http://www.fdsd.org/2009/12/democracy-as-a-killer-app/ working to equip democracy to deliver sustainable development Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:22:29 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.fdsd.org/2009/12/democracy-as-a-killer-app/comment-page-1/#comment-79 John Elkington Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:17:09 +0000 http://www.fdsd.org/?p=907#comment-79 I agree on both points, dear WeAreToast, but enjoyed the provocation! I agree on both points, dear WeAreToast, but enjoyed the provocation!

]]> http://www.fdsd.org/2009/12/democracy-as-a-killer-app/comment-page-1/#comment-78 wearetoast Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:10:58 +0000 http://www.fdsd.org/?p=907#comment-78 Ferguson may well be right, with his talk of the end of the Western Ascendancy. Historians always like to write about hinges in history, and how we are (whenever) living through one. "The West" has been written off before of course (Spengler, anyone), and like capitalism itself, proved remarkably resilient. Ferguson's space was limited, but it would have been nice if he'd given a shout out to a) the serious problems China faces (it could all go horribly wrong, despite things like the high-speed trains mentioned elsewhere in today's FT) and b) the conundrum/dilemma/Achilles Heel of sorting out ways of meeting the needs of 9 billion people without wiping out every other species and turning the planet into Venus. He kind of elides that, which for a Big Thinker is a little embarrassing. Ferguson may well be right, with his talk of the end of the Western Ascendancy. Historians always like to write about hinges in history, and how we are (whenever) living through one. “The West” has been written off before of course (Spengler, anyone), and like capitalism itself, proved remarkably resilient. Ferguson’s space was limited, but it would have been nice if he’d given a shout out to a) the serious problems China faces (it could all go horribly wrong, despite things like the high-speed trains mentioned elsewhere in today’s FT) and b) the conundrum/dilemma/Achilles Heel of sorting out ways of meeting the needs of 9 billion people without wiping out every other species and turning the planet into Venus. He kind of elides that, which for a Big Thinker is a little embarrassing.

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