The SDS merits the strongest criticism for its long-term ineffectualness, irresponsibility, selfish short sightedness and generally poor stewardship of the development, reputation and standing of SD.

However, for the following reasons SDS opprobrium extends even beyond the above factors.

• Text from the then president of the SDS explains that the SDS is actually hamstrung (or considers itself to be so) in regard to commercial-professional SD development. The SDS has shrugged off its non-academic development responsibilities and trustee role to its sponsors in return for dollars. Its opprobrium is therefore of biblical proportions. It moreover retains both institutional and moral responsibility for the present and future situations of both SD and resolution of causes of the economic and financial crises.

• Commercial firms do not have a remit to develop a discipline and a field. SDS arrangements with sponsors have therefore created a vacuum in which nobody accepts or exercises responsibility for SD development.

• Outcomes and prospects for the development, reputation and standing of SD have been fully as bad as might be expected from the above vacuum; as explained in this site.

• SD, applied in particular ways, is the only viable technical vehicle for addressing the real causes of the Great Recession (economic and financial). This consideration underlines the gravity of SDS irresponsibility and neglect.

• Given those real causes, the dire international policy and regulatory situation (from which SD is entirely excluded) is now disastrously inconsistent with technical needs of the international public interest. Had the requisite SD-based capacities been in place by 2007, and been used appropriately, the economic and financial crises would not have occurred. This is a considered statement by one who knows what those causes are, and how to resolve them.

• I have SD projects that can resolve the above real causes, for both the economic and financial spheres. No known initiative, whether by a SDS sponsor or anyone else, is believed able to duplicate or replace those projects.

James Lyneis (then president of the SDS), 23 February 2008

Your first proposal is that the SDS promote and market your work. Unfortunately, the Society is not in a position to do this. We have many financial sponsors that compete directly or indirectly with one another, and therefore we cannot be in the business of promoting one group’s work over the others. We do list our sponsors on the Society web page and in conference materials, and we do offer sponsors the opportunity to communicate with members via our newsletter.

### SDS sponsors and generic professional applications of SDers such as me are among the resources and advantages from which your objective of growing the field can and must be achieved. Given the present unfavourable external environment for achieving acceptance of professional applications by isolated individuals (described in my discussion papers), collective action and cooperation are essential. The situation regarding sponsors should be investigated, to ascertain whether a win-win outcome can be achieved. If SDS resources and advantages are not exploited, the situation cannot improve.