David Peat

POSTSCRIPTThis book was completed beforethe tragic events of September 11, 2001. Only in December of thatyear, as I was making my final corrections to the page proofs, did Ireread the book’s final sentence. It struck me as being both particularlyironic, in the light of what had happened, as well as being particularlytrue. Hence the need for this postscript.Many felt that the world changed on September 11. In the immediateaftermath, things certainly appeared to have changed for theworse. We realized how fragile are so many of the social, economic,and international structures we have taken for granted. We noticedhow much depends upon cooperation, good will, and collective sanity.Another set of certainties seemed to have been stripped away. Wecould look to no external authority, no organization, no expert to guaranteeour security and future prosperity. Again the answer, the responsibility,comes down to ourselves—individually, in families, communitygroups, and organizations from the local to the global levels. Inthis way we are called upon to examine the values and meanings of our215