all. Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil’s broadcast helped guide viewers through hours of testimony, years before the concept of the 24-hour news cycle.

“The senators, as well as the rest of us who are interested, will have to make the ultimate choice between believing John Dean or Bob Haldeman. That’s the way it looks to me at 3:00 in the morning,” Jim reported at the time, while smiling. “Feel free to disagree.”

Some 70,000 letters poured in, praising the team and its work.

“We began life in October 1975 as ‘The Robert MacNeil Report,’” Jim said, reminiscing on the 40th anniversary of the Watergate hearings. “And months later, became ‘The MacNeil/Lehrer Report.’ In those days, we dealt with one story for half an hour.”

In 1983, the program expanded to one hour of news and analysis and was renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Twelve years later, MacNeil retired, and the program became The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Over the years, Jim interviewed numerous leading figures on the world stage, including Margaret Thatcher and Yasser Arafat in the 1980s, South Korean President Kim Daejung and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin in the 1990s, and Jordan’s King Abdullah and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the 2000s.

Jim daily examined major turning points in the life of the nation and world. He pressed experts from the business world and military brass, as well as America’s top political figures.

During one of Jim’s most notable interviews, he pressed President Bill Clinton about accusations regarding his sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and the subsequent investigation into his conduct.

“The news of this day is that Kenneth Starr, independent counsel, is investigating allegations that you suborned perjury by encouraging a 24-year-old woman, former White House intern, to lie under oath in a civil deposition about her having had an affair with you,” Jim said in the interview with Clinton. “Mr. President, is that true?”

Clinton denied the allegation.

“That is not true. That is not true,” Clinton told Jim. “I did not ask anyone to tell anything other than the truth. There is no improper relationship and I intend to cooperate with this inquiry, but that is not true.”

Jim was calm and careful in moments of crisis, as demonstrated by his coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“I’m Jim Lehrer. Terrorists used hijacked airliners to kill Americans on this, September 11, 2001,” Jim reported on national television. “Another day of infamy for the United States of America.”

“Jim’s intelligence is so laser-like, no matter what he’s applying it to, that’s how he treats any situation, no matter how we treat a certain news story or what a news story means,” MacNeil said this of his partner.

“I learned a lot from him, about his very direct manner of interviewing,” MacNeil added. “And not being afraid to say ‘you don’t understand’ or ‘you don’t know.’ But also his extraordinary ability to listen. You know the hardest thing to do on TV is to listen.”



MacNeil described how Jim was able to moderate a discussion of several people and never drop important points.

“He’s brilliant at that. Nobody does it better than he does. Brilliant. I learned a lot about the fundamental meaning of fairness,” MacNeil said.

Perhaps nowhere was this seen better than on the largest stage of all, with upwards of 60 million viewers: as moderator of 12 presidential debates– more than any other person in U.S. history.

His first was in 1988, his last in 2012. In 1996 and 2000, he moderated all the presidential debates — the first person to do that.

For Americans, Jim would say, the debates are the one chance to take the measure of candidates side by side.

Jim’s wife, Kate, served as his main debate prep sounding-board.

“As soon as the process really gets underway it’s, ‘I’m Alice in Wonderland going in the rabbit hole. Praying to come out on the other side,’” Kate said in 2012 when discussing Jim’s book, “Tension City,” which was a reflection on his role in presidential debates.



Jim likened moderating the debates to “walking down the blade of a knife.”

“It’s not a lot of fun, but if you get to the other end, it’s really exciting,” Jim said in 2012. “When a debate is over that I moderate, I want to be able, I want everybody to say, O.K., here you have seen and heard the candidates for president of the United States on the same stage at the same time talking about the same things. You can judge them. I mean, do you like this guy? Is he telling the truth? All that kind of stuff. And you see them right there together — it’s a huge test.”

But Jim’s life wasn’t all tension and worldly affairs.

One of his great passions was on display in his basement at home and his office at work: the intercity bus memorabilia Jim had collected over the years. It was a reminder of his father’s career and his own childhood in Kansas.



There was also Jim Lehrer, the prolific writer. He was the author of some 20 novels, drawing on his life as a newsman, as well as his interest in history and politics. He also wrote plays and three memoirs.

One early novel, “Viva Max!”, was turned into a film starring Peter Ustinov and Jonathan Winters. The political satire featured a modern day Mexican general who crosses into the U.S.. to retake the Alamo.

“I write a little bit on my fiction everyday. It’s just what I do,” Jim once said.

Jim earned dozens of journalism awards and honorary degrees.

He was given the National Humanities Medal by Clinton, elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and with MacNeil, inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

Although he insisted on not being the center of attention when reporting the news, at one important juncture in his life, Jim did tell a deeply personal story: the major heart attack that almost killed him in 1983.

The documentary “My Heart, Your Heart” captured how the scare led him to a change in diet and lifestyle. Among other things, he would become a committed afternoon “napper” — there was no disturbing Jim between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

One priority that never changed was his family. Jim and Kate — herself the author of three novels — had three daughters: Jamie, Lucy and Amanda. He also had six grandchildren.

Jim stepped down as full-time anchor of the NewsHour in 2011.



Late in his tenure, he closed a speech to PBS stations managers this way:

“We really are the fortunate ones in the current tumultuous world of journalism right now, because when we wake up in the morning, we only have to decide what the news is and how we are going to cover it. We never have to decide who we are and why we are there. That is the way it has been for these nearly 35 years and that’s the way it will be forever. And for the NewsHour, there will always be a forever.”

From Judy Woodruff: Longtime PBS NewsHour Anchor and Co-Founder Jim Lehrer Has Passed Away at 85

The PBS NewsHour’s Gretchen Frazee and Molly Finnegan contributed to this report.

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Notable & Quotable: Jim Lehrer’s Rules of Journalism - WSJ



Notable & Quotable: Jim Lehrer’s Rules of Journalism - WSJ

Notable & Quotable: Jim Lehrer’s Rules of Journalism


‘Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am. Assume the same about all people on whom I report.’


Jan. 24, 2020 6:43 pm ET


News anchor Jim Lehrer moderates a presidential debate in Denver, Oct. 3, 2012. PHOTO: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

From Jim Lehrer’s Rules of Journalism. Lehrer died Thursday at 85:

 Jim Lehrer’s Rules of Journalism

1. ‘Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am. Assume the same about all people on whom I report.’
--------

. . . 2. Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me.


3. Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.


4. Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am.

5. Assume the same about all people on whom I report. . . .

7. Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and clearly label everything

8. Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should be allowed to attack another anonymously.

9. “I am not in the entertainment business.”




Jim Lehrer의 저널리즘 규칙 




1.‘시청자가 나만큼 똑똑하고 보살 피고 좋은 사람이라고 가정 해보십시오. 내가보고하는 모든 사람에 대해 동일하게 가정합니다. '. . . 

2. 이야기가 나에 관한 것이라면 내가 원하는 관심을 가지고 모든 이야기를 다루고, 쓰고, 발표하십시오. 

3. 모든 이야기에 적어도 하나의 다른면이나 버전이 있다고 가정하십시오. 

4. 시청자가 나만큼 똑똑하고 돌보아주고 좋은 사람이라고 가정합니다. 

5. 내가보고하는 모든 사람들에 대해 동일하게 가정하십시오. . . . 

