I don't know what to do either, at my age and with all my health issues. The best I can do is give younger people money, directly, to offset the lousy hand they've been dealt. It's my own private form of communism.
Though I am a net beneficiary, I hate end stage capitalism and all of the social distortions, greed and suffering it produces. I would gladly give up most of what I have for a fairer system. And I'm not alone.
As you highlight in your latest article here, self-optimization industry talks the talk about 'love' and self knowledge, but no practical effort is put into creating political/economic systems that foster the most love, comfort and meaning, for the most people.
The other, and I'm just going to say it, and hope it doesn't offend anybody. There's been too much emphasis in academia on cultural bias, specific to gender, race. They've stolen attention from issues of class. Cultural bias should be one area of focus, but it won't cause the planet to burn to a crisp, nor will it do much to ameliorate the housing and mental health crisis.
A single mother, working for minimum wage, would choose decent wages and housing over an outpouring of concern over a micro-aggressions, like a sideways glance from a manager, she might have to 'endure.'
I've been immersed in libertarian economic forums for decades, and in all of the thousands of pages I've read I can't find a reason incomes can't be flattened and corporations can't be nationalized. Capitalists dance all around this by, for example, blaming the federal reserve for booms and busts and distortions that occur, when really, capitalism itself causes the underlying problems.
Communism's main drawback, in the past, was a problem of command economies being unable to predict future demands. But with advanced quantum computer modelling systems, this would be a snap.
The whole, "With all of its flaws, free market capitalism is the only system that works," doesn't ring true anymore. That's clearly illustrated by your example of a resentful homeless man, wrestling with demons of resentment on a roasting planet spitting on your friend!
Thank you so much for this beautiful and heart felt article. I found it both moving and disturbing.
It will certainly take a village of Individuals who are Consciously based within our Political, and Economic, keep in mind all we need is a leader and 40 million to agree with the changes nessasary.
Economically we must give back more so everyone gets a fare shot. It's a criminal economy .
In the 50's and 60's here in America there was a class system in place, you were born onto it, upper or lower a clear and honest path awaited us, back then there wasn't as dominant upper class who were controlling things. Then things changed dramatically.
During Clinton to much loosing up things , I remember when the amount of interest being charged on our cards today was called usury. Only done by the black market. Today it's business as usual.
The biggest problem we face is we are actually blind to our own ignorance, in many departments and we believe in it as fact.
There are only a few whom sense on this higher level of Consciousness ..., when we reach a collective of 40 million we will take down the existing system and replace it with something much better , and even the 1% will love it too!
Also I'd like to point out, those that believe in things as Real Will increasingly find it more difficult and do extreme things to maintain their reality. We are experiencing these senerios with all domains of permanent living.
One will not be able to survive properly without seeing this light...
I’ve recently been introduced to this other way of thinking of revolution, and it’s given me a bit of peace of mind. There’s an ever present feeling of “never doing enough” that seems to chase even the most determined activists. It can be quite haunting.
The ripple of effect of small changes, of inner work as well as outer, all adds up. I think the outcome will not be how we expect to perceive social change but something very different. This means that we miss it happening right in front of us. As such, it’s quite frustrating.
Sometimes the revolution is that we leave the house with cash knowing that the city is an ecosystem full of wonder and chaos and that we, if we have homes and warm meals, are tasked with redistribution by virtue of same. We give him four dollars because he is the city as are we and we left the house not just for fun but to give him four dollars.
no one should be spitting on you, don't get me wrong, but if we take away the roles we are in and consider that each one of us is a spark of the Godhead, then ignoring an honest request from someone in distress because you CAN is an offense of sorts and he told you both that he felt it was.
I expect this to annoy you, I am another beggar who begged a free subscription from you recently! I speak only from an overwhelming felt lived awareness of oneness with the streets I walk....we walk to give and take, and it is an honor to do both... I always have cash (which I don't use much, I keep cash to give it away) or water bottles or fruit or food for people in case they ask....they are me and I am they and I don't remember how this became my default but I have never been mugged or robbed since then, oddly enough. I also walk like I am carrying a blade, old habits die hard (my Dad lived in gang territory) so that might factor in lol.
