Making Sense of 2020:
An introduction to Hegel.
Each of us is struggling to make sense of the compounding crises in which we find ourselves. Each of us craves some sense of certainty and normalcy that either cures, or allows us to powerfully relate to the pandemic, the rise of fascism, and the cascading economic, political, racial, and ecological crises. The pandemic and our response to it has revealed that "normal" didn't really work for any of us, and that we must create a new normal in order to come out alive on the other side.
A frame that is useful to make sense of the volatility of this moment is the Hegelian dialectic, which posits that human thought and society evolve in a triadic fashion. We begin with a stable synthesis / worldview / cultural norm / idea (1), which over time, eventually reveals its flaws and limitations. These flaws and limitations come into view as new constraints for the design and thinking with regard to what the next stable antithesis / worldview / cultural norm idea (2) should be. This new stasis evolves as a reaction to the previous stasis (1). Over time, we see that both (1 and 2) have problems, and an even better synthesis / worldview / cultural norm / idea (3) is possible by combining the best of (1) and (2).
We have seen this unfolding in stark contrast since 1500 CE, with the traditional worldview stable synthesis (1: faith, theology, conformity, country, monarchy, slavery, patriarchy) revealing its limitations, and the emergence of the antithetical modern worldview (2: reason, philosophy, science, meritocracy, democracy, entrepreneurship, individualism, capitalism, civil rights, labor rights, 1st and 2nd wave feminism). These worldviews are frequently geographically isolated with traditionals generally residing in rural areas and moderns residing in urban areas.
Beginning in 1950 CE, many of us began to see the limitations of pure modernism (2), such as overwork, income inequality, new forms of discrimination and racial injustice, declining physical, mental, social and ecological health, and have gradually began to borrow the best of both to create a synthesis (3). This has manifested itself in various forms, as the New Age spiritual movement, Conscious Capitalism, environmentalism, social democracy, depth / eco / transpersonal psychology, and integral philosophy. For lack of a better term, we’ll call this the integral / creative worldview - the movement to integrate ourselves psychologically, and create increasingly inclusive structures for relating economically, ecologically, spiritually and politically. This integral / creative worldview is held by ~35% of people. up from 18% in 1995 (Ray, 2010).
The pandemic has revealed and amplified the tensions in the move from rural traditionalism (1: ~20% of people) and urban modernism (2: ~45% of people) to the new integral / creative synthesis (3: ~35% of people). While culture is shifting towards this new integral synthesis, our ability to understand ourselves and reality, and share power and resources are still largely expressions of the rural traditional and urban modern worldviews.
The chaos and conflict that the pandemic and recession have exacerbated is the death rattle of these traditional and modern worldviews with each other, e.g., rural conservatives vs. urban liberals, and to a lesser degree between urban liberals and integral/creative leaders, initiatives and organizations. Traditionals react against the urban modern and the integral folks, imploring us to seek refuge in the the nostalgia of the patriarchy, nuclear family, country living, nationalism and institutional faiths. Moderns react against the traditional and integral folks, imploring us to seek refuge in the nostalgia of individualism, the morality of the markets, wealth building, globalism and the fruits of the consumer / experience economy.
Too move into the new integral / creative stasis, we have to commit to inner work to establish a personal identity and spirituality grounded in our unique souls, a relationship to reality grounded in the integral / creative worldview, and cultural, political and economic systems that allow us to realize our full potential as individuals and as family, community and economic units. This takes tireless devotion and a whole systems approach. Below are a few of the key movements from modernism to integral / creative that we are cultivating, consciously or unconsciously:
- Intellectual: Objective -> Subjective, Lifeless clock universe -> Living universe, Textual -> Contextual, Entropy -> Syntropy, Certainty -> Curiosity
- Economics: Extraction -> Regenerative
- Politics: Concentration of power -> Distribution of power
- Social: Toxic masculine -> Sacred masculine, Lean-in feminine -> Divine feminine, Divisive -> Communal, Homogeneity -> Diverse inclusivity
- Ecological: Monoculture -> Polyculture, Domination -> Cultivation
- Psychological: Individualism -> Collectivism, Thinking -> Feeling, Mind -> Soul, Hedonia -> Eudamonia, Neurochemical reactions -> Mythical serendipity
- Medical: Allopathic -> Holistic
If you are called to craft and be a part of the new integral/creative reality (3), I invite you to begin cultivating an inclusive, integral and creative approach to your being, thinking, doing and caring. It goes with saying this commitment will require a new relationship to careers, email inboxes, social media, civic participation, Amazon boxes, churches, TV shows, conspiracy theories, ideologues and Groupon deals.
- BEING: Begin or deepen your inner work to establish an integrated identity and spirituality grounded in the marriage of your unique soul with your ego/personality, such that you have the faith and rootedness that allows you to meet reality as it is (3), versus how it was (1 and 2). Explore healing modalities (e.g., depth psychotherapy, trauma work, shadow work, men’s + women’s circles), grounding modalities (e.g., yoga, meditation, ritual) and empowering modalities (e.g., purpose activation work, inclusive leadership development).
- THINKING: Inform yourself of the theory and practice of these movements, experience them, and find the most fulfilling expression of them in your life and career, e.g., integral philosophy, depth psychology, deep history, permaculture, positive psychology, holistic health approaches.
- DOING: Support visionary organizations (B corps), political structures (Green/Black New Deal, social democracy), educational methods (Waldorf, Montessori) and communities (Warren Democrats, Black Lives Matter, Showing Up for Racial Justice, Transition Towns) who are making headway in creating new cultural, political and economic systems that move us closer to an integral / creative experience of life and empower everyone to thrive.
- CARING: Have compassion for yourself as this journey will be uncomfortable and messy, and widen your circle of belonging and care for others who are fighting tooth and nail to hang on to their previous identity / reality (1 and 2). Special care must be devoted to the rural traditionals. Due to the tragedy of the commons and neoliberal market forces over the last 3 decades, they have been left behind. Their lives have become significantly more impoverished and malnourished, and are marked by political polarization, drug addiction and deaths of despair.
Please let me know how this lands for you or if you'd like to chat about specific ways to dive in. I have many resources I can point you towards.
About the Author
Brandon Peele (he/him) is a Midwesterner, best-selling author, international speaker, the Vice President, People Science at ion Learning. He has written / co-written four books on purpose activation, and worked with organizations like Morgan Stanley, LinkedIn, the US Marine Corps and Johnson & Johnson to activate purpose-led and inclusive cultures.
He has also taught at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Minnesota and Northern Arizona University, and has had his work featured in media outlets such as Forbes, U.S. New and World Report and Conscious Company Magazine.
He is a PGI Certified Purpose GuideTM, Imperative Certified Purpose LeaderTM, serves on the Council of the Global Purpose Leaders and has an MBA in Leadership from Columbia Business School. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Stephanie.