7. 간단한 뉴스 기사와 의견 및 분석을 신중하게 분리하고 모든 것을 명확하게 표시합니다. 
8. 희귀하고 기념비적 인 경우를 제외하고 익명의 출처 나 맹인을 사용하지 마십시오. 익명으로 다른 사람을 공격해서는 안됩니다. 

9.“엔터테인먼트 사업이 아닙니다.”

18 Bill Matassoni Marketing Saves The World: Stories about why capitalism works. eBook: Bill Matassoni: Kindle Store



Amazon.com: Marketing Saves The World: Stories about why capitalism works. eBook: Bill Matassoni: Kindle Store






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Marketing Saves The World: Stories about why capitalism works. Kindle Edition
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File Size: 4218 KB
Print Length: 157 pages
Publisher: FIRMSconsulting LLC; 1 edition (December 2, 2018)
Publication Date: December 2, 2018
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Biography

After graduating from Harvard Business School, Bill joined Porter Novelli, a small consulting firm that was pioneering the concept of social marketing. His first client was the National High Blood Pressure Education Program. 

“Instead of selling soap I learned how to sell and keep selling people the benefits of compliance.

 Not easy. You can’t scare them forever. We needed to convince them that treating their blood pressure was an act of love,” says Bill. His next client was United Way of America, where he soon became VP of Marketing. He produced and wrote a nationally televised advertising campaign that featured every NFL team. “Two years out of HBS and I’m writing football spots. But the players did a great job and the ads ran for years.”

Then, to his surprise Bill got a call from McKinsey. The recruiter asked him if he was interested in creating a marketing program for the “preeminent” consulting firm. He said no. They called back a few months later. This time he said yes. It was time, he thought, to re-enter the private sector. And to broaden his experience selling ephemeral things. “There was no job description. I decided not to try to impose some sort of marketing strategy worldwide. Instead I found 20 partners in different countries who were ready to make things happen and had something to say.” Two years after joining McKinsey Bill was elected a partner. For almost two decades he was responsible for advancing McKinsey’s reputation and protecting its brand. In doing so he worked closely with many of his colleagues worldwide. He was also responsible for McKinsey’s internal communications. This included the creation of McKinsey’s systems to manage and disseminate its practice knowledge.

In 1999 Bill left McKinsey to join Mitchell Madison Group, a strategy consulting firm. He helped to take the firm public through its sale to USWeb/CKS. He then joined The Boston Consulting Group, where he headed for over five years a group responsible for integrating innovation, marketing and communications. Bill worked closely with several of BCG’s thought leaders to develop their ideas and turn them into consulting assignments. After retiring from BCG he founded The Glass House Group, a consulting firm that helps professional services firms on branding and marketing issues.

Bill is a graduate of Phillips Andover (1964), Harvard College (B.A. Literature, 1968) and Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1975). He and his wife, Pamela, live in New Canaan, Connecticut in a glass house designed by Philip Johnson (the Boissonnas house). The house and their renovation of it have been featured in several magazines and newspapers including Town and Country, Metropolitan Home, and The New York Times. Their current interests include contemporary Chinese painting (black ink on paper) and “as much good wine as their budget can tolerate.”

For many years Bill was on the board of trustees of United Way of America and United Way International. He is now on the board of trustees of First Book and a senior advisor to Ashoka, an organization that invests in social entrepreneurs. He remains interested in the management and marketing of professional services firms and social marketing. “Marketing,” he says, “can help us make real progress against complex, multi-stakeholder challenges. Don’t become a finance guy. You can have much more impact and fun as a marketer.”

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Brian H

5.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining, illuminating, and inspiring call to actionReviewed in the United States on December 3, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is an excellent book. But it is not about “marketing” as we know it. The “Four Ps” – synonymous with the discipline in most circles – make only a cameo appearance in a one-paragraph story about a small initiative from forty years ago. Students cramming for a test or an interview will be disappointed. They shouldn’t be. Bill Matassoni is taking marketing “out of the ring” just like McKinsey decades ago.

Likewise, although the author shares many entertaining and insightful stories from a long and accomplished career, this is not really a memoir. Marketing Saves the World is about helping future generations of leaders decide what to do with their lives.

That’s not to say that practitioners and observers will be bored. Matassoni takes the reader on a unique adventure, from filming commercials with NFL stars to redesigning the approval process for life-saving drugs. His story is enjoyable, and I was consistently touched by his warm, amusing, and often moving stories of friendship with former colleagues. His genuine adoration of his wife Pamela also shines through.

The management consulting industry provides the setting for most chapters. Matassoni covers some impressive highs – particularly at McKinsey & Co., where he spent two decades – as well as personal and professional setbacks. While we have become accustomed to oversimplified frameworks and toolkits at the end of management books, Matassoni stays true to his belief that it is “better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.” Readers are encouraged to be “conceptual architects” who identify new dimensions of potential value.

The book ends with a section on marketing for social problems, bringing us full circle given Matassoni’s start at a social marketing firm. He makes a compelling case that these principles can generate progress against longstanding social issues. However, I cannot fully endorse his casual dismissal of diplomats and regulators who produce “patchwork answers” that he deems “pathetic and corrupt.” Far better to imagine a system in which those parties embrace the principles of marketing rather than dismissing them as irredeemably separate from it.

And if Matassoni is too dismissive of politics, he likewise fails to recognize that in practice, capitalism is not only a potential solution to social problems but also a partial cause – particularly to the extent that a pure system is corrupted by, say, clients of McKinsey and BCG wielding undue influence to support their own interests at the expense of the broader system.

Nevertheless, his plea for “imaginative and determined people” to create social value is why this is best understood as a forward-looking call to action rather than (only) a retrospective account of his career. And while Matassoni claims to be going out with a “whimper and not a bang,” I think he is being too modest. This book has the potential to inspire a new generation of problem-solvers and equip them to see and pursue new dimensions of value on important issues.

I do not read many memoirs, and I never read books about marketing. But this one is choice stuff.

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Az Copper

5.0 out of 5 stars Like Having Dinner with the Man Hired to Help McKinsey formulate their OWN Marketing StrategyReviewed in the United States on December 3, 2018
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As Jerry Garcia said; “You do not merely want to be considered the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones that do what you do.” Bill Mattasoni is a true original. A philosopher poet meets wildly successful strategy partner.
This memoir is the opportunity to sit at the feet of a master and learn as he reflects on a successful career helping some of the world's largest organizations solve real problems. Bill says simply; that Marketing can solve the worlds problems. Which is entirely true. As a trusted advisor (consultant) to firms; the concept of "marketing is systems redesign" shifts how I think about strategy problems. Do yourself and the people you serve a favor, and buy the book but more importantly, study it. Rich lessons are here.

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R

5.0 out of 5 stars A fresh view of marketing from the person that made Mckinsey and BCG who they areReviewed in the United States on December 2, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
It is not often that a book comes along that re-defines a well established idea in a way that makes you re-think everything that you once thought you knew.

This one of those books - Bill brings you on his journey as he re-thinks marketing from idea generation to execution. As you join Bill on this journey - you be right next to him as he comes up with these ideas, how his ideas were not immediately accepted and how he had to fight to get them implemented, and finally you get to see how his ideas started to deliver results and ultimately gain acceptance.

As an added benefit - this book will give you an insiders view of both Mckinsey and BCG - Bill's stories of the key players from those companies will make you feel like you were a part of the key decisions each firm made.