It would be prudent Daniel to acknowledge the fact we only need 40 million individuals to come forward collectively and join in on a restructuring and realignment of our 3 spheres of influence which bind us together in society.
Think of us as David in the Story of : David and Goliath...
Our Political affiliates must be in alignment with our Economic affiliates which then create our Social/Cultural movements. These three streams of consciousness must re weave together a new fabric we can all climb upon.
New Banks whom have a much better agendas would be a good start !
It was told to me by a Rabbi , deep within the Torah it says the next coming won't be a single individual it will be a collective 40 million strong. I took it as fact.
For what’s it’s worth, the earth most recently came out of an ice age so we have been in a global warming trend for millennia now. The earth has seasons and cycles so don’t sweat it. That is literally the LEAST of our problems. The real problem is the power hungry hierarchy that uses this half truth to control and manipulate the masses to their (the ones being manipulated) ultimate demise. See the wood for the trees. I totally agree in being a good steward of this planet and believe in sustainable infrastructure. Totally possible. But why haven’t we done it on a mass scale? Corruption. The same assholes scaring you about global warming are the same assholes creating proxy wars so they get to monopolize the FOSSIL FUEL world market. Pretty freaking sick if you ask me.
OMG, please get your head out of the sands, stop reading crap on the internet that is paid for by the fossil fuel companies. Global warming is real, climate change is real, this is more than just a "season" of the Earth, humans are having a dramatic and potentially irreversible impact because we are stuck on incessant profit GROWTH as the model for economic success. We don't need to grow profit or GNP, etc. We need to stop consuming the planet like overpopulated deer eating all the saplings and grass till the field is bare and we're covered in ticks and viruses
I doubt you read it the first time because you are basically reiterating everything I just said...calm down...then maybe you wouldn’t be fighting with an ally
You said the Earth has seasons and cycles so don't sweat it, implying that climate change is merely a cyclical weather pattern, and that humankind has little role in it. This is the argument made by climate change deniers, so if you don't mean to ally with that crowd. then I think you need to not repeat the same language and arguments that they do. Of course there are weather patterns and cycles, but humankind has vastly distorted those... Further said the warming was the LEAST of our problems (?) and that concerns over climate change was somehow a "half truth" used to control the masses and that it was simply the elites "scaring" us about "global warming." Actually, now that I go thru your comment, I see you really do come off as a climate change denialist, because you make all the same point that the deniers do. Why is that?
I'm too stuck in it to change it, barely getting by making $20 an hour. And I am very lucky with what's considered high pay and moderate rent with no children to feed.
Be careful of setting up capitalism as the root of all evil- lazy thinking Daniel-many progressives forget that their plumber, electrician, accountant et al would all consider themselves some sort of capitalist, they are likely to have employees and assets. They do not however have enough economic clout to manipulate markets, policy and the zeitgeist, whereas corporations and monopoly capitalists do. This distinction is often lost and is such a powerful distinction that it is seldom mentioned by the schills of the status quo.
Small c capitalism can and does deliver economic complexity and symbiosis- as an ecosystem- corporate capitalism is the monoculture that devastates and ultimately leads to barren devastation. Call that out and give it a new name- otherwise lose the middle ground to those who’s aspirational thinking blind them to the fact that the economic feudalism they are participating in is a free market.
I'm starting to think that the AI generation and post-modernism has shown us something...maybe collective action is an illusion and it really is about people joining together into distinct communities where we use technology better to bring about a social change but it's also a serious structural change. I don't think the current government structure is viable. Having a federal government with a figurehead president and politicians pretend like they have a grip on states' powers is an illusion. It's part of the problem of our democracy. It's too vulnerable to being hijacked by extremists or people who get up in office and abuse their authority for personal gain instead of helping their voters.
What's stopping the masses across the country from using our resources and intelligence to form conscious communities at this very moment? Seems like people are distracted by the elite because they want to have the same privileges but then at the same time....they still abide by societal norms and go to the same jobs everyday that are continuing their own oppression.
