I agree, Heidi. The Integral movement has a lot to offer but its seems to be stuck it is own bubble. Even Susan Cook Greuter was concerned about it back in 2013 when she wrote this article in the Journal of Integral theory and practice. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292493687_Assumptions_versus_assertions_Separating_hypotheses_from_truth_in_the_integral_community
In addition, I’ve been reading books by Dennis L Kingsley and I’m disappointed in IL that they do not interview insightful thinkers like Kingsley whose writing is profound, meaningful, and more relevant to the immediacy of the psychological and existential problems we find ourselves in. In his book The Struggle for Your Mind: Conscious Evolution and the Battle to Control How We Think he says,
With all the goodwill and intentions within our hearts, why is it we cannot collectively rise above this malaise? And why does it seem that the majority is being ruled by a minority of mad people? Are we all the inmates on some lunatic-asylum planet? Don’t the universal laws of creation and sustenance support life-engendering traits rather than suffering? With these questions alone it would seem that there is something amiss within the general psyche of humanity. It could well be that for far too long the majority of humans have been under the yoke of the powerful few—from priestly elites of Egypt and Babylonia; from the Romans and the cyclic domination of empires and from the various religious institutions that have herded the many. In the end, we may know nothing other than servitude. Centuries of social slavery could, after all, have hard wired us to become passive and meek to authority. We have only to refer to the infamous Stanley Milgram experiments to realize that we would do almost anything if a person in a white coat told us to. In other words, we have been quite thoroughly socially conditioned to accept and submit to various displays of power. The question today is how these forces of control seek to pacify and distract the human conscious spirit. It is the hypothesis of this book that ongoing elements within human societies have been interfering with the natural growth and expression of human consciousness, which, at our present stage, may affect the potential for the next phase of neurogenetic evolution.
In Dr. Robert Firestone’s’ book The Self Under Siege he says
Painful events and negative programming during the developmental years constitute the most serious threat to the evolution of the authentic self. Psychological defenses, which were once adaptive as an attempt to dull or block out early inter-personal trauma, later become limiting and dysfunctional and, at their worst, can predispose psychopathology. To lead a free life, a person must separate him or herself from negative imprinting and remain open and vulnerable. This differentiation is difficult to accomplish and requires considerable effort because, as children, people not only identify with the defenses of their parents but also tend to incorporate into themselves the critical or hostile attitudes that were directed toward them. These destructive personal attacks become part of the child’s developing personality, forming an alien system, the anti-self, distinguishable from the self system, which interferes with and opposes the ongoing manifestation of the true personality of the individual. Remaining undifferentiated renders one unable to fully accept the gift of life and, instead, leaves one merely living out the life of another!
Maybe I’m beside the truth, but the manner in which these two authors write and what they write about needs to be told with the same urgency as the vaccine did for Covid-19 since ignorance and stupidity can be just as deadly as Covid- if not more. The crisis we have is an impoverishment of “an ever increasing awareness of ourselves” as Dr. Karen Horney said 50 years ago. Our lack of self awareness turns us into automatons, like cogs in this cruel fucked up competitive capitalistic machine that deprives us of our humanity and creativity. And where is the Integral community in all this madness? Where is the urgency!? I cancelled my IL membership because it’s always looking at the world through the lens of integral theory and I’m tired of Corey interviewing yes men and women and talking about topics that are far removed from dealing with the immediacy of our problems.
If Ken Wilber is the Einstein of consciousness, why isn’t he speaking at the united nations?
Why isn’t he mad as hell about the way the world is headed? Why aren’t WE mad as hell?
How many more books, lectures, videos, and retreats (on all things integral) do we need in order to make a transformative difference that would once and for all tell our political leaders to shut the fuck up? Are we hopelessly hard wired into complacency as Dr. Kingsley said? I don’t know about you, Heidi, and those reading this but I have no hope for the future. As much as I mourn the kids I never had, I’m glad I don’t have them. No one deserves to live in a world like this and the way its becoming. I can see why some people snap and commit atrocities. I believe the storming of the capital is a warning of what is yet to come. As it was said in Politico of Shawn Rosenberg’s paper at the International Society of Political Psychologists’ annual meeting
Democracy is hard work. And as society’s “elites”—experts and public figures who help those around them navigate the heavy responsibilities that come with self-rule—have increasingly been sidelined, citizens have proved ill equipped cognitively and emotionally to run a well-functioning democracy. As a consequence, the center has collapsed and millions of frustrated and angst-filled voters have turned in desperation to right-wing populists. His prediction? “In well-established democracies like the United States, democratic governance will continue its inexorable decline and will eventually fail.”
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/08/shawn-rosenberg-democracy-228045
