It’s amazing that so many nations govern themselves with no coherent vision of the future. They pass laws, pursue policies, and spend trillions of dollars while leaving the future largely to accident. The blueprints for the survival of human civilization are vague or ignored, and immense costs flow from this fact.

A comprehensive, long-term global vision could begin with ordinary citizens rather than with elected officials or think tanks that employ technical experts. The opportunity to begin and sustain a conversation about the future of civilization rests with you.

— Dave Ellis, Creating Your Future, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1998, p. 222

(Cited by Donella Meadows in the Balaton Bulletin, Winter 1999)