Our society is both the product and the creator of our age. We, in this New Millennium, are the product of the myth of perpetual economic expansion and the image of the Machine as a model for living: invented and promulgated by the Industrial era. Myth and Image we created ourselves. It does not appear however, that the machine age thinking that brought us the enormous material affluence we currently enjoy in our country will be adequate in addressing the issues looming in our global future. A new era is dawning and a new way of thinking is emerging. The new age is difficult to describe at this time for it is still in its infant stage, Yet those of us who believe that the Universe is a fundamentally benevolent place, anticipate that the product of this new age will be a much better world in which to live for all people everywhere.

Competition has been the driving force of the Industrial era and competition permeates our current culture. Entertainment, art shows, advertising, jobs, business, sports, war. . . all are dominated by competition. We compete against nature, against time, against ourselves, against others and even against machines. We, as individuals immersed in the system, cannot help but to participate and compete largely unaware of the consequences brought on by such an adversarial social environment. While it may be true that conflict has existed since the earliest age of man, no other age has packed so much conflict, measured in both quantity and intensity, in the space of a short 200 years, as the era of the Industrial Revolution. "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing" is a well-known quote by football coach Henry Russell ("Red") Sanders that epitomizes the competitive credo that has been adopted by our culture and our institutions. Winners are made heroes and looked to as leaders. Any contest has one winner and many losers. Most of us are thus relegated to a role of follower. This model has worked in the past yet the changing times require us to consider more natural arrangements.

Today the biggest winner and most dominant entity in our culture is the Corporation usually led by a hero-CEO. "Worshiping in the cult of the hero-leader who drives change is a surefire way to maintain change-averse institutions. In fact one can hardly think of a better strategy to achieve precisely this goal. The price that we all pay in the long run is incalculable: institutions that lurch from crisis to crisis, continual stress on the members of those institutions, mediocre (at best) long-term performance, and further reinforcement of the point of view that "common people" are powerless to change things." This quote was taken from a paper entitled "Leadership in Living Organizations" written by Peter M. Senge. He goes on to say: "Nature operates through cyclic processes. The industrial age has operated, by and large, through linear processes: take, make, waste. Nature generates diversity. The industrial age has generated homogeneity, relentlessly eradicating both biological and cultural diversity. Nature focuses on means, allowing ends to emerge. The industrial age has focused on goals, allowing them to justify whatever means were needed. What kind of society will emerge in and shape the new age? What possibilities will it afford? What new ways of living? None of these questions are answerable. Yet each must be pondered. "History does not follow the path of opportunities but the path of desires," says Chilean biologist Humberto Maturana. How we humans go about discovering, articulating, and manifesting our desires will shape the future."

This new thinking began to emerge in the 1940s through the study of how Corporations and other organizations could be improved - work that is being carried on today by the Society for Organizational Learning. Although the direct application is concentrated in the building of effective business organizations, its principles are applicable to all types of organized human interactions including the Local Community. It requires us to open the door to the possibility that we, the common people, can change our world for the better and presents us with the tools for action. Yet it cannot provide the desire. That is what we must muster for ourselves.

I personally hold a desire for a slower less competitive way of living where I can do meaningful work in order to provide, sufficiently, for the well being of my family. I would like to see my community become a more humane and nurturing place - a civil community where neighbors know and care for one another. I desire to help build a place where streets are safe and inviting - a place of quality and durability that will live beyond my years and contribute to the local heritage. I would like to live in a healthful environment closer to nature. Most of all, I would like to help fashion a political circumstance where I, and my fellow citizens, have much to say about our own destiny. This will not be possible as long as we hold the Machine as our life model. Living Systems hold the key to unlock the promise of Going Local.