Erik
Dammann became disillusioned with the consumerism his work in public relations
and advertising was promoting and brought his family to live in Polynesia, where
he experienced a whole different way of life that was based on cooperation and
sharing. This experience helped him to see that there was a big difference between
the values Western society claims to strive for, such as freedom, justice, responsibility
and solidarity, and the impact society actually has on people in other countries
and on the planet itself. When he returned to Norway he wrote a book called Future
in Our Hands and started a Future in our Hands movement, based on these values:
1) a commitment to co-operation and active consideration for our fellow human
beings in preference to competition; 2) equal rights for everyone; 3) co-responsibility
for safeguarding the environment for existing and future generations. The Future
In Our Hands Movement has helped inspire and fund similar movements in many other
countries. In 1982 Erik Dammann and the Future in Our Hands movement received
the Right Livelihood Award "...for challenging the values and lifestyle of the
west in order to promote a more responsible attitude towards the environment and
the third world." Erik Dammann has written more than a dozen other books about
global justice and environmental responsibility and his vision of a better world,
including Money or Life and Revolution in the Affluent Society.