I fully recommend that you give this book a chance - you will be a better person afterwards.


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Bill Graca

5.0 out of 5 stars 
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2018
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This book was a hard one to put down. While I read it in only a few short hours, the lessons from this book - taken from Bill's career experiences - are bound to influence the trajectory of my own career for years to come.

Bill's perspective on Marketing and his experience both in and beyond the world of management consulting left me inspired, hopeful, and energized. I loved how "real" Bill was in his memoir. The author is a man of exceptional education, experience, and influence (someone who was mentored by Marvin Bower himself and who shaped the thinking and trajectory of today's McKinsey & Company) yet he chose to share his life and thinking in an approachable, relevant, witty, and motivating way. It's very unique.

Reading this memoir has given me a new perspective on business and the world. It's helped me to build up a mental model of how I might think differently about the challenges that organizations face. It encouraged me to think outside of the box, to challenge the status quo, and to look for experiences that matter - to be a world changer.

While it might seem like a simple read chocked full of witty anecdotes take time to process this book and think about the role that marketing plays in your context. It's an easy read filled with some outstanding wisdom that will last a lifetime.



mike s.

5.0 out of 5 stars Bill is brilliant and truthfulReviewed in the United States on December 6, 2018
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Bill speaks from the heart and from his many years of driving success. He knows that marketing is about truth and innovation. And he has a track record for over 40 years of innovating, changing the frame, clearly saying what matters. This book is a toast to all those who believe a great idea needs to be boiled down to a message, a headline that can get in your head. Thank you Bill for assembling your best stories in a single volume. I wait with anticipation to the sequel.


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veritas

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable career and life story with practical takeawaysReviewed in the United States on December 5, 2018
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I don't typically read memoirs (usually full of self-aggrandizement and axe-grinding) but am glad I happened upon this one. One-third of the way into it and it's already been well worth it to me. It provides a unique first-hand account of marketing the management consulting industry from someone who was a significant player in it for decades. I have already made many highlights on my Kindle to come back to. Easy, enjoyable read.



Gustavo Henrique Carvalho
5.0 out of 5 stars "Find great people who want to make a change"Reviewed in Brazil on December 2, 2018
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Bill is one of those people. I thought I understood marketing. Then I read this book. My mind changed.

In my opinion this book target three broad audiences (everyone who wants to learn more about marketing should read it): consultants, executives, and marketers. I do have subgroups on those 3 broad categories but I'm not going to specify for the sake of simplicity. It's a really fun book to read and you might read it in one sit. But fun is not the same as not insightful or vague. You might want to re-read it to grab even more the underlying rich principles and concepts about marketing and strategy.

Marketing Saves the World tells you a little bit of Bill's life, and his anecdotes are rich and insightful! He states that marketing is the essential ingredient for successful companies and the people who run them and that really makes you think. It's the cornerstone of strategy because you need to know your market space, you need to know your market dimensions (two concepts Bill raised), in order to make a substantial change. And you don't need to change the entire company talking about marketing everywhere to everyone, you just need the right people, people who want to make a change, and work with them in order to transform it. Marketing is not only about the outside, it's about the inside too, so you must change twice in order to be successful in your endeavors.

Bill worked with heavy brands: McKinsey, BCG, United Way of America, etc. and got really great histories within each one. For example, he was the Global-Head of Marketing at McKinsey and was responsible for getting it out of the "ring of thugs" they were in back at 1982. His efforts were responsible for putting McKinsey ahead of other consulting firms. In my opinion, that is something really complex and difficult to do.

Selling the hard stuff is already difficult, now imagine selling a treatment for an incurable disease? Ephemeral things are difficult to sell, it brings other dimensions on the table, you need to learn how to bend those dimensions and find new ones. This book can give you the insights to find just that but remember, it is not an instruction book, with steps in order to solve it, you need to grab those underlying principles.

If you are a consultant, you need to read this book. If you want to be a consultants, you must read this book. If you are curious about marketing, you should read this book. If you want to learn a little bit more about McKinsey and BCG you should read this book. If you work with marketing, you should definitely read this book. You will be amazed by the stories and how fun it is to learn a little bit more about marketing.

Thank you Bill, for writing this memoir and sharing a little bit of your life!

The only thing I do not like is not being able to grab one of the Limited Editions myself.

I really recommend this book. In my opinion, you will not regret reading it.
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Bruno Freire
5.0 out of 5 stars "If you want to change, you must change twice"Reviewed in Brazil on December 7, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

At first, I was very skeptical about whether I would be able to extract insights from this book and apply them in my career. I was wrong about that. It is a very easy read, but it also has a lot of substance, and I'll certainly find new insights when I read it a second and third time.

Bill tells us this quote of one of his friends, a BCG partner. It says that if you want to change, you will have to change twice: your attitude or actions, to make it happen, but also your perception of that habit/attitude, as it is necessary for it to be longlasting.

Just that quote already impacted my attitude towards reading in general: I want to read a lot of books, but am struggling a little to implement this in a regular basis because I have not yet changed twice. And that is only one of the insights I have found in this book. There are many other bigger ones ready to be extracted by the reader.

I also thought it would be a book filled with amazing stories and interesting people. This time I got it right. The narrative is very engaging and you always feel like you are part of the scenes he describes.

There are six things that I really enjoyed about this book:

*His writing style, that is very concise and to the point, while still being very funny and engaging;

*Insights about marketing and strategy, which permeate the whole book, spanning from his stories about convincing people to take care of their blood pressure to the ones about revolutionizing the image of McKinsey;

*A very insightful and honest view about McKinsey and BCG's culture and problems;

*The stories and views on very famous and interesting people, such as Kenichi Ohmae, Marvin Bower, and even Leslie Nielsen!

*His passion about marketing, which is almost contagious and made me a lot more interested in the subject;

*A very humble and grounded tone, which is already valuable by itself, and coming from such an amazing and accomplished person, it's even more so;

Bill's definition of marketing is very unique - it enables us to think about marketing in a much broader way, expanding its applicability. It is not a common definition you would find in regular marketing books. It does link to spacial geometry in a sense, and also talks about three key elements: technical, functional and emotional, as well as its ability to be applied to copletely change "market spaces" (not marketplaces) as he always reiterates.

So, if you would like to learn about marketing, strategy and consulting firms and chuckle a little bit along the way, this book is for you. Too bad the book is a bit short.
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Lucas Augusto Machado
5.0 out of 5 stars Leitura obrigatória para quem gosta de entender sobre como o mundo funcionaReviewed in Brazil on January 7, 2019
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Leitura leve e divertida, onde Bill expõe de maneira honesta e íntima seus maiores desafios e conquistas ao longo de sua carreira. É o tipo de livro em que "everything seems worth highlighting"!

O livro te faz pensar sobre como os conceitos de marketing permeiam nossas vidas, e traz aplicações para todos os campos do conhecimento, seja você médico querendo melhor atender seus pacientes ou artista querendo melhor vender sua arte.

Pra quem gosta ou trabalha com consultoria ou gestão, é uma obra ímpar de grande raridade, dado que vários detalhes são publicados de maneira aberta - e respeitosa. Para os demais, vale entender como os conceitos de administração e marketing se aplicam a todos os campos do conhecimento.

