Mark Gerzon and Mesa Sebree -- Towards a Polycrisis Consciousness - Part 1
Newsletter 252 - July 10, 2024
Kristina Becvar, Executive Director of the Bridge Alliance, recently shared an article written by Mark Gerzon and Mesa Sebree which was published on the Mediator's Foundation website. (Mark is President and Board Member of the Mediator's Foundation and Mesa Sebree is a Research Associate there.) Kristina said that her head was nodding in agreement as she read the article, as it "really really gets to the core of how all those working in the healthy democracy ecosystem can collectively approach the complex web of issues facing the world known as the polycrisis." Yes, indeed! Mark and Mesa lay out the hydra-headed set of problems America, and indeed, the whole word is currently facing more clearly than anyone has (including us, I think). They then suggest an approach to addressing these problems that is very close to, if not the same as, our notion of "massively parallel peace and democracy building." Given the length of this article, we are splitting it up into two newsletters. The first explains the nature of the "polycrisis" challenge; the second discusses what we need to do to meet this challenge. Thank you to Mark and Mesa for allowing us to republish your article here!
by Mark Gerzon and Mesa Sebree
July 15, 2024 (originally published June 10, 2024 at the Mediator’s Foundation blog.)
Challenges and opportunities of organizing amidst societal collapse
The polycrisis, which is the result of the compounding pressure of simultaneous global crises, presents a unique threat in human history. Some experts on the subject, including Daniel Schmachtenger, go so far as to call it “the end of history,” – an “extinction-level threat.” While we cannot pretend to know the outcome of humanity’s long and winding road, we know that business as usual will no longer suffice. It will take nothing short of a global shift in consciousness at all levels in order to defuse the ticking time bomb that is the polycrisis.
This essay explores the nature of the polycrisis and why it requires a different approach for dealing with change. As Jem Bendell explains in his seminal book Breaking Together: A Freedom-Loving Response to Collapse, social change strategies from the past are no match for the polycrisis. From politicians and philanthropists to activists and ordinary civilians, our way of conceptualizing our struggles must shift to coincide with the unignorable new reality. But what kind of mindset is required? How do we organize, fund, and maintain homeostasis in the face of overwhelming systemic chaos?
Albert Einstein’s idea that “no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it,” is particularly relevant in this context. The polycrisis is not another item on a list of issues to consider; it’s a lens through which all issues are called to be considered. The polycrisis era, which we have just entered, requires a fundamental shift in the mainstream narrative, consciousness, and strategy we use to deal with problems. We can no longer think of ourselves as individual actors working towards individual causes within individual contexts, but rather as a collective front – an extended community – working through a myriad of interdependently connected issues towards a future that is better for all. Polycrisis consciousness is the necessary framework that will help us to address the myriad of challenges in the coming decades in a way that does not isolate, but rather integrates, the complex moving parts that make up the whole.
Social change agents facing what Vox calls “the world’s current tangled mess of problems,” must face existential absurdity, as well as the very possible scenario of collapse, and incorporate it and transform it. Critical developments, such as Deep Adaptation (Bendell) along with despair and empowerment work (Macy) have been made to support this new activist architecture. However, the magnitude of threat posed by the interlocking nature of future crises has gone largely unaddressed, particularly in mainstream discourse. To change this requires a shared understanding of the polycrisis itself, how it differs from previous crises, and the principles that can guide us forward.
Part 1: What is the polycrisis?
A brief and simplified definition of the polycrisis, sometimes called the metacrisis, comes from Omega Resilience Funders Network (ORFN), which calls it “the sum total of all stressors affecting planetary health.” A more detailed definition is articulated by The Cascade Institute:
A global polycrisis occurs when crises in multiple global systems become causally entangled in ways that significantly degrade humanity’s prospects. These interacting crises produce harms greater than the sum of those the crises would produce in isolation, were their host systems not so deeply interconnected.
Two key words in the definition, “interacting” and “interconnected,” point directly to the unique challenge faced by social change agents within the polycrisis. In addition to the individual crises (outlined below) that overlap and compound to make up the larger polycrisis, the meta-danger is unprecedented. The only way to effectively organize against the polycrisis then, is to first see the larger picture- the interconnectedness of all the parts.
