Tag: evolution

Redemption

The last few weeks have been an absolute roller coaster ride. In the midst of my impasse despair, the clouds parted as I delivered my webinar to the Vermont Green Building Network on Regenerative Design & Development. If you have been reading these pages for any amount of time, you will know that I believe that the root of our challenges lie in our worldview. If you would like to learn more about how I see that as well as what I think we need to do about it, I encourage you to watch the webinar. Here is the link:

Regenerative Design for Social-Ecological Evolution

This is a presentation that has been emerging out of me for some time now. I have given parts of it in previous speaking engagements, and have explored other parts through writing, teaching, and general engagement with the world. This is my gift to the world coming through. I was supposed to deliver this speech in person as the keynote for the VGBN Annual Gathering earlier this year. Then the pandemic hit. In the meantime I sat on it. I gave it space. I’ve had other things on my mind. I focused on writing my book(s), building our home, and staying as sane as possible. By the time I came back to it I had more clarity to offer. While this work will forever remain a work in progress (as am I), I know how critical it is to get the word out at this time. I hope you find time to watch it and I hope you find it helpful.

After I Zoomed the presentation from my studio classroom at Middlebury, I headed out to our house to help Shannon who had been building all day. As soon as I arrived she stopped what she was doing and asked how it went. She didn’t want a one word answer either. She wanted to know everything. She wanted the full play by play. So we sat down and I recounted what I had presented and every question that had been asked. When I was done she said, “You are glowing. I haven’t seen you this alive in awhile.” She was right. I felt the energy pulsing through me. I was vibrating at a very high frequency. 

Two days later RBG died. I immediately fell into a nose dive on hearing the news. The tears rolled. The panic set in. The hopelessness returned. Really? Really, God? You couldn’t help us out just a little here??? I know, I know, the pro-birthers are rejoicing. I just wish we actually were all truly pro-Life… as in we treated the entirety of Life- all humans inclusive of all genders, all races, all sexual orientations, all classes, etc. as well as every other species on the planet- as if all beings were truly Divine and were therefore to be cared for and revered as such. Instead we throw unsuspecting souls into our bullshit appropriated story of Darwin’s theory of evolution: “Survival of the Fittest.” (See my webinar for further explanation.) I’m sorry, but there is nothing whatsoever loving about this. And let me be clear: it’s bullshit. So until we are collectively prepared to properly care for the entirety of all of Life, then we have no business forcing a soul into existence through a particularly unprepared channel. To think that a soul has only one shot at life is, as I understand it, a complete misunderstanding of the infinite, eternal, mind-blowing nature of the Divine. That one was for you RBG. Rock on.

Then we had a visit from a neighbor who wanted to help us with our building project. I have to insert here that we have had an overwhelming show of support from our neighbors during this entire construction process. Whether it has been daily cheering by road or by boat or lending tools or lending time and effort or at least offering such things or just putting up with the daily noise and disruptions or even our port-a-potty, we have been so incredibly blessed by our neighbors. This easily could have been a different story. But this is how it has been and we are so grateful for it. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there have been some days when the support of our neighbors has been the only thing that has kept us going. So as I was saying, we had yet another neighbor, Dave, with nothing but time, relevant experience, a great attitude, and respect for our knowledge and abilities (no mansplaining) offer to help. Construction has been speeding up in part due to the additional help and in part due to our race against time!

Then one day about a week ago we got an unsuspecting visit from another neighbor- the guy across the street. His name just happens to be Guy, we soon learned. We had never met him before as he and his wife seem to keep to themselves and, well, he flies a different flag than the ones we had been looking for just weeks before. We had therefore kept our distance. I was working feverishly to stain and seal our loft floors before installation when I barely caught a glimpse of him our of my peripheral vision. It was the end of the day. He had walked down our driveway and was saying something. “Oh, I didn’t realize there were three of you over here. I’ll go get another beer.” Dave was there helping us that day. Guy placed a beer on the wall in front of me, handed one to Shannon, and headed back home to get one for Dave. 

