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START YOUR INTEGRAL LIFE FOR $1Ken will be a featured presenter at this year’s What Now conference in Broomfield, CO from December 29th – January 1st. Click here for more details.
Ken Wilber offers an extensive presentation to help us better understand the evolutionary pressures that led to the rise of Trump and the backlash against progressivism, and offers his own ideas around the future of the global economy. This presentation was recorded during a private event at his loft in Denver, Colorado.
Over the next few weeks we will be releasing more installments of Ken’s presentation, as well as the full Q&A session he held with participants. Stay tuned!
A Note from Ken
These are truly extraordinary times. That is why I wrote and Integral Life distributed Trump and the Post Truth World — which Shambhala has decided to publish in book form. But thanks to all of you, the paper and the concepts it contains have gotten lots of traction inside and outside the Integral community. It seems that we have a tremendous opportunity to promote an Integral view in the cultural conversation moving forward. That is why I am now taking this next step in addressing the cultural unfoldings that are now surrounding us.
We are facing an unprecedented period of human history. There are so many factors that are at play that we really haven’t ever seen come together in this way. In part it has to do with the extraordinary leaps in technology, and in particular the unintended consequences those are causing. We never ever thought it would come from technology, but now we are starting to see the downsides. When a book is written called Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, you get the idea that things are not going the way they’re supposed to.
Clearly we also have the election. We have the completely stunning victory of Trump, where if you look at it rationally over any number of demographics, ideas, reasons, and drives, there is no real reason this man should have gotten elected. However, there were factors that were at play that people tended to underrate, and those ended up being important. I have a factor myself that I think is extremely important, and that has to do with what happened at the very leading edge of evolution itself as it began to crash and get jammed up, and sent out messages that complicated the situation, to put it mildly. Trump ended up riding on some of those currents—not intentionally, Trump was just being Trump, mostly ego and ethnocentric and a little bit of worldcentric, and generally just somebody that was trying to dictate his own way and not really play nice with anyone.
What it always comes down to at some point is: what can I do? Given the situation that now exists, how can I contribute in even the smallest way, as well as some very big ways? And to the extent that I can contribute in making the future unfold in a more helpful, caring, compassionate way, that helps me get through this very difficult situation.
-Ken Wilber
About Ken Wilber
Ken Wilber is a preeminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development. He is an internationally acknowledged leader, founder of Integral Institute, and co-founder of Integral Life. Ken is the originator of arguably the first truly comprehensive or integrative world philosophy, aptly named “Integral Theory”.