As forces of change including globalization, digitalization, and social movements increase in speed and intensity across the globe, the intricately connected web of life becomes correspondingly complicated- and ever more fragile. In addition to political, cultural, and social changes in the global order, ecological and environmental shifts pose new challenges to the very nature of life on earth. Innovations in science and technology continue to have ripple effects throughout the world’s already precarious global systems. Digitalization has changed the way in which citizens of modern societies connect with one another and the world around them, with more people engaging more intimately with social media and online news than ever before. To make it worse, from pandemics and wars to climate change and polarization, headlines brandish only the worst of the world’s happenings, leaving a general feeling of dismay and hopelessness in much of the population. A growing awareness of global issues is rising in the collective consciousness. People can sense something, maybe everything, is starting to spin a little off-kilter.
The biggest danger facing the future of humanity is not climate change, nuclear war, or any other single issue. Rather, it is the cascading challenge of facing all of these crises together. Just as most, if not all, of these crises were caused by human folly, the solution must be a humanist one. It must come from ordinary community members, as well as institutional actors, coming together to recognize the common threat at hand and the common ground required to confront it. This happens both by strengthening adaptation and resilience at the community level, as well as incentivizing collaboration over competition in larger systems. In his profound commentary on the polycrisis, Pope Francis notes that "to suppose that all problems in the future will be able to be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill." Though technological solutions may exist, the will of ordinary people to transcend ideological divides and unite towards finding multi-tiered solutions is critical.
Unfortunately, although the origins and impacts of these crises are interconnected, the existing means for dealing with them are not. From activism and advocacy to institutional intervention, the current systems of crisis mitigation and response is fragmented, making it shockingly ineffective in the face of the polycrisis. It is all too easy to visualize the polycrisis constellation as separate stars. Because many of the individual crises that make it up appear to be unique and distinct from the rest, social change agents naturally congregate around what appear to be what we see as the primary issues. From this limited perspective, single-issues niches form, restraining us from important collaboration and cooperation. Within each activist camp, there is a justified sense of urgency and priority. Yet, all too often, these camps become competitive, each operating under the view that their issue deserves utmost priority. All too often, each activist camp believes their issue is key and all of the others are secondary or derivative of their cause. For instance, the movement forming around the threat of Authoritarianism may be vastly different than, even at odds with, the Climate Change movement. When understood through a polycrisis consciousness, this separateness is more than a missed opportunity for shared impact; it is a threat to the future of humankind.
Instead of the most committed activists choosing to build broad-reaching coalitions to galvanize systemic change, many remain enclosed by the idea that their issue is the magic key that will unlock all doors. This lack of collaboration, exacerbated by limiting funding, becomes part of the interlocking crises. When David Gelles in the New York Times writes that climate change "may be the greatest collective action problem in human history," he is obviously partially correct. But his assessment more accurately applies, not to climate change alone, but the polycrisis of which it is an integral part.
Before deepening our exploration of polycrisis activism itself, let us look at the component crises in turn. Doing so will help us see more tangibly the crisis within the polycrisis.
Part 2: Ten Perspectives: Identifying the Interlocking Issues
The components of the polycrisis can be described in numerous ways. They can be collectively summarized (as ORFN does) as “biospheric, societal, and technological.” However, to understand the fragmented nature of the current activist response of the current polycrisis, we have outlined ten diverse but interlocking components. The list is non-exhaustive and valid arguments could be made for a seemingly endless array of additional crises. Due to the limited nature of this introduction, we chose to narrow it down to ten of the most distinct issues that make up the polycrisis as we currently understand it. We recognize that this categorization may not be representative of the most “important” issues to every reader. Yet, each is described, as activists often describe it, as the pivotal challenge of our times:
1. There is no more urgent issue than Endangered Democracy.
“Democratic rights and freedoms are under attack as authoritarianism threatens many parts of the world.
If we lose our capacity for self-governance, we lose the capacity to face any of the issues of the polycrisis.”