Um, first of all, I think it took both Shannon and I a second to get over our shock. We caught our snap quickly, though, and told him he didn’t have to do that, but he insisted that he just lived right across the street. He came back shortly and handed Dave a beer. Then he said, “I am sorry that it has taken me so long to come over. I have been watching and I am just amazed by what you are doing. It’s going to be beautiful.” Wait. What? We asked him to stay and have a beer with us, but he said he doesn’t drink. We invited him to come up to see the second floor that we were working on, but he wasn’t into heights. So we just chatted from where we each stood. 

Guy explained that he was a Vietnam Vet and a retired police officer. He had been on the force in Rutland where he had become a Sergeant and then went on to train officers in the Academy. I can’t remember exactly how this conversation went down, but it became readily apparent that Guy was open and loving and more than willing to share his insights and experiences. More than anything he expressed his concerns with the way that policing had changed over the course of his life. We had a million and one questions, which Guy answered with grace. In short, he feels that policing is in need of a course correction. In fact, he became so at odds with the people he was tasked with training that he ultimately decided to get out of it. I asked him what he thought had changed.

Guy said the key is that policing used to be relational, as in officers developed relationships with the community and in particular with the people who found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Together they sought reasonable solutions that would lead to better life and community outcomes. Now, he says, people have become nothing more than objects or statistics. Officers, as a result, too often have no empathy with the people who they are dealing with. While he didn’t say this directly, he implied that they may as well be the “people” who they grew up shooting in video games. Guy thinks we are headed for civil war. You get the sense that he too is in a deep sense of despair about the loss of a country that he has fought for, even as he with clear vision understands that our reasons for fighting have been less than virtuous. 

We chatted with Guy for a good while. By the time he left Shannon and I both stood there staring at each other in complete disbelief. Guy flies the Thin Blue Line flag because he is a retired cop. At the same time, he knows as well or better than anyone that there is a serious problem with policing in this country. My sense is that he genuinely respects and loves all humans. My sense is that if we made him king for the day (or however long it took) he would fix policing. He would know exactly what to do. Guy is exactly the kind of guy who I want wearing a police uniform. Guy did way more than just give us three beers that day. He gave us the gift of hope, even as he has none left. He gave us the gift of replacing a neighbor who we were deeply fearful of with one we are so grateful to have and would love to get to know better. You see, that’s the ticket. It all comes down to relationship. Relationships are the key. Don’t take it from me. Take it from Guy. 

En Route

I am writing to you from Atlanta, en route to Tucson, Arizona. I am headed there to do my work in the world. In this case I will be giving a guest lecture at the University of Arizona College of Architecture, while also working with their Solar Decathlon Student Competition team for a few days. I am feeling centered and clear about what I have to share…even as I know that my news is disruptive. Somebody’s got to do deliver it.

The main gist of the message is the same one that I have for any and everyone- we have built our version of the world on faulty foundations. This is tough news to swallow, as the implication is that everything has to change. And we don’t like change. Yet the fact of the matter is that in the game of life, that which refuses to change… dies. Life just doesn’t stand still. Living beings are either evolving or devolving. Period. It might be wise to stop and reflect on which direction we are headed. It would further be wise to not mistake technological advancement with evolution. They are not the same thing. In fact technological advancement without evolution is one of the surest ways to wind up extinct.

That is why I am shouting from every mountaintop I can find. I will be delivering this same message as the keynote speaker for the Vermont Green Building Network Annual Celebration in a couple of months. So what am I talking about? By now, if you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you get the idea. The problem that we have on our hands is a worldview issue. Our story is off. We can, and should, be forgiving with ourselves, others, and those from whom we inherited this worldview. But enough already. The foundations upon which we built Western civilization as we know it disintegrated almost 100 years ago. We just couldn’t be bothered to notice.