Por fim, a abordagem sobre o capitalismo é genial - ainda mais para um país como nosso, cuja herança colonial ainda carrega o conceito de que "ganhar dinheiro é errado". É uma visão menos financeira/"gananciosa", mas sim sobre como as vantagens competitivas e trabalho duro beneficiam a sociedade como um todo - daí o subtítulo.

Único problema é que o livro é curto! Já estou ansioso por mais do autor!
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Light and fun reading, where Bill honestly and intimately exposes his greatest challenges and achievements throughout his career. It's the kind of book where "everything seems worth highlighting"! The book makes you think about how marketing concepts permeate our lives, and brings applications to all fields of knowledge, whether you are a doctor wanting to better serve your patients or an artist wanting to better sell your art. For those who like or work with consultancy or management, it is a unique work of great rarity, given that several details are published in an open - and respectful way. For the others, it is worth understanding how the concepts of administration and marketing apply to all fields of knowledge.

 Finally, the approach to capitalism is brilliant - even more so for a country like ours, whose colonial heritage still bears the concept that "making money is wrong". It is a less financial / "greedy" view, but about how competitive advantages and hard work benefit society as a whole - hence the subtitle. Only problem is that the book is short! I'm already looking forward to more from the author!
 







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Balaji S.G
5.0 out of 5 stars Knowing The Real Meaning Of the Dimension Changes The Way You lead , Think & Make DecisionReviewed in India on December 19, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is one of the phenomenal book added to my library. One of the vital concepts that helped me is about the Dimension, and one of the theme Bill emphasizes in his book. It took some time to understand. Once you get the core concept of Dimension and if you apply that philosophy, it will work and it did work for me when I want to launch new innovative services to the market in the Technology sector.

The book also encourages us to think , visualize and craft the path that leads us to success. His experience in dealing with the problem, solving techniques, communication, and interpersonal skills are amazing. His are of experience also provides us to think about what we can do in the social sector which was unique and eye-opening.


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Jawad Arif
5.0 out of 5 stars Not a shortcut - Its a Mind SetReviewed in Australia on January 11, 2019
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
---
Read this book to Understand Marketing mindset.

This book is not a quick repicie to prepare 2 minute Marketing Noodles by taking 5 steps.

Read this book to develop and understand the Practical Marketing Philosophy to start new or stear a well established business from Marketing Perspective.

Find and Define New Marketing Dimensions for your business and then it should be All Systems Go!!!

Thank You Bill Matassoni to make me THINK In Terms of Marketing.

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Research Shows We Can Heal With Vibration, Frequency & Sound – Collective Evolution



Research Shows We Can Heal With Vibration, Frequency & Sound – Collective Evolution



Research Shows We Can Heal With Vibration, Frequency & Sound



Published 2 months ago

on December 10, 2019


By Arjun Walia 130.3K likes


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IN BRIEF
The Facts:

Multiple studies and examples have shown how sound, frequency and vibration can literally alter physical material matter. Research has also shown that sound, frequencies and vibration can be used as a significant healing method for various ailments.
Reflect On:

How plausible would it be for these interventions to become a regular part of therapy, just as much as pharmaceutical drugs are now?

Cymatics is a very interesting topic. It illustrates how sound frequencies move through a particular medium such as water, air, or sand and as a result directly alter physical matter. There are a number of pictures all over the internet as well as youtube videos that demonstrate how matter (particles) adjust to different sounds and different frequencies of sound.

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When it comes to ancient knowledge, sound, frequency and vibration have always been perceived as powerful forces that can influence and alter life all the way down to the cellular level. Sound healing methods are often used by Shamans, who employ drums and singing to access trance states. Research has even demonstrated that drumming and singing can can be used to slow fatal brain disease, and it can generate a sense of oneness with the universe . Sound therapy is getting more popular, and it can have many medical applications, especially within the psychological and mental health realms.

Sound, frequency and vibration are used all throughout the animal kingdom, and there are many examples. If we look at the wasp, they use antennal drumming to alter the caste development or phenotype of their larvae. Conventional thinking has held for quite some time that differential nutrition alone can explain why one larvae develops into a non-reproductive worker and one into a reproductive female (gyne). However, this is not the case, according to a 2011 study:


“But nutrition level alone cannot explain how the first few females to be produced in a colony develop rapidly yet have small body sizes and worker phenotypes. Here, we provide evidence that a mechanical signal biases caste toward a worker phenotype. In Polistes fuscatus, the signal takes the form of antennal drumming (AD), wherein a female trills her antennae synchronously on the rims of nest cells while feeding prey-liquid to larvae. The frequency of AD occurrence is high early in the colony cycle, when larvae destined to become workers are being reared, and low late in the cycle, when gynes are being reared. Subjecting gyne-destined brood to simulated AD-frequency vibrations caused them to emerge as adults with reduced fat stores, a worker trait. This suggests that AD influences the larval developmental trajectory by inhibiting a physiological element that is necessary to trigger diapause, a gyne trait.”

This finding indicates that the acoustic signals produced through drumming within certain species carry biologically meaningful information (literally: ‘to put form into’) that operate epigenetically (i.e. working outside or above the genome to affect gene expression).

Pretty fascinating, isn’t it? Like many other ancient lines of thought, this has been backed by modern day scientific research.

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Cancer

Another example comes from cancer research. In his Tedx talk, “Shattering Cancer with Resonant Frequencies,” Associate Professor and Director of Music at Skidmore College, Anthony Holland, tells the audience that he has a dream. That dream is to see a future where children no longer have to suffer from the effects of toxic cancer drugs or radiation treatment, and today he and his team believe they have found the answer, and that answer is sound. Holland and his team wondered if they could affect a cell by sending a specific electric signal, much like we do with LCD technology. After searching the patent database for a device that could accomplish this, they came across a therapeutic device invented by New Mexico physician Dr. James Bare. The device uses a plasma antenna that pulses on and off, which, as Holland explains, is important because a constant pulse of electricity would produce too much heat and therefore destroy the cell. For the next 15 months, Holland and his team searched for the exact frequency that would directly shatter a living microorganism. The magic number finally came in the form of two inputs, one high frequency and one low. The high frequency had to be exactly eleven times higher than the low, which in music is known as the 11th harmonic. At the 11th harmonic, micro organisms begin to shatter like crystal glass.

After consistently practicing until they became efficient at the procedure, Holland began working with a team of cancer researchers in an attempt to destroy targeted cancer cells. First they looked at pancreatic cancer cells, eventually discovering these cells were specifically vulnerable between 100,000 – 300,000 Hz.

Next they moved onto leukemia cells, and they were able to shatter the leukemia cells before they could divide. But, as Holland explains in his talk, he needed bigger stats in order to make the treatment a viable option for cancer patients.

In repeated and controlled experiments, the frequencies, known as oscillating pulsed electric field (OPEF) technology, killed an average of 25% to 40% of leukemia cells, going as high as 60% in some cases. Furthermore, the intervention even slowed cancer cell growth rates up to 65%.

You can read more about the story, find sources, and watch that TEDx talk here.

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Another example occurred in 1981, when biologist Helene Grimal partnered with composer Fabien Maman to study the relationship of sound waves to living cells. For 18 months, the pair worked with the effects of 30-40 decibel sounds on human cells. With a camera mounted on a microscope, the researchers observed uterine cancer cells exposed to different acoustic instruments (guitar, gong, xylophone) as well as the human voice for 20-minute sessions.

