Such a great piece, thanks very much. My local Indivisible groups have provided me with several lifelong friends, and we're reaching out to the community in ways that feel deeply meaningful - with food and clothing aid, with healthcare and "know your rights" advice and trainings, etc. and of course through rallies and visibility events. But I do feel a need to examine the more spiritual side of all this work...have tried to do so in other writings. In some sense, mounting a serious resistance to authoritarianism simply DOES rise to the level of the spiritual, in ways that I cannot fully explain in a short statement like this. But thank you for prodding my brain and soul on this subject.
Thank you for this piece. It gets at why I chafe at "messaging guides" but still deeply think the way and what we communicate matters so much (after all, as I learned in social sciences from Niklas Luhman and others - our reality is crafted by language). I work for a wonderful nonprofit news site called Documented and though this is not their work, the model they have of putting listening first and again and again is exemplary and part of the answer, as is generally honest, "real" information and journalism that lifts up what people are feeling and saying.
Good stuff Micah, thank you! I'd say Zack Polanski and the british Greens are onto something, talking clearly and with passion about humanity, care and belonging.
I wonder if you know about the "Compassionate Action Network"? It was started in 1992 by leftist activist David Levine in collaboration with Rabbi Michael Lerner (who, as I looked up CAN and see if no longer exists, I realized just died about a year ago).
I attended the first meeting - 500 people - in 1992. The idea was to bring together political activists and the "spiritual" community.
Before I even attended the first meeting, I made a prediction (sharing it with David and Michael, who of course didn't believe it at first, even though it become too obvious by the 3rd meeting for them to ignore it) that the political people would get louder and louder, and the "spiritual" people would be stuck in their, "Chill man, just meditate and make love now war."
TLDR: That's what happened. And you're right - 33 years later - we need this integration more than ever.
Any signs of it on the horizon? I subscribe to Jeremy Lent's "Deep Transformation Network," among the most active and rigorous in "attempting" to integrate spirituality and social activism. I can't find a single offering there that looks remotely effective.
In 1970, I had a sense that a revolution in science was brewing. The scientism (or fundamaterialism) that was a potential some 500 years ago became dogma in the 19th century, and many still confuse it with science. My guess was, 55 years ago, that it would start to break down some time by the end of the 21st century.
Surprise: Just about every year since 2015, and growing exponentially in the past year or so, month by month, a radical new "science of meaning," is emerging, seeing the universe as alive, purposeful and infinitely intelligent. .
About 100 years ago, Sri Aurobindo predicted these changes in science, as well as in education and numerous other areas of life.
The last to change, he predicted, would be economics and politics. I don't think I'm going to live to see a genuinely effective "politics of meaning" emerge. I'm 73, and even if I live to be 93 or a few years more, I just don't see anything like this emerging before 2050 at least.
And by the way, if you've never heard of Sri Aurobindo, I think he has some "street cred" in regard to his prediction: He was the first leader of the Indian independence movement, before Gandhi - and it was him, not Gandhi, who came up with the idea of non cooperation (he was passionately against non violence in a literal sense, however)
Really powerful piece. I've known some folks who've gone down the Jordan Peterson rabbit hole, and I think they're responding to that idea of a big picture answer that resists the conventional (liberal) pieties. As one of the comments suggests, people like Rev Barber and Senator Raphael Warnock are addressing this powerfully. And there are obvious frameworks within religious social justice traditions. The challenge I think is to come up with the equivalent for those of us more secular. But also to resist the kind of technocratic viewpoints and language that you describe. Biden economics was actually a really good direction and a break from Clintonism and even Obama. But the administration couldn't communicate about why it mattered (furthered by Biden's decline), and there wasn't any picture of what to fight for.
Lastly, as you know, I live in Seattle where it rains a lot, and I can attest that “Strong Floor, No Ceiling” is a terrible idea. It's pandering the donors, but also just an example of the insipid consultant-speak that's paralyzed Democratic politics.
Our brains are hardwired to use stories when constructing a worldview. From evolution and what not
Now our brains are holding on too tightly the stories of our past when analyzing the present world around us
Stories follow a format. Often including good guys and bad guys. And we all instinctively know at this point who the good guys and bad guys are going to be in a story.
And nobody wants to be the bad guys ( I think thats why Peter is obsessed with the antichrist. Because on some level he instinctually knows he’s fitting the role)
Stories are over simplified. With holes and errors
The answer isn’t a new story. It’s to come up with a plan that is self evidently going to make people’s life better. Financially. For the long run
In so doing so you remove good guy/bad guy archetypes from the equation entirely.
Such a great piece, thanks very much. My local Indivisible groups have provided me with several lifelong friends, and we're reaching out to the community in ways that feel deeply meaningful - with food and clothing aid, with healthcare and "know your rights" advice and trainings, etc. and of course through rallies and visibility events. But I do feel a need to examine the more spiritual side of all this work...have tried to do so in other writings. In some sense, mounting a serious resistance to authoritarianism simply DOES rise to the level of the spiritual, in ways that I cannot fully explain in a short statement like this. But thank you for prodding my brain and soul on this subject.
