Terry Patten’s A New Republic of the Heart (North Atlantic Books 2018, CA, USA) chronicles the state we are in as a planet and what needs to happen to avoid disaster. The manifesto and call to action outlines the problems and offers concrete solutions.

The author is a teacher, philosopher, speaker, consultant and community organizer. He draws upon his experience and gives us a way out of the major issues of our time: economic turmoil and disparity, environmental destruction, political partisanship and social unrest. Whew! The daunting task of solving these problems takes courage and Patten doesn’t shy away from tackling them.

As the title suggests, our world needs a heart revolution. Our technology and knowledge has advanced, but our hearts haven’t kept pace with progress. In fact, we have regressed. We have lost our capacity to feel or care about any living thing. The world needs other voices. Despite his reservations, he doesn’t shy away from introducing something called Integral. Part philosophy and part social action lever, Integral takes holistic approach to any problem, issue, dynamic, etc. by accommodating various inputs and factors.

He makes a strong argument for change. He suggests a 10% threshold as a goal. Only that percentage of the population need to be convinced of the need for something to change for the rest of the population to follow. (The book is a good motivator!) But thinking our way out of our problems won’t work. We need imagination, determination, will, courage and cooperation, etc. However, the polyglot doesn’t explain how we motivate people to change their hearts. Where do we find the source of that?

I enjoyed the book. Although a bit meandering at times and daunting (many coined words and phrases to spur on new paradigms and approaches), it nevertheless offers hope in a world spiraling toward catastrophe. The best of us need an antidote to the current fatalism encompassing the world and Patten is a light in the darkness.

Yeats observed in 1920 in the poem, “The Second Coming” that, The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. There couldn’t be a better description of our times.