It seems to me that you are showing us a well-thought-out comprehensive way forward out of the dark age into which we have descended. The thing about dark ages is that they are not so dark. With the old ways that used to work but no longer do relaxed, space for new ways of being and doing open up, just as you say. Whole new cultures and societies rise out these new opportunities. Everything that we need for the new world that we want to create is in front of our eyes right now. But until we stop trying to figure out how to hold the old world together, we won’t have the new eyes we need to build a better world, because we’ll be blinded by belief in the old system. The old world has been shattered. It is time to have confidence and start building a new one. We will have to create a whole new synthesis. And we’ll have to do it while the world around us is falling down. —Van R
Just a note. Teilhard de Chardin was not excommunicated. Nor were his books placed on the Church’s list of banned books. However, he was moved from place to place disrupting his work in efforts to get him to conform.
What you are saying here makes a lot of sense. I would suggest what we're moving towards - the new enlightenment if you like - has been here all along. It could be described as "eco-consciousness" - beyond systemic in that it recognizes the consciousness of the more than human world and how we've been disconnected from this in the Western world for generations. Indigenous societies survived for 10s of thousands of years recognizing they/we are part of nature and living in harmony with the natural world. I'm not sure how it's going to play out but that my hunch of what we need to embrace if we humans are to survive the ravages of a disconnected narcissistic lifestyle - epitomised by Trump, Musk, Putin and others. A rise of indigeniety and the feminine might be involved too, as well as voices from the natural world. There I've said it! We need woke men too ;)
So liberation theology and Carl Sagan's report that we all end up ashes to ashes, stardust to stardust fits here. I heard him say that we are born from the same material as the stars, and we return to them, over a lengthy period of time. Fascinating.
I enjoyed reading this (and also the previous "shit storm), and generally agree. I think, though, that "Enlightenment" is potentially an unfortunate choice of words. It was the old Enlightenment that gave us the dualisms (mind-body, especially, but others, too, including, really dialetical materialism) that still plague Western thinking.
You are, IMO, correct about the centrality of oneness or interconnection, about what I understand to be an ecological view of the world. I am not going to presume to tell you what to call you ideas. Just wanted to point out what I see as an internal inconsistency.
I agree with you. That’s a key point in this piece, as described in the Three Levels section.
It appears that the awareness of consciousness is evolutionary as well. So it is very possible that the prior of Age of Enlightenment set up the conditions for the next one. This essentially what Eckart Tolle is saying in his “A New Earth” book
I first stumbled onto the evolution of the awareness of consciousness in the work of Teilhard de Chardin, who I think was excommunicated for his thoughts on the topic. And while I can't speak for them, I am under the impression that this is old news to many Indigenous thinkers. I am working my way toward some thoughts on awareness, starting with self-awarenss, in my Practice of Community newsletter. Not there, yet, though.
There’s a lot to digest and I agree with much of it, but I notice a – perhaps inescapable – bias towards Euro-northern (“Western”) ways of thinking and viewing the world. Solutions to the pervasive, interconnected crises of ecosystem destruction, biodiversity loss, inequalities across gender, class and species, not forgetting climate disruption, will need to include ideas and voices from outside these narrow perspectives. I believe that knowledge systems and lived experiences of indigenous peoples and local communities in the majority world (aka the global south), particularly of non-male gender, are at least as important as those of us extractive colonisers, if not more so.
Thank you for the thoughtful comments. More of a lack of exposure, not so much a bias. But, Yes, there is much to learn from other cultures but through immersion and experience. And I think gathering global perspectives is also essential. If I have a bias, it’s around branding - presenting ideas, concepts, and systems that apply to our realties and perceptions of value in the US, without prescribing or assuming these ideas are the model to be used elsewhere.
The idea of “Decentralized entrepreneurship with enlightenment” highlights the need for a system that truly prioritizes purpose over profit. Capitalism has for-purpose elements: nonprofits, volunteering, even states, but its for-profit mechanism is unavoidable.
Common-Planet.org offers a way forward: a fully decentralized system where even credit (incentives) is based on for-purpose principles and collective choices, rather than profit-driven forces. If we can shift how we represent and reward value, we can build something new from the remnants of the old. We call this: Creditism, a new word for a non-debt-based monetary system.
As I was reading this I filtered it through my own knowledge, experience and bias. I also filtered it through the current perception of the world my three well educated and successful millennial children are wonderfully willing to articulate in conversation with me. One of the things people my age don’t understand about people their age is that the ideas we are still agonizing over have already been sorted and tested by them because we literally suckled our children with the evolution of culture.
It is startling to make a statement about culture that still feels revolutionary to me only to be answered by a raised eyebrow that is followed by, “And your point?”
I remember people older than myself saying things that made me think they didn’t know it (whatever progressive thing it was) wasn’t a struggle anymore. I remember thinking, we won that hill, where have you been?
It is the osmosis of progress and evolution by our children, generation after generation, that fascists eventually respond to with murder.
I may have lost my train of thought but I am going to post this anyway.