I meet people all the time who think I'm weird etc...because I sacrifice a normal average life where I just keep up with the latest trends and indulge in binge watching Netflix. They think I'm strange because I spend hours meditating and investigating consciousness. My family thought I was weird for not owning a TV for 10 years which can be extremely soul-crushing and mind-numbing. I was meditating and doing ceremonial magic. Meditation, when done in the mode of goodness, costs no money, burns no fossil fuels. The best type of entertainment for a world in metacrisis.
I didn't just want to consume the latest music or media. A lot of consumers just want to party on the weekends and try to find purpose in the jobs they hate during the week, gossip, cause drama, and become attached to materialism. Lol.
I want to party too but my consciousness is different ( i say this because people point that out constantly) because I rebel against certain social norms in a way that they don't. It seems like most people don't want to even sacrifice being hypnotized by the capitalist dream in the first place. Like our whole society is built on using toxic chemicals and abusing the Earth's resources....
Me and countless others have at least given up using certain products. You know...trying to walk the walk and talk the talk...trying....
But I'm not perfect. It's a long process to fully surrender using products that are harmful to the planet. People have just given up. That's the problem imo. It's hard forreal!!! Also folks are easily fooled. The whole Beyond meat thing. Like come on. It's obvious that eating fake lab meat is bad for you. Just eat some vegetables. I was duped for a second. How stupid was I to eat Beyond meat. So I realized, people like being fooled by those in authority. It gives them a happy feeling that they can just enjoy their time here without thinking about it. That's what capitalism gives everyone. An automatic pleasureland. But we can have that without the ignorance, but humans aren't in it for the long-game. They live YOLO. Which is pure ignorance. That's what capitalism is based on, instead of a cycle of reincarnation where you keep coming back here to reap the karma you sew. Point blank.
Can you imagine what it would take for people to give up their daily American average privileges to even transform our society to be more sustainable? Literal self-discipline which is hard to have under wage enslavement.
So sure, the people with money need to contribute to this work....but also it may be more complex than that I think.
"Collectively, we need to laser-focus on the ecological emergency and wealth inequality. This requires breaking through the obstructions caused by the design of our economic system, which continues to pursue development and short-term profit over long-term resilience or the needs of the Earth."
The main way to collectively focus on the ecological emergency is to have a revolution in consciousness but it's basically applying the same yogic and conscious principles from indigenous teachings that the masses haven't fully grasped yet. I call it....rebranding what we already know from the best enlightenment movements across time. Then mixing some Age of Aquarius realness up in there. ;)
These ancient techniques should be adapted to Web3 etc...then that would create an overarching container for raising consciousness that would dominate the current corporate-political-media stronghold.
And simultaneously convincing individual members of the 1% to use their power for good but in a real way. We need actual strategies that use both old technology and new technology and a new synthesis of the best philosophies. Obviously some wealthy people are liked by millions of people....and then there is a growing resistance of people that want revenge. We need to explore this more.
I will admit that many on the left are cynical and boring when it comes to understanding occultism. They give up on doing metaphysics as a serious life long practice while trying to appear as knowledgeable on the matter. Then turn to making fun of New Age people and hippies just to invent something cool to be. They treat serious investigation of consciousness like a fad and so that's why the Right wing has gone off the deep end with twisting occultism to their advantage...it's a really extreme skew....so there are people in the middle who actually do yoga seriously and then also care about not become elitist or paranoid with what people call "new age practices (a terrible term.)"
Homelessness baffles me. It really touches me so deeply. Can you imagine even spending one cold, dark, wet night out on the streets?
The system is broken and has been for years.
Many can’t be around street people - as you say they leave the cities and move away to luxury locations, pretending that is all that exists. After all if we don’t see the thing, does it actually exist ? We are very good at shoving that which alarms us or we find distasteful into the shadow. But it only grows bigger, shouts louder and demands more attention here.
