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In anticipation of the publication of my forthcoming book, Developmental Politics, I’ve posted 16 pages of excerpts from the book (close to 9,000 words) on this website. These excerpts include 7 pages from “Part I: Toward a Politics of Culture,” and 9 pages from “Part II: Toward a New Philosophy of Purpose and Progress.”
Part I of the book is a relatively easy read. The first three chapters provide a narrative description of cultural evolution in America, which tells the story of how American culture became “stretched out” to the point of being nearly ungovernable. Then in chapter 4 I introduce a method for overcoming our debilitating hyperpolarization. The excerpts from Part I include the Preface, which explains the goal of the book and tells the story of how I came to write it. Also excerpted is the beginning of chapter 4, which describes why conventional proposals for overcoming hyperpolariztion have failed and why we need to focus on the conflicting values that divide us. As I write, “Overcoming our political impasse will not be accomplished by a better process; we must address the actual content of our disagreements, which are ultimately about values.”
The other 9 pages of excerpts are from Part II, which describes the political philosophy behind this new approach to politics. Here my excerpted selections focus on the idea of transcendence. “Transcendence” or “the transcendent” generally refers to the people and things that are ultimately more important than the self, or one’s perceived self-interest. For example, notions of the transcendent can include: family, humanity, one’s country, the environment, God, Oneness, animals, freedom, adventure, art, science, a better world, or any worthy “higher purpose.” The excerpt from chapter 6, entitled “The Political Significance of Transcendence,” as well as the excerpt from chapter 9, entitled “Progress and Transcendence,” help unpack this important concept.
Here are links to the 5 excerpted sections:
Reaching Political Agreement Through Values Integration: 4 page excerpt from Chapter 4
Evolving Our Understanding of the Good: 2 page excerpt from Chapter 5
Harnessing the Energy of Value: 4 page excerpt from Chapter 6
A Transcendent Vision of Progress: 3 page excerpt from Chapter 9
Developmental Politics will be published on March 1st and is now available for preorder on Amazon.
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I’m excited to announce my new 9-week online course on post-progressive politics. It’s being produced in partnership with The Aligned Center: https://thealignedcenter.com/institute/becoming-part-of-the-solution/
At last we turn the page on an ugly chapter in our history. While Biden faces difficult challenges, and while his presidency will inevitably have shortcomings, I’m rooting for his success. Biden is poised to take the first steps toward the higher cultural ground our nation needs.
https://www.dailyevolver.com/2021/01/leading-leaders-to-higher-ground/ If you are interested in executive leader development or leadership in general, here's a great episode just for that! Enjoy!
My article just published in Integral Leadership Review: "Why Centrism Fails and How to Overcome Hyperpolarization"
http://integralleadershipreview.com/17747-12-21-why-centrism-fails-and-how-to-overcome-hyperpolarization/?fbclid=IwAR03NT_o57_1aK71EhK7OPy0q0rMv_-C4GtpbCmZeC9eMxHqPZujO58PzaY
This is the first episode of our new series: Post-Progressive Inquires
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What Does “Transcendence” Mean?
“Transcendence” or “the transcendent” generally refers to the people and things that are ultimately more important than yourself or your perceived self-interest. For example, that which is transcendent for you could include: Your family, humanity, your deepest convictions, the environment, God, Oneness, your country, animals, freedom, adventure, art, science, a better world, or anything you consider authentically “higher.” Your personal ideals of transcendence are grounded in the people and things that you’re dedicated to, and might even lay down your life for, if it became necessary. Your ideals of transcendence therefore help define your life’s higher purposes.
The word transcendence is used in this exercise as an umbrella term that is friendly to both spiritual and secular notions of transcendent higher purposes. In other words, you don’t have to be religious to recognize the significance of transcendent ideals. Our attraction to a greater good that lies beyond ourselves—our ceaseless striving to serve something higher and create something better—is a fundamental part of what makes us human.
The connection between your ideals of transcendence, your virtues, and your basic moral obligations—to self, to others, and to the transcendent—is illustrated by the graphic below. The specific virtues shown in this graphic are the 7 fundamental virtues, but the specific 7 virtues you choose in this exercise may differ from these classical 7.
For more on virtues and their relationship with transcendence, see the book Developmental Politics, by this exercise’s author, Steve McIntosh.
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