Lynn says, "As road maps go, this one is a thought-provoking keeper, in my opinion."

 

Ordinary citizens the world over have long paid the price for the swashbuckling behavior of the corporate and political elite. We've seen the reigning establishment widen the gap between rich and poor, champion endless growth on a finite planet, wreak havoc on developing nations, and ravage ecosystems in a mad race for natural resources.Now, as demonstrators worldwide demand change, Occupy World Street offers a sweeping vision of how to reform our global economic and political structures, break away from empire, and build a world of self-determining sovereign states that respect the need for ecological sustainability and uphold human rights.In this refreshingly detailed plan, Ross Jackson shows how a handful of small nations could take on a leadership role; create new alliances, new governance, and new global institutions; and, in cooperation with grassroots activists, pave the way for other nations to follow suit.

Lynn says:

"Led to this book via a lengthy, rave review of it in a permaculture magazine during I can't recall which financial scandal (there've been so many lately!), I was immediately struck by how Jackson's background as both a financier and as chairman of the NGO, 'Gaia Trust', makes for an unusually well-rounded and well-articulated perspective on Wall Street as well as 'World Street'.  Coming from the 'Culture of Money' (a title of one of his chapters) the author begins by examining the historical milestones in the development of what is now known as the 'Washington Consensus', 'neoliberalism', or the 'corporatocracy', with a much more fleshed-out critique of the casino-like mentality that has made current economic crises inevitable and is likely to contribute to future, even graver consequences during the ongoing collapse of the Empire that Eisenhower once termed 'the Military Industrial Complex'.

What is new about this book is that the infusion of economics into each aspect of our lives from energy to media to elections to complex derivatives and bailouts makes clear the obvious impermanence and vulnerability of a system so devoted to maintaining such disconnection --of us from each other and from the very planet we live on.  The final third of the book is devoted to brainstorming some strategies to revamp, reform or outright replace such organizations as the WTO, and with considerably more detailed analysis than typically presented in books that present the case that collapse of Empire is imminent, but which give only nebulous, if any hint at what sort of paradigm might supplant the unraveling one.  The ferocious entrenchment of the status-quo can tempt the cynical reader to believe these strategies are impossible to implement and therefore hardly worth considering, but, as the epigraph used to introduce chapter 16 states, 'It may well be that the impossible at a given moment can become possible only by being stated at a time when it is impossible.' -Leszek Kolakowski.

Whether you are versed in collaborative decision-making or are excited by the growth of initiatives like 'Transition Towns' or are sympathetic with the 'occupiers' from Tahrir Square to Zuccotti Park, you may find yourself as you read this book, dogearing its pages to share with friends and family and daring to re-vision a future that might actually include a more participatory democracy, a wiser stewardship of this marvelous earth that sustains us, as well as gaining a wider appreciation for the role individuals and groups can play in navigating the complexities of the marketplace and the possibilities inherent in a more humane version of globalization that fosters  localized, fresh approaches to the authentic sustainability of the common good, human rights and ecological integrity.  We do live in 'interesting times'.... and whether that is a blessing or curse is largely up to us and our willingness to act outside the confines of the proscribed dictates of consumerism.  As road maps go, this one is a thought-provoking keeper, in my opinion."