The Daily Evolver

If there’s one thing that people on both ends of the political spectrum can agree on, it’s this: the system is rigged. That is a central theme of Donald Trump’s campaign, as he claims “nobody knows the [rigged] system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” We also hear it from the left when Bernie Sanders exhorts us to “not settle for a rigged economy held in place by a corrupt campaign finance system.” Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson asserts that the electoral system itself is “a rigged game.” Green Party candidate Jill Stein promises to “fix our rigged system.” Even Hillary Clinton calls for a constitutional amendment to regulate the flow of money into politics, all while she is herself seen by a majority of voters as dishonest and avaricious. So … is the system rigged? In this podcast I attempt to shed the light of integral thinking on that question. I start by recalling that all political/economic systems in all times and places are rigged to benefit the people who control them. Tribal customs dictate all aspects of life for their people. Warlords and monarchs rule vast territories through systems of domination and exploitation carried out by elite enforcers. Rigged? Corrupt? Yes, especially to subsequent generations who seek to cure the cruelties of these dominator systems by creating a new system that requires the consent of the governed. Modern democratic governments have virtually eliminated abject domination by developing a legal system of rights and laws, resulting in societies of unprecedented peace and prosperity. What a relief! But although “all boats have risen” we can see that advantages still accrue to the people in charge, now less in the form of custom and ethnic patronage and more in the form of money and influence. In the US we find ourselves in a political system where our legislators spend half their time soliciting contributions from corporations and the wealthy. And an economic system where for two generations 90% of growth has flowed to the top 1% of the population. As we grasp the impact of this (and other injustices) we evolve into a postmodern worldview, where we begin to look upon our own modern system as being corrupt. So now integral thinkers can recognize a metapattern emerging. We can see that over time humanity has created a series of systems, each designed to right the wrongs of the previous system. Essentially, the workings of any system is seen as corruption by people at the next stage of development. This bigger pattern – let’s call it the System – has been in place since the dawn of humanity and it continues to evolve systems that are ever more equitable and humane. So, two systems: 1) the political/economic system in which we are embedded, and 2) the bigger System of cultural evolution. Both are rigged, but we can be grateful that the second is rigged to stage-by-stage unrig the first. Have a listen and let me know what you think!

Hey gang, I couldn’t stay away another minute. There’s just too much happening with this crazy, mixed up election. So here is a new Daily Evolver podcast I recorded over last couple days, to share some of the evolutionary impulses I see arising out of this astonishing play of events. I focus on a new Integral sensibility that I see emerging among the Democrats. Their convention in Philadelphia was a beautiful example of a Green multicultural gathering, with every creed, color and progressive identity well-represented, including the first woman presidential nominee of a major party. I expected all that. What I didn’t expect was a gathering that was also lit up by Amber traditionalist values, old-fashioned values such as patriotism, humility, faith and optimism. But there they were: the flags, the prayers, and the sense of promise, even progress — all Integrated into a green, postmodern worldview that used to have antibodies to each of these things. Maybe it’s turning out that Green was only allergic to premodern, ethnocentric expressions of patriotism and religion, and their endless conflict with “the other”. Once we Greenies realize there is a worldcentric way to express these values, we are enthusiastically on board. In this podcast I argue that this integration of interests and values is an exit out of mono-perspectival Green and into new Integral territory. I also point out that this new political left will arise in polarity with emergent energies from the right. Things are not quite so pretty for the Republicans, who are serving as a real-time lesson in the evolutionary principle that destruction precedes creation. The Trumpinator is busting up half a century of calcified conservative thinking, and as long as his Red authoritarianism doesn’t make it to the White House, this will be seen as a good thing, creating a well-fertilized (ahem) field out of which will grow new new thinking that will be necessary for creating a better nation and world. But first … we begin the podcast with an honoring of Brett Andrew Walker, our beloved Daily Evolver producer who passed away June 7. You may also want to listen to the audio memorial service that Diane Musho Hamilton, Brett’s Zen teacher, and I conducted for Brett’s friends and community a few days after his passing. Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right.

