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Now is the time: are we the people? |
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Written by Jan Lee Martin
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Tuesday, 21 March 2006 |
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While our political leaders deny that they are cynically pandering to racism to win votes, a new generation of leaders is exploring different kinds of futures for Australia. Their journey stretches from the topical topic of our national identity to Australia's possible future role as a global hero. Ironically, many of the emerging leaders who are exploring these alternative futures are working with the futurists' futurist... Pakistan-born Australian, Sohail Inayatullah. |
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Written by Jan Lee Martin
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Sunday, 05 February 2006 |
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"I have never before been ashamed of my country,' said Professor Peter Baume, Chancellor of the Australian National University, this month. "Now I am." Professor Baume, a former senior Liberal colleague of John Howard and now in his last weeks as Chancellor of the Australian National University, delivered a scathing attack on the government, reported Mike Steketee, national affairs editor of The Australian (18 01 06). "So many shameful things have happened in this country that would not have happened even a few years ago," said the widely-respected former senator. |
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Hurricane Katrina: how much pain does it take to learn? |
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Written by Jan Lee Martin
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Tuesday, 27 September 2005 |
Why do humans find it so hard to learn that foresight works better than hindsight? The mystery is deepened by the fact that those of us who do decide to explore the future are wholly captivated by the process and its potential for positive outcomes.
But in spite of all our efforts to share the fun, it seems that others, especially political leaders, can't get the message without needless pain.
For example, lost in the storm of commentary that followed Hurricane Katrina is the painful truth that some very basic foresight, let alone full-scale futuring, would have prevented or limited the tragedy that is New Orleans. But instead of constructive critique, media are now reporting the political circus and its sideshows. Accusations of a botched response by the US administration are met by counter-accusations of finger-pointing, gloating and schadenfreude.
Not learning. Arguing. |
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After the revolution: Sustaining sustainability - the fourth bottom line |
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Written by Jan Lee Martin
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Tuesday, 12 July 2005 |
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A new survey has shown that socially responsible investment and stakeholder activism is expected to become "mainstream" over the next ten years. Who says so? No, this was not a survey of futurists or social activists, though we have been talking about such a shift for years. It was a survey of fund managers responsible for the investment of more than $30.5 trillion in assets. More, an astonishing nine out of ten predicted that active ownership, where investors seek to influence a company's behaviour through activism and proxy voting, would soon be the norm. A majority anticipated social and environmental performance indicators would shift from the fringes to the mainstream during this period. "If it is true that 'money talks', then something of a shout roared out of page 56 of the June 4 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald," commented Dr Simon Longstaff in the St James Ethics Centre's latest journal. "Fund managers are not known for their sentimental attachment to... anything. Rather, they are cool calculators of value. So it is interesting to find that they are now thinking seriously about values as well." This is great news. But it's only one of many shouts in the swelling chorus that's replaced those faint voices from the margins that futurists identify as the first signals of profound social change. Today's chorus tells us that recognition of the future is at last beginning to reach the present. |
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Alternative futures for Australia |
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Written by Jan Lee Martin
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Sunday, 15 May 2005 |
Hundreds of delegates gathered in Melbourne last week to explore
Australia’s alternative futures at the Future Summit organised by the
Australia Davos Connection. The program focussed on
economic futures -- but should it have set these in context? asks
Margot Brodie (see story).
That’s exactly what The Australia
Institute wants to do. Last week it published a "Manifesto for
Wellbeing", inviting us to think about what we really mean by
progress. Australians who share its hopes for a better future can
sign on at its website, www.wellbeingmanifesto.net (see story).
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events highlight the difference between the economic paradigm of recent
years to one that sees society as more than a marketplace. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 16 May 2005 )
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