Unlimited Possibilities and System Collapse
Fifty years ago, the Club of Rome published Limits to Growth, the first actual assessment of the global, consumption-driven, limitless growth economic model. That assessment predicted that if growth and consumption continued at the pace of the 1970s, the world would begin facing resource and energy shortages sometime right about now. Humanity failed to heed the warning and here we are — this is really what’s behind the supply chain issues that are so front and center in news and politics.
My entire career has been focused on economic systems change and I’ve often felt like the mythic Cassandra, the Trojan priestess, who, according to legend, had the gift of prophecy along with the curse that she would never be believed. Countless times I’ve pointed out that the current limitless growth system cannot be sustained, but the collective buy-in to this insane philosophy is too strong for mainstream thinkers, leaders, and media to deeply question it or seriously consider alternatives.
To many, this will seem counter-intuitive at best, but the bright lining in the dark clouds roiling through humanity is that we are now in systems collapse – economic systems, financial systems, systems of trade and transport, and sadly many ecological systems, are now cracking. Some of it is painful, some scary, all of it riddled with uncertainty. Given that collectively we failed to change course, it had to happen. It had to happen to create an opening to redesign and rebuild systems and societies suited to the times we are now in, suited to the Anthropocene.
There are many aspects to analyze such as how we got here, and the driving disruptive technologies and world events that laid the foundation. In my opinion most of that analysis will do little good if we do not deeply consider the collective consciousness that drives the actions of societies. The Capitalist, consumerism-crazed western culture (which has spread far beyond just the global West) is awash in stuff while drowning in a consciousness of scarcity and fear. That’s why people hoard; that’s how the marketing industry gets rich; that’s how the corporatocracy maintains power. At the heart of this dynamic is a form of spiritual starvation, a dis-ease about who we are, our place in the world, the point and purpose of it all. “Retail therapy” is just one of the tools we use to try to feel better in an increasingly shaky-feeling world.
I find I have never been more grateful for the huge, at the time seemingly catastrophic, upheaval in my life and career that showed up seven and a half years ago. I used to call that long, very difficult experience, “The Ordeal”; now I call it, “The Initiation.” Rather than breaking me, it broke me down and the level of human ego, and broke me open to the vast spiritual realm in back of all our human perceptions. It was a collapse of my own internal systems of thinking and identifying and it was a gift beyond measure (it is, to be clear, also an ongoing work in progress!).
I understand that no one of us can have much influence changing the entire freaking global economy, but that doesn’t stop me from pointing out that we must. Successfully navigating the Anthropocene, protecting and restoring our living world, more than anything else is going to require an evolutionary shift in the collective consciousness of humanity. In nature, evolution usually requires pressure; conditions change and a species must adapt to survive. Many aspects of our western culture are now pressurized. Our opportunity is to harness this pressure to bring about an evolution in collective consciousness that leads to healthier, more beautiful ways of being.
A critical first step is to recognize where and when we are just accepting norms and assumptions that society puts before us but that really aren’t serving us, and becoming bolder in challenging those assumptions. Questioning paradigms, allowing our own conditioned systems of beliefs to crack open, and keeping faith that in the field of possibilities it is possible for these challenging times to lead to a more beautiful world – all of these pieces are necessary to catalyze the system changes so deeply needed at this time.
There are indeed limits to growth when it comes to the amount of finite resources we can extract from Earth. But there are no limits at all when it comes to increased understanding, spiritual deepening and healing, and the opportunities for these times of challenge to deliver magnificent, transformation.
With gratitude for being alive in these very extraordinary times,
Cylvia
For as long as I've known what the Club of Rome knew, I've seen little overall shift in the behavior of humans. If anything, it's worsened, and rather than reason with cause, we are now divided and blame each other rather than taking stock, taking responsibility. I fear it will become much worse before it can begin to get better, and potentially too late for it to ever harmonize again.
I too have been deeply aware of the many attempts to raise awareness/consciousness about the terminal human conditions we find ourselves within. As I reflect back I see one major aspect to our collective dysfunction that directly influences our inability to address our own demise. "Double speak" has been at the heart of Christianity for 2000 years and thus all governments, institutions and efforts to address our shadows. When love is spoken while hate is practiced it's no wonder that everything that follows is a ruse. I see no evolution when words and actions have no meaning consistant with their dictionary definations. I believe 'double speak' is at the root of our dysfunction.