You just have to watch interactions between homeless people and the more affluent - the disdain can be written all over their faces - and it goes both ways. Often both project the same feelings - fear, disgust, helplessness, they are simply built upon different foundational beliefs....
each a mirror.
A love revolution is what we need. Can we forgive ourselves and each other?
We cannot wait for the super rich to step up and be the change, to do so gives them the agency and power that we all possess and implies that we have non.
I don’t have answers but we don’t change the world by waiting or relying on someone else to be the change.
I wonder what had happened to that guy that he felt so bitter, so angry and entitled that he spat at your friend? I imagine you were just two more people going about their business and he felt unseen again.
All any of us want is to be seen. To be valued. It’s our basic human need.
"We possess the physical resources and technical systems needed to prevent it. But Neoliberal Capitalism – or any system that allows for extreme wealth-concentration – makes this impossible". I suspect the elite at Davos are relying on AI and technology to be able to exert greater control over and manage the dangerous, disaffected, germ spreading, mob of spitting hopeless human beings on the streets. I can imagine that for them the death of 2-3 billion people is viewed as an inevitable necessity as long as they themselves can remain safe and maintain some order in the coming chaos. This is why imo no legitimate, viable effort has been made in the past 30 years by either political party or foreign power to prevent climate change trauma. Granted they have been very self congratulatory for supporting various pipe dreams like electric cars, wind and solar power etc. that simply divert from real solutions. How could we have been so stupid ? There are no adults or true humans beings the Junzi envisioned by Confucius or the Zhenren by Daoists, who are in charge. Ultimately a failure of values in the rearing of our children. Thus we only seem able to create detached, cold, calculating, self involved ,paternalistic , nihilistic rulers etc.
I don't know what to do either, at my age and with all my health issues. The best I can do is give younger people money, directly, to offset the lousy hand they've been dealt. It's my own private form of communism.
Though I am a net beneficiary, I hate end stage capitalism and all of the social distortions, greed and suffering it produces. I would gladly give up most of what I have for a fairer system. And I'm not alone.
As you highlight in your latest article here, self-optimization industry talks the talk about 'love' and self knowledge, but no practical effort is put into creating political/economic systems that foster the most love, comfort and meaning, for the most people.
The other, and I'm just going to say it, and hope it doesn't offend anybody. There's been too much emphasis in academia on cultural bias, specific to gender, race. They've stolen attention from issues of class. Cultural bias should be one area of focus, but it won't cause the planet to burn to a crisp, nor will it do much to ameliorate the housing and mental health crisis.
A single mother, working for minimum wage, would choose decent wages and housing over an outpouring of concern over a micro-aggressions, like a sideways glance from a manager, she might have to 'endure.'
I've been immersed in libertarian economic forums for decades, and in all of the thousands of pages I've read I can't find a reason incomes can't be flattened and corporations can't be nationalized. Capitalists dance all around this by, for example, blaming the federal reserve for booms and busts and distortions that occur, when really, capitalism itself causes the underlying problems.
Communism's main drawback, in the past, was a problem of command economies being unable to predict future demands. But with advanced quantum computer modelling systems, this would be a snap.
The whole, "With all of its flaws, free market capitalism is the only system that works," doesn't ring true anymore. That's clearly illustrated by your example of a resentful homeless man, wrestling with demons of resentment on a roasting planet spitting on your friend!
Thank you so much for this beautiful and heart felt article. I found it both moving and disturbing.
Hello Jen
Really like the way you see things.
It will certainly take a village of Individuals who are Consciously based within our Political, and Economic, keep in mind all we need is a leader and 40 million to agree with the changes nessasary.
Economically we must give back more so everyone gets a fare shot. It's a criminal economy .
In the 50's and 60's here in America there was a class system in place, you were born onto it, upper or lower a clear and honest path awaited us, back then there wasn't as dominant upper class who were controlling things. Then things changed dramatically.
During Clinton to much loosing up things , I remember when the amount of interest being charged on our cards today was called usury. Only done by the black market. Today it's business as usual.
The biggest problem we face is we are actually blind to our own ignorance, in many departments and we believe in it as fact.