They discovered that, when exposed to sound, cancer cells lost structural integrity until they exploded at the 14-minute mark. Far more dramatic was the sound of a human voice — the cells were destroyed at the nine-minute mark.

After this, they decided to work with two women with breast cancer. For one month, both of the women gave three-and-a-half-hours a day to “toning” or singing the scale. Apparently, the woman’s tumor became undetectable, and the other woman underwent surgery. Her surgeon reported that her tumor had shrunk dramatically and “dried up.” It was removed and the woman had a complete recovery and remission.

These are only a few out of multiple examples that are floating around out there.

Let’s not forget about when Royal Rife first identified the human cancer virus using the world’s most powerful microscope. After identifying and isolating the virus, he decided to culture it on salted pork. At the time this was a very good method for culturing a virus. He then took the culture and injected it into 400 rats, which, as you might expect, created cancer in all 400 rats very quickly. The next step for Rife was where things took an interesting turn. He later found a frequency of electromagnetic energy that would cause the cancer virus to diminish completely when entered into the energy field. You can read more about that story here.
More Research

A 2014 study published in the Journal of Huntington’s Disease found that two months of drumming intervention in Huntington’s patients (considered an irreversible, lethal neurodegenerative disease) resulted in “improvements in executive function and changes in white matter microstructure, notably in the genu of the corpus callosum that connects prefrontal cortices of both hemispheres.” The study authors concluded that the pilot study provided novel preliminary evidence that drumming (or related targeted behavioral stimulation) may result in “cognitive enhancement and improvements in callosal white matter microstructure.”

A 2011 Finnish study observed that stroke patients who were given access to music as cognitive therapy had improved recovery. Other research has shown that patients suffering from loss of speech due to brain injury or stroke regain it more quickly by learning to sing before trying to speak. The phenomenon of music facilitating healing in the brain after a stroke is called the “Kenny Rogers Effect.”

A 2012 study published in Evolutionary Psychology found that active performance of music (singing, dancing and drumming) triggered endorphin release (measured by post-activity increases in pain tolerance), whereas merely listening to music did not. The researchers hypothesized that this may contribute to community bonding in activities involving dance and music-making.

According to a study published by the National Institute of Health, “Music effectively reduces anxiety for medical and surgical patients and often reduces surgical and chronic pain. [Also,] Providing music to caregivers may be a strategy to improve empathy, compassion, and care.” In other words, music is not only good for patients, it’s good for those who care for them as well.

Below is an interesting interview with Dr. Bruce Lipton. You can view his curriculum vitae here.





What About The Mind?

A few years ago, these scientists held an International Summit on Post-Materialist Science, and created a manifesto to explain its significance. The scientists involved were Mario Beauregard, PhD (University of Arizona), Gary E. Schwartz, PhD (University of Arizona), and Lisa Miller, PhD (Columbia University), in collaboration with Larry Dossey, MD, Alexander Moreira-Almeida, MD, PhD, Marilyn Schlitz, PhD, Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, and Charles Tart, PhD.

There are hundreds of published peer-reviewed publications showing statistically significant results for this type of science, yet unfortunately, it is still shunned by mainstream academia, even though so many mainstream academic scientists support it. What is going on here?

The idea that the mind affects physical material reality is not trivial, and it’s been demonstrated repeatedly with statistically significant results through fascinating research undertaken by government programs, places like the Institute of Noetic Sciences (founded by Dr. Edgar Mitchell), and, in more recent developments, the group of internationally recognized scientists mentioned above.

Many studies have been conducted in these realms as well. Let’s look at water.

Experiments over the past four decades have investigated whether human intention alone can affect the properties of water. This question has been of interest to alternative medicine research, because the human body is made up of approximately 70% water. Interest in this topic has been rekindled recently by multiple researchers suggesting that intentionally influenced water can be detected by examining ice crystals formed from samples of that water. Scientists have hypothesized and shown that water influenced by intention can indeed influence the physical formation of the ice crystals that water produces. Consistent results commonly point to the idea that positive intentions tend to produce symmetric, well-formed, aesthetically pleasing crystals, and negative intentions tend to produce asymmetric, poorly formed, and unattractive crystals.

Dean Radin, the Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, along with Masaru Emoto, Takashige Kizu, and Nancy Lund, designed an experiment that tested this hypothesis.

As the study’s description reads:


Over three days, 1,900 people in Austria and Germany focused their intentions towards water samples located inside an electromagnetically shielded room in California. Water samples located near the target water, but unknown to the people providing intentions, acted as ‘‘proximal’’ controls. Other samples located outside the shielded room acted as distant controls. Ice drops formed from samples of water in the different treatment conditions were photographed by a technician, each image was assessed for aesthetic beauty by over 2,500 independent judges, and the resulting data were analyzed, all by individuals blind with respect to the underlying treatment conditions. Results suggested that crystal images in the intentionally treated condition were rated as aesthetically more beautiful than proximal control crystals (p < 0.03, one-tailed). This outcome replicates the results of an earlier pilot test.

You can access the full study here.

If thought alone does indeed have an effect on physical material reality, just imagine what it could do to our body? Something to think about
The Takeaway

The information presented in this article isn’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes the the medical applications of sound, frequency and vibration, which are all obviously correlated. One thing is clear, however, which is that there are many more methods out there, like the ones discussed in this article, that should be taken more seriously and given more attention from the medical establishment. It seems all mainstream medicine is concerned about is making money and developing medications that don’t seem to be representative of our fullest potential to heal. “Alternative” therapies shouldn’t be labelled as alternative, they should be incorporated into the norm.

Other sources used.

2020/01/24

2001 조성환. 개벽의 외출 - 동학, 세계와 만나다 - Daum 카페

地中有山 | 개벽의 외출 - 동학, 세계와 만나다 - Daum 카페

개벽의 외출 - 동학, 세계와 만나다 | 리더십에세이外
혼돈나라|조회 23|추천 0|2020.01.24. 19:18

조성환 (원광대학교 원불교사상연구원)


1. 서양과의 조우

지난 2019년 9월 30일부터 10월 1일까지 서울역사박물관에서 〈2019 한국생태문명회의: 생태문명을 향한 전환, 철학부터 정책까지〉가 열렸다. 한국의 생태문명을 주제로 한 이 국제회의는 올해로 세 번째를 맞이한다. 2017년에 캘리포니아주 클레어몬트시에서 〈한국사회의 생태적 전환을 위한 국제 컨퍼런스〉라는 이름으로 개최된 이래로, 2018년에는 경기도 파주시에서 〈생태문명 국제 컨퍼런스 2018: 한반도와 동아시아의 생태적 전환〉으로 이어졌다. 이 야심찬 포럼을 기획한 인물은 클레어몬트 신학대학원 과정사상연구소 연구원이었던 한윤정(1967~) 박사다. 지금은 ‘한국생태문명 프로젝트 디렉터’라는 직함으로 활동하고 있는 한윤정 디렉터는 1991년부터 2016년까지 경향신문 사회부·경제부·문화부 기자와 문화부장을 역임하였고, 2018년에는 화이트헤드철학자인 죤 캅 교수의 생태신학철학을 번역하기도 하였다(󰡔지구를 구하는 열 가지 생각󰡕, 지구와 사람).