Years ago, a love relationship changed the course of Patricia Albere’s life. “We entered into a very intensive awakening that we shared…and together we were being purified and processed by whatever this thing was.” The Sufis refer to it, she says, as red sulfur, an intense awakening that can’t be stopped. “It’s like an orgasm that just keep going and going.” Peter, her lover, died suddenly in a car accident, but Patricia was forever changed and her curiosity about this experience of mutual awakening has just kept growing. Can it be practiced with groups? Can it be cultivated? Yes, and yes. For the past several years Patricia’s been at the helm of an extraordinary spiritual experiment called the Evolutionary Collective, which is asking these questions and exploring the territory of a post-autonomous enlightenment, transcendence in the interpersonal realm. As we dissolve the automatic natural separateness of our human egos, it’s as if we’re creating a higher consciousness collective being, like a large-scale saint. –Patricia Albere Patricia has brought many years of spiritual practice into her facilitation, from the years she spent with Werner Erhard to her studies with A.H. Almaas and years spent in the Rajneesh community. Jeff’s and Patricia’s relationship goes way back to the early days of Boulder Integral, and it’s a pleasure to eavesdrop on their conversation. Sometimes Patricia seems to emanate the sacred feminine, in the space between the words. So listen with your heart. We hope you enjoy it. You can find more about Patricia Albere and her work at mutual-awakening.com and evolutionarycollective.com. Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right.

Jeff begins this episode with a heartfelt reminder of just how valuable integral theory is for opening our hearts and understanding our world. It helps us to see and accommodate more of reality, to make sense of competing worldviews and conflicting truth claims. “All schools of human wisdom find their place in the bigger integral view,” he says. Jeff invited special guest Theo Horesh on to the show to talk about candidate Bernie Sanders and the progressive movement he’s leading. Theo is an integrally-informed author and thought leader who’s been a political activist since the days of Ralph Nader and the Green Party. He’s especially savvy about using social media to organize (check him out on Facebook). The role of the party is obsolete in a way. They had the think-tanks and the donors, and all of the infrastructure of getting elected, but that’s no longer as necessary and valuable as it used to be. We have other means of getting organized. –Jeff Salzman Jeff and Theo talk about: Money in politics and income inequality: Sander’s message of a moral economy Sander’s policy proposals are not radical or untested: the European model of socialism The critique of Sanders: he’s not integral Bernie or bust: supporting Sanders as a referendum on Hillary Clinton Are the two parties obsolete? What does the future of American democracy look like? Also in this podcast: Pre-trans fallacy: a conservative Muslim scholar condemns America with help from the classic song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” The perfect example of two first tier stages talking at each other: Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski confronts Donald Trump about his careless use of words More about Theo Horesh... Theo writes at Elephant Journal. He is a former cooperative organizer and host of the Conscious Business podcast. Most recently, he co-founded The One-Step Peace Solution, which would mandate fair and equal courts in areas under Israeli control. He is the author of Convergence: The Globalization of Mind, and the recently published book of interviews, The Inner Climate: Global Warming From the Inside Out, with leading thinkers, like Frances Moore Lappe, George Lakoff, Paul Ehrlich, and Andrew Revkin. He has been meditating for 25-years and currently resides in Boulder, Colorado. Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right. Transcript