There are only a few whom sense on this higher level of Consciousness ..., when we reach a collective of 40 million we will take down the existing system and replace it with something much better , and even the 1% will love it too!
Keep the faith
Daniel is an initiate of this light ...
My apologies Jess , I'm severely dyslexic...
Also I'd like to point out, those that believe in things as Real Will increasingly find it more difficult and do extreme things to maintain their reality. We are experiencing these senerios with all domains of permanent living.
One will not be able to survive properly without seeing this light...
I’ve recently been introduced to this other way of thinking of revolution, and it’s given me a bit of peace of mind. There’s an ever present feeling of “never doing enough” that seems to chase even the most determined activists. It can be quite haunting.
The ripple of effect of small changes, of inner work as well as outer, all adds up. I think the outcome will not be how we expect to perceive social change but something very different. This means that we miss it happening right in front of us. As such, it’s quite frustrating.
I really liked this explanation by a sociologist:
https://youtu.be/Xz9IJMMWP4M
Sometimes the revolution is that we leave the house with cash knowing that the city is an ecosystem full of wonder and chaos and that we, if we have homes and warm meals, are tasked with redistribution by virtue of same. We give him four dollars because he is the city as are we and we left the house not just for fun but to give him four dollars.
no one should be spitting on you, don't get me wrong, but if we take away the roles we are in and consider that each one of us is a spark of the Godhead, then ignoring an honest request from someone in distress because you CAN is an offense of sorts and he told you both that he felt it was.
I expect this to annoy you, I am another beggar who begged a free subscription from you recently! I speak only from an overwhelming felt lived awareness of oneness with the streets I walk....we walk to give and take, and it is an honor to do both... I always have cash (which I don't use much, I keep cash to give it away) or water bottles or fruit or food for people in case they ask....they are me and I am they and I don't remember how this became my default but I have never been mugged or robbed since then, oddly enough. I also walk like I am carrying a blade, old habits die hard (my Dad lived in gang territory) so that might factor in lol.
thank you for sharing this story.
100 percent. We should all be obligated to keep cash on hand and distribute it freely to those in need, even if it’s just a dollar at a time.
I also try to practice this. Give a dollar to all the homeless people I pass. It's worth it I think
It would be prudent Daniel to acknowledge the fact we only need 40 million individuals to come forward collectively and join in on a restructuring and realignment of our 3 spheres of influence which bind us together in society.
Think of us as David in the Story of : David and Goliath...
Our Political affiliates must be in alignment with our Economic affiliates which then create our Social/Cultural movements. These three streams of consciousness must re weave together a new fabric we can all climb upon.
New Banks whom have a much better agendas would be a good start !
Don't give up hope !
Where did the "it takes 40 million individuals" as fact come from? That is pretty interesting, and seems about right
It was told to me by a Rabbi , deep within the Torah it says the next coming won't be a single individual it will be a collective 40 million strong. I took it as fact.
For what’s it’s worth, the earth most recently came out of an ice age so we have been in a global warming trend for millennia now. The earth has seasons and cycles so don’t sweat it. That is literally the LEAST of our problems. The real problem is the power hungry hierarchy that uses this half truth to control and manipulate the masses to their (the ones being manipulated) ultimate demise. See the wood for the trees. I totally agree in being a good steward of this planet and believe in sustainable infrastructure. Totally possible. But why haven’t we done it on a mass scale? Corruption. The same assholes scaring you about global warming are the same assholes creating proxy wars so they get to monopolize the FOSSIL FUEL world market. Pretty freaking sick if you ask me.
OMG, please get your head out of the sands, stop reading crap on the internet that is paid for by the fossil fuel companies. Global warming is real, climate change is real, this is more than just a "season" of the Earth, humans are having a dramatic and potentially irreversible impact because we are stuck on incessant profit GROWTH as the model for economic success. We don't need to grow profit or GNP, etc. We need to stop consuming the planet like overpopulated deer eating all the saplings and grass till the field is bare and we're covered in ticks and viruses
I doubt you read it the first time because you are basically reiterating everything I just said...calm down...then maybe you wouldn’t be fighting with an ally
i didn’t say it wasn’t real. please read my comment again...