작년에 열린 세 번째 생태문명회의에는 영광스럽게 필자도 발표자로 참여할 기회를 얻었다. 첫날 첫 섹션의 주제는 “생태문명의 철학”이었는데, 내가 준비한 내용은 “해월 최시형의 생태철학”이었다. 이 섹션의 발표자와 발표주제는 다음과 같다.

「산업문명에서 생태문명으로」 이재돈 신부, 가톨릭대 겸임교수

「생태문명, 고등교육, 아름다움의 생태학」 제이 맥다니엘 미국 헨드릭스대 교수·철학

「개벽파의 생명사상과 탈근대적 함의」 조성환 원광대 원불교사상연구원 책임연구원

「녹색국가론, 미완의 꿈? 여전히 유효한 질문」 정규호 한살림연합 정책기획본부장


이 중에서 나에게 가장 인상 깊었던 발표는 이재돈 교수의 ‘산업문명에서 생태문명으로’였다. 이 발표에서 이재돈 교수는 토마스 베리(Thomas Berry, 1914~2009)의 생태철학을 소개하셨는데, 나에게는 그것이 미국의 개벽사상처럼 보였다. 그가 제시한 ‘지구공동체’(earth community)나 ‘종들의 연합’(The United Species) 개념은 나의 발표주제였던 최시형(1827~1898)의 “천지부모-만물동포” 사상이나 󰡔천도교회월보󰡕(1911)에 실린 정계완의 ‘천인공화(天人共和)’ 개념과 크게 다르지 않았기 때문이다. 그래서 토마스 베리와 최시형은, 비록 1세기라는 시간차와 미국과 한국이라는 공간차는 있지만, ‘생태철학’ 또는 ‘생태신학’이라는 주제로 얼마든지 대화가 가능하겠다는 생각이 들었다.

이재돈 교수의 발표에 이어서, 제이 맥다니엘 교수는 화이트헤드의 과정철학을 미학적 관점에서 접근하는 발표를 하였고, 이어서 나는 최시형의 생태철학을 동학사상사의 흐름에서 소개하는 발표를 하였다. 마지막으로 한살림연합의 정규호 본부장은 풍부한 현장 경험을 살려 구체적인 생태정책을 제안하였다. 각 발표자에게 주어진 시간은 20분 정도였고, 통역은 동시통역으로 이루어졌다. 나는 발표는 한국어로 하였지만 미국인 학자들의 이해를 돕기 위해 PPT는 영문으로 작성하였다. 가령 ‘이천식천(以天食天)’은 “Heaven eats Heaven”과 같이 -.

제1섹션의 발표가 모두 끝나고 청중들의 질문을 받는 시간이 이어졌다. 그러나 누구 하나 동학에 관심을 갖는 이는 없었다. 토마스 베리나 화이트헤드와 같은 미국철학, 아니면 구체적인 생태정책에 대한 질문이 이어졌다. 그러다가 뜻밖에도 발표자였던 제이 맥다니엘 교수가 청중의 질문에 답변하는 도중에 나를 쳐다보면서 동학에 대한 얘기를 꺼냈다.

“저는 동학에 대해서는 잘 모르지만 이런 부분은 동학과 통하는 점이 있다고 생각합니다. 실은 저도 동학을 공부한 적이 있습니다. 아까 동학에 대한 발표가 대단히 흥미로웠는데, 가능하면 조성환 박사님으로부터 동학을 배우고 싶습니다.”

맥다니엘 교수의 코멘트가 끝나자 비로소 플로어에서도 나에게 질문을 하기 시작했다. 지금 생각해 보면 이런 상황은 별로 이상할 것도 없다. 어느 정도는 예견되어 있었다고 하는 편이 맞을지도 모른다. 내가 발표에 앞서 “한국철학을 하는 조성환입니다”라고 자기소개를 하는 순간 이미 객석에서는 낯선 분위기가 감돌고 있었기 때문이었다. 그것은 난생 처음 접하는 미지의 것을 대하는 ‘어색함’과도 같은 것이었다.

그것은 그렇다 치고, 나로서는 미국의 화이트헤디언이 동학을 공부한 적이 있다는 사실에 놀라지 않을 수가 없었다. 한국인조차 무관심한 동학을 미국의 철학과 교수가 관심을 가지고 있다니! 이번 컨퍼런스를 통해 내가 깨달은 사실은 동학이 현대 서양철학과도 얼마든지 대화가 가능하다는 것이다. 생태신학과 같은 주제라면 해월철학은 화이트헤드철학이나 토마스 베리 철학과도 충분히 접점을 찾을 수 있다는 확신을 가졌다.


2. 일본으로 가다

영미철학에 이어서 두 번째로 만난 것은 일본이었다. 한국생태문명회의가 있고 나서 두 달 뒤인 11월 23일과 24일, 난생 처음으로 일본의 대학에서 동학을 얘기할 기회를 얻었다. 그것도 오로지 동학사상만을 말하는 자리였다. 강연자도 원광대학의 박맹수 총장과 나, 단 두 명뿐이었다. 심포지움 제목은 “현대에 되살리는 한국사상”(現代に活かす韓国の思想).

일본에서 동학사상만으로 이런 자리가 마련되는 것은 아마도 교토포럼 이후로 처음일 것이다. 교토포럼이 전문 학자들만 참석하는 학술토론의 장이었다면 이번 심포지움은 일반인들과 함께하는 공개 강연의 형식을 띠었다. 이런 보기 드문 자리를 기획해 주신 분은 원광대학교와 오랫동안 학술교류를 하고 있고 동학사상에도 조예가 깊은 ‘토착적 근대론’의 주창자 기타지마 기신(北島義信. 1944~) 교수이다. 기타지마 선생은 개인적으로 주고받은 대화에서 “요즘과 같이 한일관계가 안 좋은 시기일수록 시민 차원의 교류는 더 활발해져야 한다”는 기획 의도를 피력한 적이 있다.

심포지움 장소는 일본의 한복판인 동경에 위치한 명문 동양대학(東洋大學)이었다. 동양대학은 “만학의 기초는 철학에 있다”는 건학이념을 내걸고 있는 종합대학으로, 130년 이상의 전통을 자랑하고 있다. 원광대학교 초대 총장인 숭산 박길진(1915~1986) 선생이 유학한 대학으로도 널리 알려져 있다. 그래서인지 양자 사이의 유사점도 눈에 띄었다. 동양대학 창립자인 이노우에 엔료(井上円了, 1858~1919)는 동경의 나카노구(中野区)에 철학당(哲學堂) 공원을 짓고 소크라테스, 칸트, 공자, 석가를 모신 사성당(四聖堂)을 세웠는데, 원광대학교 교정에도 소크라테스, 공자, 석가, 예수를 모신 사성상(四聖像)이 있다. 동양대학에 칸트가 들어 있는 반면에 원광대학에는 예수가 세워져 있는 것은 철학과 종교 중에서 어느 쪽을 더 중시하느냐의 차이를 반영하고 있다고 보인다. 뿐만 아니라 동양대학의 교육이념 중의 하나인 ‘지덕겸전(知德兼全)’은 원광대학의 건학이념인 ‘지덕겸수(知德兼修)’와 정확히 일치하고 있다. 이러한 점들은 박길진 총장이 원광대학을 디자인하는데 있어서 이노우에 엔료와 동양대학으로부터 일정 정도 영감을 받았음을 시사하는 것이리라.

