Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Faced with the towering set of concerns raised in this series, and the glaring unsustainability of modernity—which is not only familiar and comfortable, but seemingly essential for modern survival—it is natural that a top-of-mind question for many is: What Can I Do?
Social engineering is when a small group of people advance their own interests by using widespread, “industrial scale” messaging that goes out to large numbers of people, with the purpose to influence and shape their thinking, beliefs, values and decision making.
The question is to what extent has pedagogical practice perpetuated and endorsed a culture of heedless exploitation to the detriment of all else, with the justification of it being for the common good of humanity.
Designing for Health helps us track health and unhealth in the different levels of any system (our community, organisation, society, family…). It helps us creating relationships, communities and societies where all beings can thrive.
Here, I attempt to paint a picture of how we might think of ourselves as humans on this planet, as integral members of the community of life.
Understanding how the root causes of our existential crisis lie in our behaviors, our individual and social behaviors, we can move to address the all-important role of culture in the creation and maintenance of sustainable communities.
History also teaches us that times of uncertainty and instability are fertile conditions for populists and those with dark agendas, as people under stress often seek simple answers to complex problems, which often dredges up an instinct to blame and see ‘us and them’ divisions. This looks to be bubbling to the surface as unrest in many parts of the world, of which the UK is now exemplary.
Modernity is a sort of flight-of-fancy: a mode that our flexible brains allowed us to pursue, while lacking sufficient cognitive power to really understand what it means or think it all through.
In this episode, Nate is joined by Mamphela Ramphele, co-founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, which was instrumental in building the ideological foundation that galvanized the struggle for Liberation under the apartheid regime in South Africa, ultimately leading to its dismantling.
If we can learn to navigate the ethical complexities of our non-ideal world, we will be much better prepared to transform it.
Rich countries have exported climate breakdown through extractive industries, creating a “carbon colonialism.”
Modernity has no choice but to end, although it seems very likely to me that humans will survive the trauma and come out the other side experimenting with new (and/or old) ways of living, necessarily in closer connection with local ecological realities.
