The emergence of the postmodern economy: An encore conversation with economic theorist Said Dawlabani

Today we’re reposting a conversation that I had last year with Said Dawlabani (author of MEMEnomics: The Next Generation Economic System) about integral economics. I think his ideas are more relevant today than ever, with even Republicans decrying the disproportionate flow of money to the top 1%. And Democrats, through the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, are challenging the very foundations of capitalism in favor of democratic socialism as we see practiced in Northern Europe.

This is all right on schedule. In terms of social evolution, economics is a lagging emergent, one of the last things to transform as cultures move forward.  According to Dawlabani we are just now moving from the orange modern economy to the green postmodern economy, a move where the pendulum swings from a focus on individual freedom to one of collective responsibility. (And remember, as the pendulum swings the clock moves forward.)

As I wrote at the time: “I like Dawlabani’s thinking because it helps us understand that despite the endless real-time political battles over economic ideology, larger evolutionary forces are at work, and if evolutionary theory is correct the transformations they will bring are inevitable.”

Read the full essay here.