You said the Earth has seasons and cycles so don't sweat it, implying that climate change is merely a cyclical weather pattern, and that humankind has little role in it. This is the argument made by climate change deniers, so if you don't mean to ally with that crowd. then I think you need to not repeat the same language and arguments that they do. Of course there are weather patterns and cycles, but humankind has vastly distorted those... Further said the warming was the LEAST of our problems (?) and that concerns over climate change was somehow a "half truth" used to control the masses and that it was simply the elites "scaring" us about "global warming." Actually, now that I go thru your comment, I see you really do come off as a climate change denialist, because you make all the same point that the deniers do. Why is that?
I'm too stuck in it to change it, barely getting by making $20 an hour. And I am very lucky with what's considered high pay and moderate rent with no children to feed.
From little things big things grow so keep moving with love and energy
Be careful of setting up capitalism as the root of all evil- lazy thinking Daniel-many progressives forget that their plumber, electrician, accountant et al would all consider themselves some sort of capitalist, they are likely to have employees and assets. They do not however have enough economic clout to manipulate markets, policy and the zeitgeist, whereas corporations and monopoly capitalists do. This distinction is often lost and is such a powerful distinction that it is seldom mentioned by the schills of the status quo.
Small c capitalism can and does deliver economic complexity and symbiosis- as an ecosystem- corporate capitalism is the monoculture that devastates and ultimately leads to barren devastation. Call that out and give it a new name- otherwise lose the middle ground to those who’s aspirational thinking blind them to the fact that the economic feudalism they are participating in is a free market.
thanks for writing this, Daniel!
I'm starting to think that the AI generation and post-modernism has shown us something...maybe collective action is an illusion and it really is about people joining together into distinct communities where we use technology better to bring about a social change but it's also a serious structural change. I don't think the current government structure is viable. Having a federal government with a figurehead president and politicians pretend like they have a grip on states' powers is an illusion. It's part of the problem of our democracy. It's too vulnerable to being hijacked by extremists or people who get up in office and abuse their authority for personal gain instead of helping their voters.
What's stopping the masses across the country from using our resources and intelligence to form conscious communities at this very moment? Seems like people are distracted by the elite because they want to have the same privileges but then at the same time....they still abide by societal norms and go to the same jobs everyday that are continuing their own oppression.
I meet people all the time who think I'm weird etc...because I sacrifice a normal average life where I just keep up with the latest trends and indulge in binge watching Netflix. They think I'm strange because I spend hours meditating and investigating consciousness. My family thought I was weird for not owning a TV for 10 years which can be extremely soul-crushing and mind-numbing. I was meditating and doing ceremonial magic. Meditation, when done in the mode of goodness, costs no money, burns no fossil fuels. The best type of entertainment for a world in metacrisis.
I didn't just want to consume the latest music or media. A lot of consumers just want to party on the weekends and try to find purpose in the jobs they hate during the week, gossip, cause drama, and become attached to materialism. Lol.
I want to party too but my consciousness is different ( i say this because people point that out constantly) because I rebel against certain social norms in a way that they don't. It seems like most people don't want to even sacrifice being hypnotized by the capitalist dream in the first place. Like our whole society is built on using toxic chemicals and abusing the Earth's resources....
Me and countless others have at least given up using certain products. You know...trying to walk the walk and talk the talk...trying....
But I'm not perfect. It's a long process to fully surrender using products that are harmful to the planet. People have just given up. That's the problem imo. It's hard forreal!!! Also folks are easily fooled. The whole Beyond meat thing. Like come on. It's obvious that eating fake lab meat is bad for you. Just eat some vegetables. I was duped for a second. How stupid was I to eat Beyond meat. So I realized, people like being fooled by those in authority. It gives them a happy feeling that they can just enjoy their time here without thinking about it. That's what capitalism gives everyone. An automatic pleasureland. But we can have that without the ignorance, but humans aren't in it for the long-game. They live YOLO. Which is pure ignorance. That's what capitalism is based on, instead of a cycle of reincarnation where you keep coming back here to reap the karma you sew. Point blank.
