We live in a society because we are gregarious creatures, we need other people. Society provides security and resources, makes our lives more interesting. Individuals, over thousands of years, have benefited from the dynamics of societies. We give a little, take a little. Selfish, yes, but with an eye on our neighbour’s welfare. Because, in the end, that makes a difference to us, too. It matters to our well-being. It’s in our nature to find the best way through a difficult situation, with the help of others.

If humans progress, we do so through a development of ideas about how we should live, and the means to realise those ideas. The ideas and the means come from many areas of knowledge and practice - from the poet to the entrepreneur, from technology to politics, from the arts to science, from the individual to the large corporation, the village to the metropolis.

The problem is we give a ourselves problems.

The major issues we face are climate change, poverty, conflict in the Middle East and other parts of the world, and wildlife conservation. To solve these problems we need to fundamentally change the way we look at the world - we’re going to have to change our values and our behaviour. We have been taught that we have a responsibility to ourselves and to the values in our own society, so we do not have much concern for people outside this group. We need to think outside our group, but this change is not likely to happen for the simple reason that it’s hard to do.

Instead, what we should do to help solve these issues, is change the economics of our societies. We need to change persuade our governments and our businesses to take into account the true cost of what we do, and to make this transparent. When we can see the real cost of damage to the environment, or the costs in human lives in war, or in the destruction of species, we will change our behaviour. This will take time.

We need to look broad and deep for ideas on how to do this because the problems are complex. This is reflected in the style and content of this book. It is a journey through the ideas of many different people, expert in their subject. They all suggest something we can do, now.

These experts have useful things to say about what we know, and what we need to do. Their ideas are sometimes difficult, but have been presented in a way we can all understand. Sometimes, you will read conflicting views, for example, the legacy of capitalism has its advocates, and its critics. The solutions are, indeed, complex.

There are three sections in this book, Peace, Prosperity and Responsibility. These are the three areas that make the most difference in a person’s life, wherever in the world they may be. The ideas in Peace are about the individual and what might make a difference in her world. In Prosperity, we talk about the economic behaviour in the societies in which people live. In Responsibility, we talk about the individual’s connection to society.

But, a book isn’t enough. We need something that we can carry easily and share with others. Business cards are easy to give out, and people tend to keep them, somewhere. The idea is that each item has a saying which people can put on a business card, and give to others.

This site, book and cards are a discussion of that direction.

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