CHAPTER 5

The Compulsions of the 21st Century

Gradually…man has been accustoming him self to the notion of the spherical earth and a close sphere of human activity…it was not until the Second World War and the development ofthe air age that the global nature of the planet really entered the popular imagination. Even now we are very far from making the necessary moral, political and psychological adjustments, which are implied in transition from the illimitable plane to the closed sphere.

Kenneth Boulding, 19661

THE COMPULSIONS

Given a chance, man would like to create his own future. But however desirable or useful that may be, in today’s world he has to recognise a number of macrorealities that now circumscribe his ambition. In this chapter ...

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