The Democrats’ Integral Convention — And glimmers of hope on the right

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.