I'm curious about how some of these ideas could manifest practically. "Decentralized entrepreneurship with enlightenment" makes me think of open source projects in the software industry, which is certainly a prevalent thing today... but in a foundational sector like food (farming, grocery stores) what could that look like? More family farms and farmers markets aided by collaboration and visibility/marketing tools?
I also wonder how money plays into all this. Money is largely how you get people to do things... but a techno-feudalist has a lot of money to get people to do what they want them to do... which is to continue contributing towards the feudal machine. I figure some might suggest that cryptocurrency could help since crypto decentralized... but they have been treated more like stocks than actual currencies (at least so far). Either way, I think a decentralized way of representing "I did a thing for you" or "I gave a thing to you" (credit/debt) would be an important part to figure out.
Indeed, this gets to the heart of the issue, and I’d love to share my team’s proposed solution. We recognize that decentralized governance (democracy) is generally preferable to rule by a king or small elite, and as this article suggests, concentrated capital (feudalism) also needs to be decentralized. But there’s a third pillar that often goes overlooked: Credit. Humanity has centralized the creation and distribution of credit in the hands of banks, which issue it as a debt-based commodity.
The way forward is a truly open, fully decentralized system: what we call Common-Planet.org, where actions can be represented and rewarded with credit based on decentralized principles. If we can achieve this, we have the opportunity to build something new from the remnants of the old.
Hey Remzi, thanks for the reply! I took a look at the Common-Planet.org website and watched your interview on The Brand Called You. I understand the high level end goals, and I think I'm starting to understand the tools and mechanics y'all are saying would get us there... but usually I have to diagram it out to know if I truly get it... like how a person would interact with the system. If I were to throw such a diagram together, can I send it your way to take a look?
absolutely, I would love that. There are a couple diagrams in the Working doc pdf and Coda document linked at the top of the Creditism page. Please email me.
I found some time yesterday to throw the diagram together and I sent it your way. No rush at all btw, I'm just mentioning in case I botched the email address. I did see two different email addresses listed, but I chose the Common-Planet.org one
I go between feeling enraged by all that is going in the US and the world, to reminding myself that this scenario is probably the perfect and only scenario that would shake the majority of us out of our lazy stupor. This scenario is what will force us to evolve. I love it and hate it all at once.
Hi Justin, and fellow readers,
It seems to me that you are showing us a well-thought-out comprehensive way forward out of the dark age into which we have descended. The thing about dark ages is that they are not so dark. With the old ways that used to work but no longer do relaxed, space for new ways of being and doing open up, just as you say. Whole new cultures and societies rise out these new opportunities. Everything that we need for the new world that we want to create is in front of our eyes right now. But until we stop trying to figure out how to hold the old world together, we won’t have the new eyes we need to build a better world, because we’ll be blinded by belief in the old system. The old world has been shattered. It is time to have confidence and start building a new one. We will have to create a whole new synthesis. And we’ll have to do it while the world around us is falling down. —Van R
Just a note. Teilhard de Chardin was not excommunicated. Nor were his books placed on the Church’s list of banned books. However, he was moved from place to place disrupting his work in efforts to get him to conform.
What you are saying here makes a lot of sense. I would suggest what we're moving towards - the new enlightenment if you like - has been here all along. It could be described as "eco-consciousness" - beyond systemic in that it recognizes the consciousness of the more than human world and how we've been disconnected from this in the Western world for generations. Indigenous societies survived for 10s of thousands of years recognizing they/we are part of nature and living in harmony with the natural world. I'm not sure how it's going to play out but that my hunch of what we need to embrace if we humans are to survive the ravages of a disconnected narcissistic lifestyle - epitomised by Trump, Musk, Putin and others. A rise of indigeniety and the feminine might be involved too, as well as voices from the natural world. There I've said it! We need woke men too ;)
So liberation theology and Carl Sagan's report that we all end up ashes to ashes, stardust to stardust fits here. I heard him say that we are born from the same material as the stars, and we return to them, over a lengthy period of time. Fascinating.
I enjoyed reading this (and also the previous "shit storm), and generally agree. I think, though, that "Enlightenment" is potentially an unfortunate choice of words. It was the old Enlightenment that gave us the dualisms (mind-body, especially, but others, too, including, really dialetical materialism) that still plague Western thinking.
You are, IMO, correct about the centrality of oneness or interconnection, about what I understand to be an ecological view of the world. I am not going to presume to tell you what to call you ideas. Just wanted to point out what I see as an internal inconsistency.
Hi Lee
I agree with you. That’s a key point in this piece, as described in the Three Levels section.
It appears that the awareness of consciousness is evolutionary as well. So it is very possible that the prior of Age of Enlightenment set up the conditions for the next one. This essentially what Eckart Tolle is saying in his “A New Earth” book
Thanks for a reply, a prompt reply, even.
I first stumbled onto the evolution of the awareness of consciousness in the work of Teilhard de Chardin, who I think was excommunicated for his thoughts on the topic. And while I can't speak for them, I am under the impression that this is old news to many Indigenous thinkers. I am working my way toward some thoughts on awareness, starting with self-awarenss, in my Practice of Community newsletter. Not there, yet, though.
