Home Societal / Political Freedom The Nature of True Freedom III: Creating A Shared Image of the Future

The Nature of True Freedom III: Creating A Shared Image of the Future

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Conclusions

Today, we are faced with a particularly difficult challenge regarding the creation of a viable image of the Future. First, we find this task difficult because there are so many alternatives available to us. At each corner and every turn, we find some contemporary guru who is selling his or her own distinctive image of the best Future, or the probable Future—or the Future from which we should escape through drugs, transcendence, or even (in a compound in Waco or a jungle in South America) death. Because we have lost our “grand narrative,” we are inclined to accept many partial, superficial, and manipulative “narratives” that are not very grand by any standard. A protean stance awaits us.

Ultimately, a new image of the Future in any society must be built on our love of and concern for the welfare of our children and the next generation in our society. This commitment reflects the position I have taken in previous essays concerning the balancing of rights and responsibilities and the harmony of interests. We must find or create a foundation of what Paul Tillich (1948) calls “Grace” that is interwoven with Martin Buber’s (1958) “I-Thou” commitment to a greater good and higher purpose. The challenge inherent in this set of statements is great—perhaps only a dream rather than a potential reality. A bit of Don Quixote’s quest for a better world. At the very least, it is an inter-generational project that is worth our sustained dedication and action.

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References

Adorno, Theodore, et al. (1964) The Authoritarian Personality. New York: Wiley.

Anonymous (1849) The Harmony of Interests, Agricultural, Manufacturing and Commercial: The Plough, The Loom and the Anvil. ISBN 1348132172

Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1966 (originally published 1948).

Argyris, Chris and Donald Schon (1974) Theory in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bauman, Z. (1992) “A Sociological Theory of Postmodernity.” In P. Beliharz, G. Robinson and J. Rundell (eds.) Between Totalitarianism and Postmodernity. Cambridge, MA; MIT Press.

Bergquist, William (1993) The Postmodern Organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bergquist, William (1993) The Postmodern Organization, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bergquist, William and Suzi Pomerantz (2020) Harmlessness and the Leadership Spectrum. Published in the Library of Professional coaching. Link: https://libraryofprofessionalcoaching.com/concepts/leadership-foundations/harmlessness-and-the-leadership-spectrum/

Bergquist, William and Gary Quehl (2019) Caring Deeply: Engaging the Four Roles of Life-Fulfilling Generativity Published in the Library of Professional Coaching. Link: www.libraryofprofessionialcoaching.com).

Bergquist, William and Berne Weiss (1994) Freedom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Binswanger, Ludwig (1963) Being in the World New York: Basic Books.

Boulding, Kenneth (1956) The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society. Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press.

Buber, Martin (1958) I and Thou. New York: Scribner.

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