What I am talking about is the Cartesian worldview which postulates that the world we see and experience is objective, made up of matter that cares not one iota about our presence. It’s simply not true. Quantum physics proved that way back in 1925. I have been over this before, so I won’t get into the specifics again here. What’s curious is that 100 years later we keep teaching the same old model. We keep telling the same old story. It’s just too difficult to face that the foundations upon which we have built this whole dang building have rotted out. So we pretend that isn’t the case and keep working harder and harder, throwing more and more technological fixes at it, in an attempt to keep the building from falling down. It never occurs to us to build a new foundation that is rooted in the way nature actually works.

Speaking of nature, the other part of our worldview that has been off from the day it was asserted is our “survival of the fittest” story about evolution. I have covered this one already before too, but will cover it again now. It was not Darwin who uttered “survival of the fittest.” That was Hebert Spencer. He was a social scientist who among others was keen on proving that unchecked capitalism operates in accordance with natural law. You can understand what was at stake. If capitalism was in accordance with natural law, then it too was law. To make his argument, Spencer extracted Darwin’s findings, took them out of context, and changed their meaning entirely. Specifically, Spencer asserted that competition drives evolution. Darwin was disturbed by this conclusion and objected. It didn’t matter. He was ignored, because the story had to fit the emerging capitalist narrative.

So here we now stand in our neoliberal world, competing each other to death. Again, I know this isn’t pleasant news and if me saying these things doesn’t push a button somewhere in you then I might guess that you are not an American. Hang in there with me for a second, or perhaps just a bit longer. Our survival is in fact dependent upon being in alignment with natural law. We just didn’t get that law correct those many years ago. What Darwin knew, and what ecologists have since proven again and again, is that it isn’t competition that drives evolution. Cooperation does. I’m not saying that competition doesn’t play a role, it just isn’t the primary driver. Cooperation is.

Let’s return to the case of the trees. What seems obvious is that the straightest, fastest, tallest growing tree will win the race. And it does. It is rewarded with the longest life. Competition, right? Yes. It wasn’t until we were able to start deciphering what is going on beneath the ground that we got the full picture. Down in the soil, forests have a network made up of roots and fungus that rivals our internet. Through that network trees share information, say about impending threats or current conditions. That helps the trees survive. But here is the real kicker. You know what the tree that grows the straightest, tallest, fastest gets for winning? It gets the responsibility of feeding all of the trees around it who didn’t win the competition. Congratulations! Welcome to elderhood!!

Let that sink in. Then think about how we do it. Some would argue that the reason they don’t want wealth distribution is because the winners will naturally take care of the losers. Is that your experience? If you look around and are really honest with yourself, is that what you see happening in this country, without fail? I’m not saying that people aren’t charitable. Yet that charity is withheld as a right rather than a responsibility, and the truth of the matter is that we have taken the exaltation of self-interest too far. Which is to say we have extracted self-interest outside the bounds of natural law. You know why the elder trees feed the losers? Because they realize that they are stronger together. They realize that their own survival is dependent upon living in a forest, with friends and family. It isn’t an act of charity.

If Darwin could take back his narrative, what he would say is that the “fittest” is the one who best serves the system in which it lives. That is what he discovered and that is what he meant. In short, it is cooperation that drives evolution. Do you see how radically different that interpretation is than the one we have been taught? It is critically important that you do, that we all do. Otherwise, we will continue to build out our societal systems on faulty- or completely rotted as the case may be- foundations. As any architect or builder knows, you have to get the foundation right to have a healthy building. In the case of our social-ecological systems, the foundation is our worldview. If you want to know what to do from here, I’m about to give you the best architectural advice that I can give: take a good hard look at your foundation before you make one more move.

Speaking of foundations, our house- I am now speaking of Shannon and my literal house- is in fact sitting on a rotting foundation. So you know what we are going to do? Starting in just a couple of short weeks, we are having the whole darn house lifted ten plus feet into the air so that we can replace the foundation with a sound one. It’s shocking that we can do such things, right? But we can. And if we can lift a literal house, we can do the same with our virtual house. The only question is, will we?