The Unconscious Civilization

The Union of Time Thieves brings you John Ralston Saul's 1995 lecture, entitled "The Unconscious Civilization." He argues that society is only superficially based on the individual and democracy. Increasingly it is conformist and corporatist, a society in which legitimacy lies with specialist or interest groups and decisions are made through constant negotiations between these groups.  The paradox of our situation is that knowledge has not made us conscious. Instead, we have sought refuge in a world of illusion where language is cut off from reality.