강연장에 들어가자 대형 강의실에 100여명 가까운 청중들이 모였다. 박맹수 총장의 통역자로 온 원불교사상연구원의 야규 마코토 교수의 말에 의하면 적어도 80명 이상은 모인 것 같다고 한다. 제일 먼저 눈에 띈 것은 박맹수 총장과 14년 동안 ‘한일시민동학기행’을 이끌어 온 90세의 나카츠카 아키라 교수를 비롯한 기행에 참여한 일본시민들이었다. 그 중에는 재작년부터 동학기행에 참여한 《아사히신문》의 죠마루 요이치 기자의 모습도 보였다. 뿐만 아니라 김태창 선생과 같이 한일을 오가며 노년철학을 정립하고 있는 《미래공창신문》의 야마모토 교시 대표, 와세다대학에서 같이 유학한 민애선 박사, 멀리 토호쿠대학에서까지 와준 최다울 군 등, 오랜 지인들을 한자리에서 만나는 느낌이었다. 그 외에도 기타지마 기신 선생이 몸담고 있는 지역문화학회 소속 학자들과 동양대학 학생들이 참여하였다.

심포지움은 기타지마 기신 교수의 진행 하에, 박맹수 총장과 내가 전봉준과 최시형의 생명평화사상에 대해서 각각 얘기하고, 이어서 청중들의 질문을 받는 형식으로 3시간에 걸쳐 진행되었다. 개인적으로는 재작년부터 동학을 주제로 시민강좌를 여러 번 해본 경험이 많이 도움이 되었다. 다만 대상이 일본인으로 바뀌어서 일본어로 말해야 한다는 부담감에 긴장은 두 배로 증폭되었다. 아니 그보다는 동학사상을 처음 접하는 외국인들에게 짧은 시간 안에 동학의 정수를 요령 있게 전달해야 한다는 부담감이 더 컸던 것 같다. 다행히 밤을 새워가며 만든 ‘일본어 PPT’ 덕분에 전달력이 나쁘지는 않았던 것 같다.

강연이 끝나고 쉬는 시간에 복도에 나갔더니 나카츠카 아키라 교수님이 계셨다. “덕분에 그동안 잘 이해되지 않았던 문제들이 풀렸다”며 고맙다는 말을 해주셨다. 강연장에 돌아오니 외교관을 지냈다는 어느 원로께서도 “아주 이해하기 쉬웠다”며 칭찬을 해주셨다. 뿐만 아니라 심포지움이 다 끝나자 어느 시민이 다가와서 동학연구에 도움이 될지도 모른다며 귀한 정보를 제공해 주셨다.

동양대학 심포지움이 끝난 다음날, 박맹수 총장은 한국으로 귀국했고 나는 다음 강연을 위해 기타지마 기신 교수, 최다울 군과 함께 욧카이치로 향했다. 기타지마 기신 교수가 자신의 거주지인 토미다(富田)에서 시민강좌의 자리를 마련해 주었기 때문이다. 이번 제목은 “동학의 생명사상과 현대”였다. 청중은 10여명 정도에 불과했지만, 이번에는 또 다른 부담이 가중되었다. 기타지마 기신 교수를 비롯하여 동양대학 심포지움에 참석한 분들이 4명이나 있었기 때문이다. 그중에는 최다울 군을 비롯하여 지역문화학회 회원인 나카오(中屋) 교수 부부도 있었다. 뿐만 아니라 원불교사상연구원에서 같이 생활한 적이 있는 󰡔참된 문명은 사람을 죽이지 아니하고󰡕의 역자인 오니시 히데나오 박사님(1943~), 교토포럼 시절부터 알고 지내는 󰡔노년철학의 권유󰡕의 저자 오오하시 켄지 교수님, 그리고 재일교포라고 자신을 소개하신 욧카이치대학에서 서양경제학을 가르치는 이수이(李修二) 교수님도 계셨다. 두세 명을 제외하고는 모두 교수들인 셈이다.

그래서 나의 부담은 동양대학 때보다 배로 가중되었다. 전날 얘기를 그대로 반복하자니 이미 들었던 사람이 반이나 되고, 그렇다고 그것을 생략하자니 처음 듣는 사람도 반이나 되기 때문이다. 다행히 강연 시간이 동양대학의 두 배인 1시간 반이 주어졌다. 그래서 심화된 내용을 배로 추가하였다. 최시형의 법설을 일본어로 번역해서 넣은 것이다. 그러기 위해서 이번에도 밤을 새워야 했고, 한국에서 짊어지고 온 몸살감기는 완쾌되기는커녕 더 악화되기만 하였다.

강연이 끝나자 이번에는 정말 전문적인 질문과 코멘트들이 쏟아졌다.

유학과 동학의 관계, 
최시형 사상과 초기 맑시즘과의 유사성, 
최시형 사상과 이슬람 사상과의 유사점 등등.

동양대학 심포지엄에서는 “주체사상과 동학의 연관성”을 묻는 질문이 어려웠는데, 이번에도 거의 답변을 하지 못했다. 동아시아사상과의 관련성을 묻는 질문 이외에는 - . 향후의 과제로 남았지만 앞으로의 전망을 제시해 준 것이기도 하였다.
한국생태문명회의에 이어서 동학과 세계철학과의 대화가능성을 또 한 번 확인했기 때문이다.

이번의 동학 기획은 기타지마 기신 교수와 원광대학교가 7년 간에 걸쳐 학술교류를 축적해 온 성과라고 해도 과언이 아니다. 그 축적이 있었기에 한국사상을, 그것도 동학사상을 일본에서 말할 수 있는 장이 마련될 수 있었던 것이다. 노자 식으로 말하면 한일학술교류의 ‘길(道)’을 7년간 닦았더니 그것이 마침내 ‘힘(德)’으로 드러난 것이다. 개인적으로는 동학에 관심을 갖기 시작한지 어언 10년의 세월 중에서 가장 기억에 남는 날로 기록될 것이다. 동학에 대한 이토록 뜨거운 반응은 한국에서도 경험해 본 적이 없기 때문이다.


3. 북경에서의 대화

일본에서 돌아온 지 한 달이 채 안 된 12월 14일, 나는 다시 북경으로 떠났다. 이번에는 중국학자들과 대화하는 자리이다. 주제는 “중국의 향촌건설과 한국의 동학사상.”

󰡔백년의 급진󰡕의 저자이자 중국 향촌건설운동의 리더인 원테쥔(溫鐵軍, 1951~) 교수가 2018년에 원광대학교를 방문한 것에 대해 화답하는 형식으로 기획된 일종의 ‘한중생태포럼’이다. 당시에 원교수는 공주에서 있었던 한일시민동학기행에 참여하고, 다음날 원광대학교에서 강연을 하였다. 그 때 강연에서 한 말이 아직도 기억에 생생하다.

“저는 지금까지 한국의 근대화가 서양의 영향으로 된 줄만 알았는데, 어제 동학기행을 다녀오고 나서 그 바탕에 동학이 있었다는 사실을 알게 되었습니다.” [그런가??]

