Seventh General Assembly

Creating the 21st Century: Rights, Responsibilities, and Actions
Held June 27-July 1, 1993
Sheraton Washington Hotel
Washington, D.C.

Close to 2,000 participants from 35 nations took part in the World Future Society's Seventh General Assembly, Creating the 21st Century: Rights, Responsibilities, and Actions. Held from June 27-July 1, 1993, in Washington, D.C., some 600 futurists and other experts spoke about reinventing areas such as health care, corporations, government, education, justice systems, neighborhoods, and even our bodies, minds, and souls.

All this reinventing is both essential and urgent, Assembly participants seemed to agree, because of the vast changes occurring in technology and society. As Assembly Chairman Kenneth W. Hunter put it, "Humanity has moved into the frontiers of the twenty-first century."

Speakers at the conference had some very definitive ideas about how the future is evolving:

• Senator Jay Rockefeller (Democrat, West Virginia) told futurists that one major obstacle to the U.S. government reforming health care is the lack of expertise among leaders responsible for creating and judging health-care legislation. "Of the over 500 people in Congress, only about 30 understand health care in depth. Health-care policy makes arms-control policy look easy," he said.
• Too much governmental control over people's lives is weakening communities, declared David Boaz of the Cato Institute. He argued for restoring the power of "voluntary" communities. "Saying 'let the government take over' is part of the problem. We could strengthen the community by limiting the power of the state."
• Because food is a commodity that is bought and sold, the basic right to have food is especially challenging, pointed out Lynn Austin, an agricultural futurist based in Africa. "In a civilized world, it is the obligation of those who are more fortunate to furnish food to those who cannot provide it for themselves—to guarantee food security," he said.
• The shared environmental problems of the world will require transnational partnerships, according to Uttam Dabholkar, principal of the United Nations' Environment Programme. "In the face of demographic pressures, economic stagnation, and mass poverty, external financial and technological help is critical to protecting the human environment."
• Donald Eberly of the U.S. National Service Secretariat discussed the renewed interest in national service in the United States, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, France, and Germany to name just a few. "If national service for young adults continues to prove useful as a mechanism for service delivery, as a form of experiential education, as an alternative to military service, and as a nation-building tool, it will be recognized as a societal institution well before the end of the twenty-first century."
• Leadership is coming from new directions, according to former U.S. Congresswoman Claudine Schneider. In addition to government, leaders are emerging from the business world, grassroots citizens' group, and the media. However, the media is behind in taking on its share of responsibility concerning leadership, said Schneider. "The media are in fact shaping the psyche of the world, but that's a responsibility they don't admit or realize."
• Religious futurism has made less progress than other areas. The problem is over the very definition of religion, according to Parker Rossman, author of The Emerging Worldwide Electronic University. "Some talk of particular religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, while others propose the creation of new, 'more effective and adequate religions,' such as one based on a radical, feminist theology."

A complete article covering this conference is available in the November-December 1993 issue of The Futurist.

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Revised: 14 August 1996