The personal partnerships of the Partners Within create the grounds to link the concepts of the "me," to the "you," and importantly, to the "we," or all of humankind. Gaining a more inclusive sense of this whole is an evolving concept and a critical step to our future success. Throughout our prehistory, humanity was limited to the circles of trust that included families, tribes and religions. In more recent times, we have expanded our trust to include villagers, corporations, nations and the rule of law. Today, we need to continue to modernize our image of the whole of humanity in order to stabilize our relationship to our only home, the Planet Earth. With a global population destined to multiply to over nine billion by the middle of the 21st century, our species is testing the limits to the amount of natural resources we can consume. The accelerating global economic growth is creating an exponential demand for decent land, air, water and energy that could overwhelm supply and challenge our global reality. But the historical cycles of boom and bust need not be inevitable. All we need for sustainable growth is a global awareness of the fact that we are all equally responsible for our actions and that we need to be equally involved in our future. How we deal with these upcoming challenges will require a new global awareness of what is right for all of Earth's life. Our salvation and prosperity depends on it.
About the Author: As a retired stockbroker with over 40 year's experience, I have been acutely aware of the ups and downs of American and global companies. I have watched the remarkable surge of Western economies and more recently, the stunning rise of prosperity in emerging economies. Over the decades, I have also seen the rise and fall of entire technologies and industries, of currencies and derivatives, of amazing human aspirations and spectacular failures. And I have observed war and peace in human societies and the nations we create. For us to survive into the 21st century and beyond, we will have to be wise and worldly in deciding right from wrong, good from bad, love from fear, and trust from doubt. Over the past 50 years, we have seen the world create more wealth than has ever been created in the entire history of mankind. Over the next few decades we have the potential to double this wealth, and then double it again. But I am worried about the future of the children of our world. Historically, global exploitation of limited resources without global governance has been a recipe for disaster. Look at our future. The land and water resources are already being utilized to near their capacity. The air temperature and quality needs to enable a healthy population, not risk it. And the world's sweet crude supply is set to peak soon. The relentless ascendancy of unbridled empires is the greatest risk for our future. Over the course of history, we have seen the rise and fall of many a nation; most have come and gone, but none has yet been able to govern all of Earth's life. Hopefully, what is different this time around is the Internet. It enables nearly everyone to be a witness and a participant in our global future. Fortunately, human dignity is bigger than the governments we create. People are pretty good at getting along with their friends, families and colleagues. But it is crucial that we grow beyond our regional interests, beyond the lack of understanding for strangers, and beyond the little respect we have for cultures other than our own. What will enable this growth is the realization that for our very salvation and prosperity, we are as dependent upon others as they are dependent upon us. This is the goal of the Partners Within: the balance and unity of a global spirituality that works for all.