과연 대가다운 말이었다. 잠깐 동학전적지를 둘러본 것이 다인데 저런 통찰을 갖다니! 물론 이번 초청의 기획자인 이병한 선생과 통역자인 김유익 선생이 친절하게 배경설명을 해 준 것도 크게 작용했다고 생각되지만 -.

이번에 참가한 우리측 학자는 포럼의 제안자이자 기획자이기도 한

  1. 개벽학당의 이병한 당장을 비롯하여 
  2. 원광대학교 박맹수 총장, 
  3. PaTI의 안상수 교수, 
  4. 원광대학교 동북아시아인문사회연구소의 정혜정 교수, 
  5. 원광대학교 종교문제연구소의 김재익 연구원, 
  6. 그리고 나, 이렇게 여섯명이었다. 


중국측 참가자는

  1. 원테쥔 교수를 비롯하여 
  2. 원테쥔 선생과 함께 원광대학교를 방문했던 짱란잉 교수, 
  3. 중국사회과학원 문학연구소의 쑨거(孫歌) 교수, 
  4. 그리고 중국의 향촌운동을 연구하는 국내학자들과 해외에서 온 중국학 연구자들이다.


이 외에도 영국 슈마허칼리지의 창립자이자 Resurgence & Ecology의 편집자이기도 한 󰡔그대가 있어 내가 있다󰡕의 저자 사티쉬 쿠마르(Satish Kumar) 선생도 특별히 강연자로 참석하였다.


기조강연을 맡은 원테쥔 선생은 뜻밖에도 ‘탈서구중심주의’를 화두로 꺼냈다. 내가 ‘개벽’에 관심을 갖게 된 이유 중의 하나도 이것 때문이었는데, 중국에서도 이 문제가 부각되고 있다니 반가운 일이 아닐 수 없다. 동시에 왜 원테쥔 선생 쪽에서 ‘동학’에 관심을 표명하는지에 대한 의문도 풀리게 되었다. 동학은 자생적 근대화 운동임과 동시에 한살림으로 계승된 생태철학인데, 이 두 요소야말로 원테쥔 선생의 가장 큰 관심사라고 해도 과언이 아니기 때문이다.

우리측 발표는 기조강연을 맡은 박맹수 총장이 동학을 연구하게 된 계기와 한살림운동에 동참한 경험을 풀어놓는 것으로 시작되었다. 이어서 개별발표가 시작되었는데 각자에게 주어진 시간은 15분이었다. 나는 지난번 동경에서와 같이 전날 밤 늦게까지 중국어로 PPT를 만들었다. 양은 많지 않았지만 오랜만에 입력하는 중국어 자판이라서 작업은 더디게 진행되었다. 내가 발표한 주제는 “최시형의 생태공화주의”였다. 해월의 “천지부모-만물동포” 사상을 포럼의 전체 주제에 맞게 ‘생태공화’라는 개념으로 표현해 본 것이다. 이어서 정혜정 교수님은 󰡔개벽󰡕지의 중국 특파원을 역임한 천도교인 이동곡에 대해서 발표하였고, 김재익 연구원은 장일순의 한살림철학과 운동을 소개하였다. 이병한 박사는 동학에서 개벽학당에 이르는 동학 150년사를 동학 1.0에서 동학 4.0으로 정리하였고, 마지막으로 PaTI의 안상수 선생님은 자신이 디자인한 생명평화문양의 의미와 천도교의 궁을장에 담긴 디자인적 의의를 알기 쉽게 설명하였다.

이번 포럼에서 나에게 가장 인상적이었던 것은 영국에서 온 사티쉬 쿠마르 선생의 발표였다. 쿠마르 선생은 마이크를 잡자마자 ‘영성’에 대한 이야기를 꺼내기 시작했다. “영성은 흔히 생각하듯이 신비적이거나 관념적인 어떤 것이 아닙니다. 그것은 땅을 경작하고 밭을 일구는 과정에서 체험되는 것입니다.” 중국측 발표자들에게서는 전혀 들을 수 없었던 이야기다. 한국에서도 영성이란 말이 많이 회자되고 있지만, 이렇게 체화된 언어는 처음이었다. 순간 불교가 중국에 전래되었을 때에도 이런 느낌이었겠구나 싶었다. 쿠마르 선생이 죤 캅 교수와 더불어 중국의 향촌건설운동의 고문을 맡고 있는 이유를 알게 되었다. 운동이나 정책은 정부 차원에서 추진할 수 있어도 ‘영성’은 바깥에서 빌려올 수밖에 없는 것이 중국의 현실이기 때문이다. 마치 전통시대에 중국 유교의 부족함을 인도의 불교로 채웠듯이 말이다.

우리 쪽 발표에 대한 중국학자들의 반응은 약간 의외였다. 동학의 사상적 개성을 찾으려하기보다는 중국적인 ‘천인합일’이나 ‘유교’의 연장선상에서 이해하는 것이다. 15분 안에 중국적인 천인합일과 해월의 천인상의(天人相依)나 천인상여(天人相與)와의 차이를 설명할 수는 없었지만, 미국학자들이나 일본학자들이 보여준 반응과는 사뭇 달랐다. 아마 정부에서 후원하는 공적인 자리여서 더더욱 그러지 않았나 싶다.

그러나 이것보다 더 놀라웠던 점은 중국학자들 입에서 단 한 번도 ‘평화’라는 말이 나오지 않았다는 사실이다. 우리측 발표자들이 하나같이 동학을 ‘생명평화’와 결부지은 것과는 큰 대조를 이루고 있었다. 이 차이는 동학 이래로 한국이 걸어온 길이 동아시아 안에서도 특수한 길이었음을 시사하는 것이리라. 생각해 보면 홍콩문제나 티벳문제를 안고 있는 중국 입장에서 ‘평화’를 말하는 것은 자칫 자기모순에 빠질 수도 있겠다는 생각이 들었다.


4. 향후의 과제

세 차례에 걸쳐 미국, 일본, 중국학자들과 동학을 매개로 교류하는 체험을 하고서 느낀 점은 앞으로의 동학연구는 동학사상과 세계철학과의 대화를 준비하는 방향으로 나아가야겠다는 것이다. 남미에 가면 해방신학으로 동학과 대화하고, 미국에 가면 생태신학이나 생태철학으로 동학과 대화를 시도하는 것이다. 동학을 해방신학적 관점에서 해석하는 작업은 이미 1974년에 윤노빈이 󰡔신생철학󰡕에서 시도한 적이 있다. 일본과의 대화는 고마쓰 히로시, 박맹수, 오니시 히데나오 등이 다나카 쇼조와 전봉준‧최제우를 비교하는 작업을 시도한 적이 있다. 맑시즘이나 주체사상, 모택동사상과의 접점을 찾는 작업도 필요하다. 인간과 만물의 존재론적 평등성을 주장하는 서양의 신유물론(New Materialism)은 최시형의 만물시천주 사상과 크게 다르지 않다.

2019년 개벽학 원년에는 개벽학을 한국근대사나 세계근대사에 자리매김하는 작업에 중점을 두었다. 개벽학 1년부터는 개벽학과 세계사상 사이의 접점을 찾아서 서로 대화를 모색하는 작업을 하고 싶다. 마지막으로 이런 과제를 자각하게 해 주신 한윤정 디렉터, 기타지마 기신 교수, 이병한 당장에게 깊은 감사를 드린다.

출전: 《개벽신문》 91호. 2020년 1월호