Can you imagine what it would take for people to give up their daily American average privileges to even transform our society to be more sustainable? Literal self-discipline which is hard to have under wage enslavement.
So sure, the people with money need to contribute to this work....but also it may be more complex than that I think.
"Collectively, we need to laser-focus on the ecological emergency and wealth inequality. This requires breaking through the obstructions caused by the design of our economic system, which continues to pursue development and short-term profit over long-term resilience or the needs of the Earth."
The main way to collectively focus on the ecological emergency is to have a revolution in consciousness but it's basically applying the same yogic and conscious principles from indigenous teachings that the masses haven't fully grasped yet. I call it....rebranding what we already know from the best enlightenment movements across time. Then mixing some Age of Aquarius realness up in there. ;)
These ancient techniques should be adapted to Web3 etc...then that would create an overarching container for raising consciousness that would dominate the current corporate-political-media stronghold.
And simultaneously convincing individual members of the 1% to use their power for good but in a real way. We need actual strategies that use both old technology and new technology and a new synthesis of the best philosophies. Obviously some wealthy people are liked by millions of people....and then there is a growing resistance of people that want revenge. We need to explore this more.
I will admit that many on the left are cynical and boring when it comes to understanding occultism. They give up on doing metaphysics as a serious life long practice while trying to appear as knowledgeable on the matter. Then turn to making fun of New Age people and hippies just to invent something cool to be. They treat serious investigation of consciousness like a fad and so that's why the Right wing has gone off the deep end with twisting occultism to their advantage...it's a really extreme skew....so there are people in the middle who actually do yoga seriously and then also care about not become elitist or paranoid with what people call "new age practices (a terrible term.)"
It's really tricky!!!
One of your best ever, thank you, Daniel.
Great column, will share!
Homelessness baffles me. It really touches me so deeply. Can you imagine even spending one cold, dark, wet night out on the streets?
The system is broken and has been for years.
Many can’t be around street people - as you say they leave the cities and move away to luxury locations, pretending that is all that exists. After all if we don’t see the thing, does it actually exist ? We are very good at shoving that which alarms us or we find distasteful into the shadow. But it only grows bigger, shouts louder and demands more attention here.
You just have to watch interactions between homeless people and the more affluent - the disdain can be written all over their faces - and it goes both ways. Often both project the same feelings - fear, disgust, helplessness, they are simply built upon different foundational beliefs....
each a mirror.
A love revolution is what we need. Can we forgive ourselves and each other?
We cannot wait for the super rich to step up and be the change, to do so gives them the agency and power that we all possess and implies that we have non.
I don’t have answers but we don’t change the world by waiting or relying on someone else to be the change.
I wonder what had happened to that guy that he felt so bitter, so angry and entitled that he spat at your friend? I imagine you were just two more people going about their business and he felt unseen again.
All any of us want is to be seen. To be valued. It’s our basic human need.
"We possess the physical resources and technical systems needed to prevent it. But Neoliberal Capitalism – or any system that allows for extreme wealth-concentration – makes this impossible". I suspect the elite at Davos are relying on AI and technology to be able to exert greater control over and manage the dangerous, disaffected, germ spreading, mob of spitting hopeless human beings on the streets. I can imagine that for them the death of 2-3 billion people is viewed as an inevitable necessity as long as they themselves can remain safe and maintain some order in the coming chaos. This is why imo no legitimate, viable effort has been made in the past 30 years by either political party or foreign power to prevent climate change trauma. Granted they have been very self congratulatory for supporting various pipe dreams like electric cars, wind and solar power etc. that simply divert from real solutions. How could we have been so stupid ? There are no adults or true humans beings the Junzi envisioned by Confucius or the Zhenren by Daoists, who are in charge. Ultimately a failure of values in the rearing of our children. Thus we only seem able to create detached, cold, calculating, self involved ,paternalistic , nihilistic rulers etc.