So, how about the Age of Awareness?
Most welcome! Substack is all about thoughtful dialogue!
I actually almost called it that but wanted to keep the taxonomy intact. It’s the branding guy in me 🤓
Understood. But sometimes, its time for a new brand.
How profound. Thank you for pointing to the need for new creative work imagining the way through.
There’s a lot to digest and I agree with much of it, but I notice a – perhaps inescapable – bias towards Euro-northern (“Western”) ways of thinking and viewing the world. Solutions to the pervasive, interconnected crises of ecosystem destruction, biodiversity loss, inequalities across gender, class and species, not forgetting climate disruption, will need to include ideas and voices from outside these narrow perspectives. I believe that knowledge systems and lived experiences of indigenous peoples and local communities in the majority world (aka the global south), particularly of non-male gender, are at least as important as those of us extractive colonisers, if not more so.
Thank you for the thoughtful comments. More of a lack of exposure, not so much a bias. But, Yes, there is much to learn from other cultures but through immersion and experience. And I think gathering global perspectives is also essential. If I have a bias, it’s around branding - presenting ideas, concepts, and systems that apply to our realties and perceptions of value in the US, without prescribing or assuming these ideas are the model to be used elsewhere.
The idea of “Decentralized entrepreneurship with enlightenment” highlights the need for a system that truly prioritizes purpose over profit. Capitalism has for-purpose elements: nonprofits, volunteering, even states, but its for-profit mechanism is unavoidable.
Common-Planet.org offers a way forward: a fully decentralized system where even credit (incentives) is based on for-purpose principles and collective choices, rather than profit-driven forces. If we can shift how we represent and reward value, we can build something new from the remnants of the old. We call this: Creditism, a new word for a non-debt-based monetary system.
As I was reading this I filtered it through my own knowledge, experience and bias. I also filtered it through the current perception of the world my three well educated and successful millennial children are wonderfully willing to articulate in conversation with me. One of the things people my age don’t understand about people their age is that the ideas we are still agonizing over have already been sorted and tested by them because we literally suckled our children with the evolution of culture.
It is startling to make a statement about culture that still feels revolutionary to me only to be answered by a raised eyebrow that is followed by, “And your point?”
I remember people older than myself saying things that made me think they didn’t know it (whatever progressive thing it was) wasn’t a struggle anymore. I remember thinking, we won that hill, where have you been?
It is the osmosis of progress and evolution by our children, generation after generation, that fascists eventually respond to with murder.
I may have lost my train of thought but I am going to post this anyway.
Interesting article!
I'm curious about how some of these ideas could manifest practically. "Decentralized entrepreneurship with enlightenment" makes me think of open source projects in the software industry, which is certainly a prevalent thing today... but in a foundational sector like food (farming, grocery stores) what could that look like? More family farms and farmers markets aided by collaboration and visibility/marketing tools?
I also wonder how money plays into all this. Money is largely how you get people to do things... but a techno-feudalist has a lot of money to get people to do what they want them to do... which is to continue contributing towards the feudal machine. I figure some might suggest that cryptocurrency could help since crypto decentralized... but they have been treated more like stocks than actual currencies (at least so far). Either way, I think a decentralized way of representing "I did a thing for you" or "I gave a thing to you" (credit/debt) would be an important part to figure out.
Indeed, this gets to the heart of the issue, and I’d love to share my team’s proposed solution. We recognize that decentralized governance (democracy) is generally preferable to rule by a king or small elite, and as this article suggests, concentrated capital (feudalism) also needs to be decentralized. But there’s a third pillar that often goes overlooked: Credit. Humanity has centralized the creation and distribution of credit in the hands of banks, which issue it as a debt-based commodity.
The way forward is a truly open, fully decentralized system: what we call Common-Planet.org, where actions can be represented and rewarded with credit based on decentralized principles. If we can achieve this, we have the opportunity to build something new from the remnants of the old.
Hey Remzi, thanks for the reply! I took a look at the Common-Planet.org website and watched your interview on The Brand Called You. I understand the high level end goals, and I think I'm starting to understand the tools and mechanics y'all are saying would get us there... but usually I have to diagram it out to know if I truly get it... like how a person would interact with the system. If I were to throw such a diagram together, can I send it your way to take a look?
absolutely, I would love that. There are a couple diagrams in the Working doc pdf and Coda document linked at the top of the Creditism page. Please email me.
I found some time yesterday to throw the diagram together and I sent it your way. No rush at all btw, I'm just mentioning in case I botched the email address. I did see two different email addresses listed, but I chose the Common-Planet.org one
I go between feeling enraged by all that is going in the US and the world, to reminding myself that this scenario is probably the perfect and only scenario that would shake the majority of us out of our lazy stupor. This scenario is what will force us to evolve. I love it and hate it all at once.
Thank you for your thought provoking article.
Wow!