Jeremy Rifkin, founder and president of the Foundation On Economic Trends and creator of the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR), has launched his new book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World of Crisis on the Huffington Post with a featured blog post as well as the Table of Contents, Introduction, and the book’s first chapter:

“Two spectacular failures, separated by only 18 months, marked the end of the modern era. In July 2008, the price of oil on world markets peaked at $147/ barrel, inflation soared, the price of everything from food to gasoline skyrocketed, and the global economic engine shut off. Growing demand in the developed nations, as well as in China, India, and other emerging economies, for diminishing fossil fuels precipitated the crisis. Purchasing power plummeted and the global economy collapsed. That was the earthquake that tore asunder the industrial age built on and propelled by fossil fuels. The failure of the financial markets two months later was merely the aftershock. The fossil fuel energies that make up the industrial way of life are sunsetting and the industrial infrastructure is now on life support.

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