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A Vision for 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change | 
 enlarge | Author: John L. Petersen
Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.77
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 9563
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 4.6 x 0.5
ISBN: 1555916619
Dewey Decimal Number: 320.60973
EAN: 9781555916619
ASIN: 1555916619
Publication Date: May 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
Many believe that the world is entering a time of monumental change. In this timely and insightful essay, noted futurist John L. Petersen explains how our leaders can prepare for life-altering events, such as climate change, oil shortages, financial upheaval, epidemics, or a new level of sophistication among terrorists.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 More 2012 October 8, 2008
Well here is yet another 2012 book. Don't get me wrong - this is far better than most. John Petersen outlines his view of what is going wrong, what the possible scenarios are, and what directions might prove resourceful. The problem is of course that most of the things he suggests will not show up on the "radar" for most people.
There are some contradictions and fact-related problems in the book. On the one hand Petersen admits (quoting Ilya Prigogene) that no one can predict the future and that unique, novel emergents can arise that "save the day" so to speak. He never considers though that unique, novel emergents may arise that solve some problems while not fundamentally changning the power structures (e.g. a new way to make internal combustion engines so efficient that the oil reserves we have would last 5 times longer than anticipated).
Petersen also speaks glowingly of progress (with some justification) but seems to ignore the problems with things like cloning, cold fusion, and saltwater agriculture.
In the end I'd say this is a book worth reading though because it is concise and in being concise helps the reader make her or his own position an object of awareness. And once you know where you stand on some of these issues, you know what you're willing to try.
 book review September 23, 2008
Good book, thoughtfully written, raises questions of the hightest order of importance for the survival of the country and world.
Important, Timely, Must Read September 17, 2008
I'm familiar with John from his e-newsletter FUTUREdition. I depend on it for clarity on current events too. I highly respect his work and I wanted to buy this book. It is a short, very readable and reality based book.
I bought 10 copies for gifts and I hope some of these people do the same.
The world needs this info now!
Good coverage of our future trajectory June 10, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book covers many scenarios of decline, examples and data showing us the rate of accelerating change and many arguments for increasing resilience personally, as a community, and nationally. The changes we shall face on our journey to 2012 we should consider moral and solvable. These issues are drastic, human, and not bound to political party. John's book creates a good introduction to this debate - we should have the debate and together develop a brighter future.
 A Must Read Call to Action June 5, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
John L. Petersen, the well regarded futurist and head of The Arlington Institute, has written A Vision for 2012, a must read timely essay-length call to action for citizens and governments. In Petersen's view, global warming, fossil fuel depletion, recent economic market disruptions and more, portend massive societal and planetary disruption in the next decade. For some, the year 2012 is a year of foretold doom. 2012 is Petersen's symbolic way of saying "Stop thinking about tomorrow" as the song goes, and start thinking about today. A self-proclaimed optimist, Petersen balances one set of trend lines with another that point to scientific and technological breakthroughs, from new medicines, to the Internet, as holding out the possibility for resolving the challenges we face. But there is no way around the need for government planning and action, and here Petersen is flying on a wing and a prayer. As the book also concedes, governments and society in general usually act conservatively and plan and deal in the less painful policy world of incremental, short term advance until the crisis occurs (think about our failure to address the ticking time bomb of entitlement obligations). We have a lot of political talk about Manhattan projects to develop alternatives to oil or reduce greenhouse emissions (called for in the book) but we know that governments and the citizenry usually act after the fact (e.g. Katrina). Global cooperation is even more difficult and the United States, which the author calls on to lead, has not exactly led over the last decade (think Kyoto) Petersen hopes it can be different if we work together---using technologies like the collaborative Internet---to think, plan, and advocate for change together. Read the book.
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