I’ve been musing for some time about how the different levels of consciousness, or memes, deal with societal issues. Quickly, each meme or level is a step towards greater consciousness and encapsulates a distinct world-view. While you can find extensive discussion of these memes in the work of Ken Wilber and Steve McIntosh, here is just an excerpt. The predominate memes among adults in the US today are the Traditionalist (Blue/Amber), the Rationalist (Orange) and the Pluralist (Green).
The Traditionalist meme believes in God and Country, and believes that behavior should be regulated by the Laws of God. American Traditionalists are big proponents of The 10 Commandments, because of the super-majority of Christians in our society, but Traditionalists are found in all societies and hew to a strict view of God’s Law as is appropriate for their culture—think Sharia Law, or The Taliban. Traditionalists are the largest block of US adults, but are less than 40%. They are less prevalent in Western European nations.
The next level, Rationalists, are about the evidence. They have broken with God, in many instances, unable to reconcile religious tenants with modern science, and wish to have a society in which economic and scientific facts determine public laws. For the most part, Rationalists want government to step back from most regulation, as Rationalists do not want to be imposed upon, nor do they especially want to impose on others. (Except perhaps for education, which to them must include modern science.)
The third major meme in today’s American society is the Pluralists. Pluralists are big believers in the equality of all, the story of all, the fair process, and “political correctness.” At their worst, Pluralists want a society in which individuals are coerced into environmentally friendly behavior, some form of Gaian worship (which may be incorporated into Christianity), and making sure not to offend anyone. The Pluralist world is idealized in Starhawk's novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing, and in the film Avatar, and the Jean Auel's Earth's Children sextet.
How do these three memes, the overwhelming majority of today’s adult citizens, see global warming?
The Traditionalists see the effects of Global Warming as God’s Judgment. New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina because it was a town of sinners. They got what they deserved. The solution, to Traditionalists, is to behave better, to join a church, to live right. Then God won’t send any more hurricanes or other disasters. When Traditionalists think about environmental legislation, they want to be aligned with God. What would Jesus do? They will search through a Bible for some appropriate verse that might apply. Any laws that are secular ought to be obeyed, though, because good Godly people OBEY the law.
Rationalists are entirely different. They see global warming as the consequence of changes that can be scientifically demonstrated. The remedies ought to be scientific and economic in nature. Examples of these are treaties to clean the air, clean the oceans, have “trade credits” to swap, so as to avoid consequences of applying all laws evenly to all entities. Environmental regulations on the books mostly follow the precepts of the Rationalists.
Pluralists make the Earth a Goddess, Gaia. They have emotional and spiritual attachments to Gaia, even if they do not specifically recognize the name. They want everyone to tread lightly on earth, have a low carbon footprint, otherwise we are disrespecting Gaia. They feel Gaia’s pain. They want laws to make everyone respect Gaia.
Fortunately there are at least two higher memes, even though few are operating at those levels: Integral and Holistic. The Integral meme is the first to recognize the entire developmental sequence. The Integral meme is not sentimental, but acknowledges the importance of each step along the way. Integralists want laws and policies that work with the natural urges of each meme. Thus successful laws and policies would uphold Traditionalists’ beliefs in God, Law and Order. They would uphold the scientific and economic strategies of the Rationalists. And they would uplift the love of Gaia of the Pluralists. But Integral policies and laws would not allow the lower memes to be in charge of the process.
Integral policies about global warming would acknowledge the unlikely reversibility of the global warming trend—even the most astringent adherence to new laws would only turn the corner on global warming 20 years down the road. Integral policies would start dealing with the realities of the situation. More hurricanes, more severe hurricanes, more tornados, more rising sea levels, all those are in our future. Integralists would start demanding that low-lying towns be moved inland, to higher elevations, or put on stilts, instead of being rebuilt as before—especially when the public is paying for it. Integralists know that another flood will be coming. This is how Integralists see the environmental situation: without sentiment, with practical suggestions.
What about that higher meme? The Holistic meme, which is almost unpopulated, is more about allowing human beings of less evolved memes to make the mistakes they must make in order to learn. Holists have compassionate hearts, but do not see needs to get overly excited. Their interventions would be directed to systems, especially education. Holists are not public forces in society at this time.
Lalia Wilson
A fan of Integral Theory
For more on the actual process of dealing with Global Climate Changes, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptation_to_global_warming#Necessity_for_adaptation
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