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Between Two Ages: The 21st Century and the Crisis of Meaning

“In his 2001 book, Between Two Ages, Van Wishard points out three primary drivers of the escalation of contemporary anxiety: globalization; a new stage of technology development; and a long-term spiritual and psychological reorientation.

“Wishard bases his analysis on six-thousand years of history. From that perspective, he suggests that globalization is ‘possibly the most ambitious experiment in history;’ that a new stage of technology development has as its objective to ‘supplant human meaning and significance;’ and that the effect of the psychological and spiritual reorientation is a worldwide ‘weakening of the structures that organize and regulate our life: religion, self-government, education, culture and family.’”

--Terry Pearce, Leading Out Loud: Inspiring Change through Authentic Communications

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The American Future (What Would George and Tom Do Now?)

The author believes every social institution now faces a mortal struggle for redefinition. He takes issue with "false national assumptions," among them:

1. That because totalitarianism collapsed in the former Soviet Union, freedom will thrive there & in Eastern Europe;
2. That "reality" amounts to what can be measured, reduced to its constituent parts, & objectively observed;
3. That American youth, growing up in a violent culture of sensationalized "entertainment," will somehow function properly as adults;
4. That the individual is a victim of events rather than a shaper of events.
5. That the U.S. as sole superpower can, by itself, lead a new global order.

These and other assumptions comprise a conventional wisdom relentlessly invalidated in The American Future.

And yet Wishard is no pessimist. His book ends on an unusual if upbeat note by challenging readers to be straight with themselves & rethink basic premises.

Addressed to people in management, psychology, government, religion & international trade who are demanding to know why political leadership is failing.