W e ask eternal questions. Where do we come from? Where do we go when we die? What is the nature of our reality? We cling to Biblical certainties in the hope that the longer we believe, the more likely it is that what we believe is true.
            Ancient certainties notwithstanding, the enormity of existing problems overwhelms us. Everything about our collective lifestyle, from traffic jams to non-biogradable detergents to food additives, contributes to the way things are. We see no alternative to an unpleasant reality. Like Dr. Pangloss we think this the best of all possible worlds.
            Psychology offers hope for individual behavioral change, but a collective psychology seems beyond us. We assume the root of man's inhumanity lies buried in our genes, beyond our power to alter, but if we equate individual and collective behavior, psychology also explains group actions. In this scheme of things, a collective behavior like boom-bust economic cycles becomes the equivalent of manic-depression, a mood swing as pathological in nations as it is in individuals.
            There is a way out if you can bring yourself to challenge your most basic assumptions. It goes against almost every grain, but we may be wrong about human possibility and we may be wrong about God. There are no guarantees, but if a new world view may end present difficulties, it is, I hope you agree, worth a try.