Does what Rev. William Barber is doing count?
Thank you for this piece. It gets at why I chafe at "messaging guides" but still deeply think the way and what we communicate matters so much (after all, as I learned in social sciences from Niklas Luhman and others - our reality is crafted by language). I work for a wonderful nonprofit news site called Documented and though this is not their work, the model they have of putting listening first and again and again is exemplary and part of the answer, as is generally honest, "real" information and journalism that lifts up what people are feeling and saying.
Good stuff Micah, thank you! I'd say Zack Polanski and the british Greens are onto something, talking clearly and with passion about humanity, care and belonging.
https://bsky.app/profile/zackpolanski.bsky.social
Two clips from a debate last night about immigration
https://bsky.app/profile/greenparty.org.uk/post/3m76xycw2272s
https://bsky.app/profile/boldpolitics.bsky.social/post/3m772lwbqdk2i
Art might not be the answer, but it can help
I wonder if you know about the "Compassionate Action Network"? It was started in 1992 by leftist activist David Levine in collaboration with Rabbi Michael Lerner (who, as I looked up CAN and see if no longer exists, I realized just died about a year ago).
I attended the first meeting - 500 people - in 1992. The idea was to bring together political activists and the "spiritual" community.
Before I even attended the first meeting, I made a prediction (sharing it with David and Michael, who of course didn't believe it at first, even though it become too obvious by the 3rd meeting for them to ignore it) that the political people would get louder and louder, and the "spiritual" people would be stuck in their, "Chill man, just meditate and make love now war."
TLDR: That's what happened. And you're right - 33 years later - we need this integration more than ever.
Any signs of it on the horizon? I subscribe to Jeremy Lent's "Deep Transformation Network," among the most active and rigorous in "attempting" to integrate spirituality and social activism. I can't find a single offering there that looks remotely effective.
In 1970, I had a sense that a revolution in science was brewing. The scientism (or fundamaterialism) that was a potential some 500 years ago became dogma in the 19th century, and many still confuse it with science. My guess was, 55 years ago, that it would start to break down some time by the end of the 21st century.
Surprise: Just about every year since 2015, and growing exponentially in the past year or so, month by month, a radical new "science of meaning," is emerging, seeing the universe as alive, purposeful and infinitely intelligent. .
About 100 years ago, Sri Aurobindo predicted these changes in science, as well as in education and numerous other areas of life.
The last to change, he predicted, would be economics and politics. I don't think I'm going to live to see a genuinely effective "politics of meaning" emerge. I'm 73, and even if I live to be 93 or a few years more, I just don't see anything like this emerging before 2050 at least.
Gee, I hope I'm wrong!!
And by the way, if you've never heard of Sri Aurobindo, I think he has some "street cred" in regard to his prediction: He was the first leader of the Indian independence movement, before Gandhi - and it was him, not Gandhi, who came up with the idea of non cooperation (he was passionately against non violence in a literal sense, however)
The first 2-1/2 minutes of this video encapsulates some of what you mention above - strengths of MAGA, weaknesses of messaging from the left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuN6GfUix7c
Tom Krajci
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
Really powerful piece. I've known some folks who've gone down the Jordan Peterson rabbit hole, and I think they're responding to that idea of a big picture answer that resists the conventional (liberal) pieties. As one of the comments suggests, people like Rev Barber and Senator Raphael Warnock are addressing this powerfully. And there are obvious frameworks within religious social justice traditions. The challenge I think is to come up with the equivalent for those of us more secular. But also to resist the kind of technocratic viewpoints and language that you describe. Biden economics was actually a really good direction and a break from Clintonism and even Obama. But the administration couldn't communicate about why it mattered (furthered by Biden's decline), and there wasn't any picture of what to fight for.
Lastly, as you know, I live in Seattle where it rains a lot, and I can attest that “Strong Floor, No Ceiling” is a terrible idea. It's pandering the donors, but also just an example of the insipid consultant-speak that's paralyzed Democratic politics.
Our brains are hardwired to use stories when constructing a worldview. From evolution and what not
Now our brains are holding on too tightly the stories of our past when analyzing the present world around us
Stories follow a format. Often including good guys and bad guys. And we all instinctively know at this point who the good guys and bad guys are going to be in a story.
And nobody wants to be the bad guys ( I think thats why Peter is obsessed with the antichrist. Because on some level he instinctually knows he’s fitting the role)
Stories are over simplified. With holes and errors
The answer isn’t a new story. It’s to come up with a plan that is self evidently going to make people’s life better. Financially. For the long run
In so doing so you remove good guy/bad guy archetypes from the equation entirely.