« What Political Economist, Barry Shelley, Says about “Blinded by Progress” »

For the past decade Barry Shelley and I have shared treasured experiences. My only complaint is that they’ve been too few. As I go into detail about in my book, Blinded by Progress, Barry helped me see that the current economy functions as one of the world’s leading religions. More precisely, the leading religion.  

When I first began talking with Barry, I was still trying to gain confidence that I could speak peer-to-peer with a political economist. Barry helped that happen. I had a great time co-leading a workshop with him in 2007 at the Solidarity Economy Forum (an outgrowth of the World Social Forum) in Amherst, MA.Our theme was “economy and spirit.” Barry currently has a position with Oxfam America as their Global Agriculture and Climate Change Advisor.

It’s with gratitude that I share here what Barry says about Blinded by Progress:

Van Ham creates a work of great integrity—an integrity that comes from his bringing sound theological and economic thinking together with visionary consciousness, deep commitment, and illusion-breaking stories.  The result is a clear and powerful message that the author does not dilute with checklists of minor feel-good actions we can take on our own.  Instead, Van Ham dares to call us all to nothing less than a radical change of consciousness, breaking through the illusions of our dominant MultiEarth economy in order to embrace the alternative OneEarthism.  And contrary to what many claim, there are real alternatives.  There is much truth and wisdom to be found in these pages.