For many of us in progressive, postmodern cultures, our spiritual evolution follows a similar trajectory: we move from the conventional religion of our childhood (which in the West is theistic) to secular humanism, which eventually gives way to postmodern explorations of Eastern philosophy and practice (which tend to be nondual in nature). From a developmental perspective, this journey represents movement through the traditional, modern and postmodern stages. For some the journey continues with a new receptivity to God’s love—a welcome next step to a post-postconventional relationship with the divine. Steve explores this idea in depth in his 2015 book The Presence of the Infinite. Positive-positive polarities – being and becoming, absolute and relative, infinite and finite – reflect the larger structures of reality.-Steve McIntosh This upwards spiral is fueled by what Steve calls an interdependent existential polarity – between the nondual and the theistic – and he wants to teach us how to consciously use it to deepen our relationship to Ultimate Reality: to God and to Emptiness. Listen as Jeff and Steve discuss how this formulation of an integral, evolutionary spirituality lends itself to a method, a practice that can evolve consciousness. Steve and Jeff will be exploring the nondual/theistic spiritual path at an upcoming gathering, The Integral Incubator, taking place this August at The Integral Center in Boulder. Check it out if you’re interested in deepening your spiritual insight and practice. Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right.

Jeff begins the podcast by playing an excerpt from a commencement speech given by President Obama at Howard University recently, which has a distinctly integral feeling to it. Before challenging the graduates, Obama puts their place in history in context: “If you had to choose one moment in history in which you could be born, and you didn’t know ahead of time who you were going to be … What nationality, what gender, what race, whether you’d be rich or poor, gay or straight, what faith you’d be born into … You wouldn’t choose 100 years ago. You wouldn’t choose the ’50s, or the ’60s or the ’70s. You’d choose right now.” It’s an uplifting introduction based on the big picture, the arc of history, so often lost to us amid our daily toils as the cable news hijacks our amygdalae. “People realize,” says Jeff, “that for all of our problems, that this is indeed the best time to be alive and that it’s getting better.” Such a vision of progress is a stark contrast to the everyday attitude of first tier consciousness, which is predominantly motivated by fear and lack, or “a sense of not being enough, a sense that something went wrong,” Jeff says. “Human beings drove this thing into a ditch and now we need to fix it or we’re doomed.” Which brings us to our main story: a fresh look at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in their respective roles as the presumptive nominees of their parties. While Clinton still has Sanders breathing down her neck and nudging her left, she has begun to reach out to his supporters. Alas, so has Trump, who may or may not go out of his way to unite the GOP but will definitely try to scoop up as many of those Sanders supporters as he can. Not an entirely mad plan, Jeff thinks. We’ll be spending a lot of time with these people in the coming months, these out-sized figures in the collective American psyche—each loved and reviled passionately by factions of the population. What are their values, their developmental centers-of-gravity? Can they still surprise us? Jeff looks at the criticism and praise heaped on each of them, and puts their candidacies in the context of the giant moneyed machine that is Washington D.C. You’ll also hear another familiar voice in the podcast–a certain conservative hockey mom from Wasilla that has a way with words, and she’s talking up Trump! Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right. Transcript

As humans evolve we are able to empathize with more and more life forms, beginning with other people and eventually extending to other species that may be very different from us–from elephants to insects. Officially as of this week we can now add insects to the mix of living creatures that are conscious. –Jeff Salzman Jeff talks about new research into the interiors of tiny critters and explores the idea that consciousness is an irreducible aspect of reality. The Wilberian notion that consciousness extends all the way up and all the way down, from humans to atoms, is rich for exploration. Jeff is joined by a special guest who is working to implement basic rights for elephants who have been held captive in temples and zoos and ill-treated for generations. Due to the controversial nature of her activism she has requested to remain anonymous. We’ve called her Annie. When we reach a green, postmodern consciousness, the idea of stealing a baby animal from its family and training it for our own amusement–a process called phajaan–literally “crushing”–is abhorrent. Thank God for green! These elephants, they will never forget that trauma and that torture. –Anonymous Annie Working only through social media, Annie has already begun to make an impact by educating people and encouraging her followers to write and take videos of elephant abuse. Also, Jeff reviews the movie “The Witch”, which he likes. It tells the story of a family dealing with an evil force in God-fearing New England decades before the 1692 Salem witch trials. Plus, Trump has clinched the GOP nomination for president and Jeff wonders what exactly he’s tapping into. Is Trump’s populist brand of politics post-ideological or pre-ideological? Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right.

