written 17 July 2022
published 24 July 2022
In "The Perennial Philosophy", Aldous Huxley, identifying elements common within all spiritual traditions, describes human evolution as moving from egoic separation to experience of divine unity. The second book of Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy presents the idea of social evolution as a "resident/emergent paradigm". At any given time, society is structured by the previous form, as well as the emerging form, with important influence from more archaic past forms and faint intuitions of future developments. Robinson lists the following historical sequence of social forms: tribalism, religious monarchy, feudalism, capitalism, democracy, humanism, and finally harmony or general goodwill and equity.
For example, feudalism was shaped by the previous system of absolute religious monarchy and the emergent system of capitalism, with important echoes of tribalism, and foreshadowing of democracy. Religious monarchy had power strictly controlled by a ruling family, ordained by God, passed on by heredity or conquest. Feudalism broadened the power base to include other "noble" families. Power still followed birth lines, but was supported by the proceeds of the land and labor they controlled, the emerging capitalism.
Society shifted in the 16th century Renaissance to capitalism, a clash of residual feudalism and the emergent form of democracy. Capitalism allowed wealth and power to be accumulated independent of birth, broadening the power base yet again, and opened the door for more democratic sharing throughout the society.
When America was formed, despite its democratic idealism, most of the population was disenfranchised. Three quarters of the wealthy men who wrote the Constitution were slave owners, and they almost limited voting to just the wealthy. Accepting that this wouldn't be popular, they expanded the vote to all white men, excluding women and indigenous inhabitants. For census purposes, blacks were considered worth 3/5 of a human. At the time, even this limited democracy was radical. Over the last 246 years, the forces of democracy have expanded who gets to vote. What we are witnessing today is the clash between capitalism and democracy, moving toward humanism.
Capitalism is inclined toward separation and exclusion, perhaps its most fundamental flaw. This shows throughout the economy, from massive wealth inequity amidst starvation and homelessness, to lethal competition and the destruction of the biosphere for short term profit. As capitalism has matured, so has the concentration of power and wealth, so now 8 people own as much as the poorest half of the planetary population.
This is a long way from the ideals presented by Adam Smith in "The Wealth Of Nations", which laid down the basics of the "free market", a theoretical economics based on dozens of assumptions that never apply in the real world. But people believe in it like some believe in the Easter Bunny, and the world is distorted by the results.
The essence of democracy is inclusion, standing in stark contrast to the exclusion of current corporatist capitalism. Democracy, with key ideals of equal application of the law and power of the people in deciding who governs, is closer to the operation of living systems, which are massively interconnected and synergistic. A former president should be subject to the same laws as the poorest among us. Making a profit from harming people is a crime. Democratic rights are being granted to portions of the biosphere, essential elements in supporting life on the planet, heralding a larger democracy that is planetary in scope, even transcending the limitations of the human species.
The resident/emergent paradigm suggests retarding influences from the deep past as well as inspiration from the unfolding future. In our current situation we are seeing authoritarian religious fundamentalism and archaic tribalism driving some of the most regressive actions, yearning for the illusion of simplistic certainties of the past. The influence of an approaching future of universal harmony seems like a fiction, yet is the root of the Gaia hypothesis, which understands the Earth as a self-regulating being.
Our species and society are at a tipping point. Anyone looking around can see that we are exhausting critical resources, overpopulating the planet, precipitating massive species extinctions, and driving climate changes that threaten everything we hold dear. Because reality is inclusive, any real solution must be inclusive, which challenges most of our established order. This demands courage, and a deep commitment to our inner truth, the source of all inspiration. Democracy will prevail, if enough of us work to make it so.