A global wave of authoritarianism, fueled by disinformation and heightened emotions, spawns political unrest in countries across the world. As authoritarian regimes, such as Russia and China, make aggressive advances in global geopolitics, many fear not only for a massive loss of democratic rights but for a crumbling of the global order itself. In America, like many places, democracy is continuously on the ballot. Recent elections and insurrections have exposed critical faults in our foundation, evidenced by systemic corruption, gerrymandering, campaign finance laws, and what many believe to be an antiquated electoral system. Citizens’ participation in democracy is becoming increasingly fragile as voter suppression and intimidation efforts increase with time and perpetuate pre-existing systems of oppression. If we don’t rise to contain dictators and defend the democratic values of freedom, liberty, and equality, we will not have the civic capacity to sufficiently deal with other aspects of polycrisis.
2. There is no more urgent issue than Climate Change.
“We’re squabbling over ideology when our house is on fire.
Nothing matters if we don’t preserve our planet and protect our species from extinction.”
We are all on a trajectory for mutually-assured destruction. Unsustainable systems of material production and energy consumption are harmful to the environment in a way that is becoming increasingly devastating in day-to-day life across the world. The future will be characterized first and foremost by conflict directly related to the impact of climate change. Natural disasters, heat-related deaths, droughts, water crises, unexpected immigration flows, agricultural collapse and famine, rising sea levels, and resource wars are just a few of the impending conflicts under this cataclysmic umbrella. Drastic biospheric changes are likely to result in extended global health crises, including pandemics. The threat of life on earth going extinct transcends all physical and ideological boundaries, making this issue absolutely primary.
3. There is no more urgent issue than Economic Injustice.
“Basic needs must be met before people can focus clearly on long-term threats. Poverty and economic inequality represent the biggest obstacle to dealing with the critical challenges facing humanity.”
Many Americans are not engaged with the numerous existential issues of the polycrisis because they are focused on a more tangible, immediate, personal dimension of survival — economic survival. Worrying about multiple long term threats is a luxury of the privileged who know their rent is paid, food is in their fridge, basic health care is guaranteed and they are not one crisis away from bankruptcy. However, the current economic system, growth-oriented capitalism, is not sufficiently ensuring these basic needs are met for the majority of American families. Big corporations and their mega-rich owners control not only the economy, but directly influence the decision-making of our government, therefore dictating the day-to-day capabilities of our citizenry. As an industrially-developed, technologically-advanced liberal democratic state, there is no excuse for the level of economic disparity, poverty, and homelessness in this country. Until we come together to fight for economic justice, many citizens will not have the capacity to focus on the critical issues of our time.
4. There is no more urgent issue than Toxic Polarization.
“Trust between citizens, and trust between the citizenry and government, has been poisoned by a plague of hatred and division. That’s why we can’t solve anything else until we solve this issue.”
Extremism has become commonplace not only in mainstream political discourse but in families, workplaces, and social circles across the country. Radicalized social movements (which have increased across all regions of the world in the past decade), “woke”/cancel culture, and the phenomenon of “threat perception and counter-mobilization” elevate strong opinions as a form of social capital. Rampant polarization has magnified an “Us versus Them” narrative, increasing the illusion of separateness, and intensifying cultural fault lines. A “house divided” cannot work together for the common good, much less on the complex interconnected challenge of the polycrisis.
5. There is no more urgent issue than Artificial Intelligence/Tech.
“This is not a sci-fi plot; it’s real life. Cyber-intelligence is taking over the world at an unstoppable rate.
Keeping it under control is the issue of our time.”
Some argue that technology is advancing at a dangerous rate- one we can’t keep up with. The increasingly lucrative industry of data mining has allowed social media platforms to create wickedly advanced algorithms that, instead of bringing users together, create unhealthy yet addicting spaces of division. Mass media often provides us with information that only confirms what we already believe, even if that means promoting fake news and misinformation. In addition to changing the model of warfare with developments like drones, lethal autonomous weapon systems, and weapons of mass destruction, AI’s ability to produce art, music, emotional writing, and other elements of human culture threatens the very essence of what makes us human. Publicly-accessible AI platforms allow ordinary people to easily generate harmful disinformation that can be used to support scams and propaganda that undermine entire political systems. Deep fake videos and voice-over audio technology pose a serious danger not only to democratic free-thinking and elections but to the very fabric of human civilization. The threat of losing our capacity to know the difference between what is real and fake is the paramount issue of our time. Without this, reality may become so distorted, we cannot effectively work towards solving any of the issues on this list.
6. There is no more urgent issue than Mental Health.
“If we can’t raise mentally healthy children, and if levels of depression and anxiety continue to skyrocket, we will lose the human capacity to work together and make sound decisions.”