A good leader has to be working the whole spiral. – Jeff Salzman Carl von Clausewitz famously said “war is the continuation of politics by other means.” From a developmental standpoint, Dr. Keith points out, it’s actually the other way around: politics is war by other means. The 1800 election between Adams and Jefferson was the first ever peaceful transition of power in a democracy. Since then, instead of waging war against those we disagree with, we wage political campaigns, (which is a huge improvement though we sometimes have to hold our noses to participate). In this episode, Jeff and Dr. Keith look at the current presidential candidates through a psychological lense, and then turn it back on us. Some of the things they talk about: The evolutionary roots of our quests for power The difference between getting elected and governing The stages of development from which our politicians are operating What our choice of candidates says about us collectively The tension between trusting “emergence”, and being angry and impatient about the rate of social change Enjoy! My principle is that the person with the deepest consciousness in the room has the most responsibility for the room. That means that from a second tier altitude, we have more responsibility than anybody to influence the process in a prosocial, evolutionary way. –Dr. Keith Witt Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right.

In this week’s Daily Evolver live Jeff takes an in-depth look at the beautiful and mysterious desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which he refers to as “our Arab frenemy”. President Obama spent several days there last week—his 4th visit, more than any sitting president. Saudi Arabia has officially been an ally to the US since 1933. They’re our biggest customer in terms of arms sales, and we rely heavily on their oil. And yet, recent legislation would provide U.S. citizens with recourse to sue Saudi Arabia for culpability in the September 11 attacks (Obama says he’ll veto it). There is also a growing chorus of voices demanding the US government declassify 28 pages of a congressional investigation said to detail Saudi relations with, and support for, the Al Qaeda terrorist network before September 2001. Most Americans know that of the 19 hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks, 15 were citizens of Saudi Arabia. Needless to say, the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia is complicated. The Saudi peninsula was populated by Bedouin nomads for thousands of years. Jeff takes us through some history of how these people went from humble nomadic goat herders to the richest per-capita nation on the face of the earth. Obviously, oil plays a starring role in that story. Remember,  Red “warrior consciousness” is intrinsically warlike. If you’re not fighting you are losing. Nothing else makes sense.–Jeff Salzman So what happens when a Red, warrior people suddenly have such wealth and power to wield in the world? Well for one thing, it creates a struggle between their red, warrior values such as ethnocentrism, patriarchy, and jihad, and the new, modern cultural values like science, commerce, and individual freedoms that want to come online. Jeff uses integral theory to shed some light. Jeff also speaks with Bence Ganti about the 2nd Integral European Conference taking place in Hungary this week. Bence explains the multiple wisdom streams that will be converging: Ken Wilber’s AQAL Theory, Don Beck’s Spiral Dynamics, the “Teal movement” inspired by Frederick Laloux, circling practice, and Stan Grof’s transpersonal psychology. As the refugee crisis continues, it’s a particularly poignant time to think about what it means to be a European. Bence and Jeff talk about how integral theory can help illuminate, and maybe even ameliorate, the humanitarian crisis engulfing the continent. Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right. Transcript

In this short episode, Jeff speaks with Bence Ganti about the 2nd Integral European Conference taking place in Hungary next week, at beautiful Lake Balaton. Bence explains the multiple wisdom streams converging at this event: Wilberian integral theory, Don Beck’s Spiral Dynamics, the Teal movement inspired by Frederick Laloux, circling practitioners, and Stan Grof’s transpersonal psychology. As the refugee crisis continues, it’s a particularly poignant time to think about what it means to be a European. Bence and Jeff talk about how integral theory can help illuminate, and maybe even ameliorate, the humanitarian crisis engulfing the continent. Tickets are still available for IEC 2016, “Reinventing Europe”. Find out more here. Mutuality and love…that’s the essence of Integral. –Bence Ganti Send your questions and comments for the show to jeff@dailyevolver.com. Record a voice memo on your smartphone or use the Speakpipe button to the right.