Today I sent out a new Substack piece. Titled The Systematic Theft of Individual Power, this meandering document begins with the loss of meaningful rituals. From there it considers the disappearance of counterculture, the war on drugs, the poisoning of the food supply, mass medication, predatory economics, broken politics, and the necessity of reclaiming some of our stolen power.
If you read this blog, you already know my opinions on these subjects. In fact, the latest piece mostly just put several blog posts together to tell a larger story. Still, at over 4,000 words, it was a heavy lift. Especially since Substack doesn't accept markdown, so every link has to be manually added in a pop up window.
My original intention was to do one of these a month, but I've found myself publishing weekly instead. That's a pace I probably can't keep up. Fortunately, it doesn't matter how frequently I publish as long as the work itself is of high quality. And I'm satisfied with it thus far. My last piece was even cited by Radio Free Pizza.
I ended my latest piece with the idea that sensemaking at a societal level is a prerequisite for choosing a better path forward. This is an idea that a lot of people agree with in principle. But in practice, not everyone is on board. Many would rather fight over differences than reexamine the stories that give rise to those differences.
In another sense, though, people are reeling from the covid disaster and consequently may be more open to alternative perspectives. In fact, I feel like more people than ever before are looking for answers to deeper questions about life and society. I know I am. So are many people I know.
Endless pedophile scandals have made the stories of traditional religions suspect. The endless lies of politicians have rendered the official story unbelievable. According to recent polling, "Fifty percent of Americans feel most national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public." The powers that be clearly aren't helping us make sense of the world. At best, they're muddying the waters.
With our public squares long ago privatized, we're left to do much of our sensemaking on social media, which is heavily censored and manipulated except on sites like Hive. True, there is an alternative press and there are websites like the one I work for, but all of these efforts together seem insufficient for broader society's sensemaking needs.
God and country. Upward mobility. While some still cling to these relics of bygone eras, most of us would rather put our faith in something more relevant. For many, that something is progress. Many others yearn for a return to traditional values. Personally, I can't really connect with these abstractions. I believe in people and I believe in nature. That's about it.
In every walk of life, there are people doing their best to keep things running smoothly and maybe even make them better. These people will improve the world if given the opportunity. My belief in nature is simply an observation that we're part of the web of life, with all that implies. Placing my faith in these things might sound idealistic, but so far it's working out alright.
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