In a previous blog article, I set out a quote by Antonio Gramsci which provided a definition of hegemony. Gramsci said, "hegemony means that certain ideas, favorable to the dominant capitalist class were often so deeply ingrained in social and economic processes that it was hard for most people to penetrate the idea fog, and even to think about a new direction - to say nothing of contemplating whether another system is possible."
As I sit here contemplating all the different and hopeful initiatives we are daily creating to deal with climate change and the other negative impacts on our Planet, I get the feeling that I remain within the idea fog as perhaps are others. It seems to me that many of the solutions we are developing - however well-intentioned they may be still exist within Gramsci's idea fog. We cannot seem to move ourselves out of our old habits and paradigm.
I find it difficult to think myself out of this idea fog perhaps because one may not be able to "think" oneself out of it. I am reminded of Einstein's comment that it is difficult to envision a new world while standing in the old one. It is likely that only a qualitatively different kind of experience will enable us to see beyond the fog.
I see us struggling with approaches like industrial symbiosis, eco-industrial parks and the circular economy and the variety of permutations and applications which they engender. It is a difficult and challenging path to move through these, find ways to use them, gain some benefit from them. I fear that so long as we use these within the context of the old paradigm that they will not lead to the desired success.
I imagine these initiatives as the slope of a mountain which we are climbing. They represent the difficult path on the upward slope I see the top of the mountain as the beginning of a regenerative economy which to me represents a break with our past habitual way of living. In a regenerative economy, we live within our planetary limits and in harmony with rather than as an exploiter of Nature.
I want us to be able to see what is on the other side of the mountain. I sense that the path on the rewarding downward slope may have something to do with being at One with Nature, living harmoniously as One Planet and in community. This is a paradigm where we stop trying to do things to Nature in our old dualistic paradigm. It may be a paradigm where we restore our natural role as part of Nature both similar to and uniquely different from other life forms. We exist in harmony with a living planet.
I think that we make a mistake when we try to first build the economic system and then derive from this the kind of life we will have. I think we must first understand what kind of life we want to live as human sapiens and among other species. What represents wellbeing, flourishing, fulfillment? What from our past experience is a reflection of this? Once we do this, we will understand what "value" is. Not the gold standard or the silver standard, but the human standard. Only then would we be in a position to design our economic and industrial system based on this value.
This does sound next to impossible. It would seem to require an Earthly housecleaning. First, we all move out of the planet, then we clean, bring in the new paradigm and then we all re-inhabit the planet. Since this is not possible, perhaps there is another means of accomplishing this. It seems to almost require a moment of epiphany which may dramatically take place at the top of the mountain which we have previously scaled. From the pinnacle of the mountain, we look down onto the Promised Land of our future and imagine what we see. We have the entire trip down the far-slope of the mountain to develop the details of what we see and the prototypes and plans that will bring it into existence. We have time to elicit the support of others to join in our common undertakings. Hopefully, by the time we reach the bottom of the slope, we will have learned how to live in this new world.
Comments