Life expectancy has begun to decline in America for one overriding reason: a decline in mental and behavioral health. This is fueled by a number of things, but notably opioids, a growing sense of isolation, distrust, and melancholy about the future of the world. Social media, a go-to gathering space for much of humanity, is eroding the social fabric of current times. How we interact with each other is being distorted by toxic comparison, confirmation bias, dehumanizing extremism and systematic distractions. The continuous promotion of unrealistic standards only leads us further from our true selves, and the widespread addiction to these digital spaces only leads us from real human connection, resulting in what many call an epidemic of loneliness, only intensifying the mental health crisis. Additionally, underlying all of this is the realization that unresolved trauma creates dysfunctional behavior leading to rising suicide rates, an epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings, and a populace increasingly dependent on both legal and illegal psychoactive drugs. Individual health and wellness is a prerequisite to properly facing external threats and challenges. Until we shift our focus to the inner dimensions of mental health and healing, we cannot expect individuals to be well-suited to tackle the coming issues that make up the polycrisis.
7. There is no more urgent issue than Racism.
“Humanity cannot move forward until we heal this ancient deep wound. As long as we dehumanize other human beings, our future will be undermined by our own divisions.”
No matter how far into the future we look, our capacity to make true change will always be held back by our unresolved past conflict. This country was founded on the ethnic cleansing of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of Africans. People of color continue to experience every institution from a point of historically-embedded trauma and cross-generational disenfranchisement. White supremacy cannot coexist with the foundational democratic values of liberty and justice as the founding fathers may have envisioned. As long as we operate from a mindset of domination rather than partnership, solving any of these crises will be impossible.
8. There is no more urgent issue than Nuclear War.
“Avoiding at all costs the use of nuclear weapons should be the universal priority. Associated risks range from total ecosystem poisoning to the immediate annihilation of life on earth, making this the most important crisis of all.”
While nuclear weapons have continued to develop across time and borders, the treaties and international efforts aimed to control them have dwindled and even expired. Regardless of legal jurisdiction, the fact of the matter is that a select few individuals, some of whom do not hold the electoral mandate of the people they are said to represent, have the ultimate power to begin the end of the world with the press of a button. Even non-military nuclear power has proven to be a point of existential concern, as Europe’s largest nuclear power plant rests in the geographical center of an active war zone. The threat of nuclear fallout is the most urgent because it puts the most people in danger the fastest, and its consequences cannot be undone for centuries to come.
9. There is no more urgent issue than Gender Discrimination.
“The global upholding of archaic gender roles severely limits non-male participation in democratic decision-making. We cannot address the polycrisis until we ensure that all people, regardless of their gender, have an equal opportunity to contribute to progress.”
While slow advancements in women’s rights and reproductive health have been made in many parts of the world, there remains a seemingly unshakable inequality. It is a pervasive, even defining, factor in many political, economic, and social systems. Even when subtle, the subordination of women, as well as transgender, gender-fluid, and queer individuals, ensures that power is automatically easier for traditionally masculine men to achieve. Women and queer representation in business and government leadership is astonishingly low worldwide. Hypermasculinity, which is at the root of patriarchy, is a crisis that endangers not only women and queer people, but also men themselves, as many are increasingly unable to meet the unrealistic expectations of traditional male gender roles. One could argue that systemically suppressed and socially unaddressed mental health challenges among men are the underlying cause of many of the crises we face.
10. There is no more urgent issue than the Illusion of Separateness.
“Underlying all of these crises is a mindset that we human beings are not connected to each other or to nature. As long as we remain at this level of consciousness, the polycrisis will only deepen.”
Every one of the crises above can be traced back to the same root psycho-spiritual affliction: the blatant and continuous disregard for the interdependence of living things on this planet. The dominant belief that we are all fundamentally separate from others and from nature renders us incapable of finding social systems that lead to peace, justice, and sustainability. From hyper-capitalist economies to hierarchical neoliberal global relations, a global order of separation, domination, and division reigns in place of collaboration, unity, and inclusion. This arrogant human sense of separateness infects everything we do and every society we create, and has led to the current polycrisis.
Mark and Mesa's discussion of what to do about this polycrisis is forthcoming in Newsletter 250.
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