Solarpunk Mythos

In this essay, I explain the reason I write about post-Jungian psychology in the context of solarpunk and why I think it's an effective approach to climate action. While it certainly should not be the only thing or even the primary thing we do, it can be effective for creating cultures capable of collective action. The fact of the matter is that we are already living for-profit myths with mass-pro...

In this essay, we discuss the myth of the prehistoric Mother Goddess as a distinctly modern invention projected onto our past. I then turn to the very real denigration of the goddesses, being demonized and forgotten by patriarchal monotheism. I end the essay with a discussion of how the complex diversity of deities can contribute to post-Jungian archetypes for liberation toward a solarpunk culture...

In this essay, we consider whether the emergence of patriarchal social systems was the emergence of gender as such. How does this fit in with the idea of a post-hierarchical gender liberation that's a response to a history of oppression rather than a retreat before it? To answer that question, we reconsider the construction of gender as a construction using Bhaskar's critical realist distinction b...

In this essay, we discuss the origins of patriarchal hierarchy within the egalitarian societies of our ancestors. While material accumulation certainly matters, there are examples of surplus not leading directly to hierarchy for many generations. Understanding the overwhelming complexity of our technofeudal moment requires a historical narrative true to that complexity. If you like this episode, p...

In this essay, we discuss the controversy over whether or not evolution drives toward complexity or mere diversity. One of the obstacles is the fascist implications of any sort of purpose or direction to evolution. From far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics to organisms as hypotheses made by entire species, and with the complexification of exorcism into Internal Family Systems, we consider evolution...

In this essay, we discuss how our culture fills us with profit-driven stories, mass-produced archetypes, and narcissistic desires. Why do we desire things that harm us rather than things that contribute to human flourishing? Who defined what makes a truly good life and why do you continue to believe them despite the emptiness you feel inside? If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 star the...

In this essay, I bring Francesca Ferrando’s post-human philosophy into dialogue with the Neo-Piagetian educational philosophy of Theo Dawson and Zak Stein. Post-humanism stands for a post-dualism that refuses the oppression of dualisms, but if not taken carefully risks the oppressive dualism between anti-dualism and dualism. Through Neo-Piagetian complexification, we can see how simplistic dualism...

In this essay, I discuss the roadblocks in the way of Western egalitarianism through a discussion of our nomadic prehistory, the emergence of gender hierarchy, and social status. Contrary to popular belief, human beings have spent the majority of the last several hundred thousand years in egalitarian bands. When inequality seems to be accelerating faster than ever, what's the special sauce that ma...

In this essay, I discuss the contradiction embedded in the claim that ethical relations can make us more human. To say such a thing is to imply that some of us are less human than others. This creates a morally dubious hierarchy in which solarpunk humanization is itself, effectively, dehumanizing. If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 star the podcast and follow for more! If you think this...

In this essay, I discuss the differences between Jungian archetypes and "parts" from Internal Family Systems. I first consider them on axes of complexity, autonomy, and mythology, with archetypes having greater potentials along each. I then discuss how these differences are not merely horizontal, but that archetypes have the potential to represented nested wholes that contain entire systems or mor...

In this essay, I discuss contemporary theories of Jungian archetypes so that we can understand how they can be effective for creating solarpunk culture. Far from being "universal principles" that recreate patriarchal culture and gender roles, archetypes are better conceived as performing certain functions. Put simply, an archetype is an image that inspires us, threatens us, attracts us, or expands...

In this essay, I introduce the concept of worldview as a lens through which one reads reality. How and why do we interpret the experiences we have in the way that we do? Given that, how can we update our current worldview toward a worldview that can make solarpunk a reality?

In this essay, I discuss the importance of building community for finding and creating love. Not only for actually finding a partner, but for becoming the kind of person a partner would want to be with. The greatest error of most dating advice is to give in to the hyper-individualism that sees the creation of love as a lonely pursuit rather than a communal activity. If you like this episode, pleas...

A container event is a party engineered to make the hosts appear high status and at the center of the attention of many women. While the purpose is obviously to facilitate sex, the result is a violent conflation of power, attention, and attraction. In the end, they constitute the sexist use of women as the means to the end of sexual conquest, violating even the most basic understanding of Kantian...

In this essay, I discuss Nussbaum's work on the power dynamics that allow abusers to harass women in professional settings, sometimes for years. In solarpunk societies, we must be aware of how power dynamics blind us so that we can keep our eyes open. This requires us to actually care about the agency and goals of the other rather than only our own agency and goals. If you like this episode, pleas...

In this essay, I discuss the necessity of a caring society in the development of people capable of autonomous rationality and of pursuing justice. We take these capabilities for granted and then wonder why we're surrounded by people wholly incapable of what seems to us to be basic decency. What if we actually have to be educated to be able to be more ethical? If you like this episode, please be su...

In this essay, I discuss the Greek form of love known as "xenia", or the love of foreigners and guests. The more diverse a population becomes, the greater the demands for xenia in order to have enough coherence despite that plurality. With the internet, we have even greater blending of people that crosses the boundaries of any nation or culture, but also even less in-person contact with the people...

In this essay, I discuss Peter Sloterdijk's philosophical work, "Bubbles". A bubble is the relational space that includes two people. In the past, people have created bubbles that were rich with meaning, but such bubbles have become nihilistic spaces under capitalism. How might we re-enchant our bubbles and reinspire post-capitalist meaning? If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 star the p...

In this essay, I discuss how creepy men are often simply low status in an unjust hierarchy. Importantly then, high status men can often be far more deserving of the label "creepy", yet their unethical behaviour is ignored by people who crave their social status. When low status men are attractive, they become vehicles for the perpetuation of the unjust hierarchy that sets the terms of what's socia...

In this essay I discuss Laura Bates book "Men Who Hate Women" and discuss the problem of speaking up, whether that means against or for a certain group or individual. When we fail to speak, we are held accountable when we live in the world our inaction allowed. Yet, speaking must be both against something and FOR something. If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 star the podcast and follow...

In this essay, I discuss how environments can force us to develop certain capabilities in order to survive. Once combined, these capabilities offer us access to new worlds, but also limit us to those worlds. How can we create a better society when our current society limits what we're capable of in order to survive? If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 star the podcast and follow for more...

To help frame this essay, my focus in my writing is on the psychology necessary to make solarpunk a reality. To create such a psychology we need to have an understanding of both the theory and practice behind it. Many people are engaged in political action or developmental practices like therapy, circling, dance, and other somatic/therapeutic practices that are incredibly powerful. Yet, what they...

In this essay, I discuss how our culture of narcissism has reduced friendships to selfish transactions. I then discuss "circling" as a practice for developing the deep mutuality that can facilitate healthy friendship and culture. Circling is an interpersonal practice meant to cultivate emotional awareness, interpersonal care, and healthy boundaries. If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 st...

In this essay, I question the use of the term "masculinist" to denote subjectivities that privilege the masculine above the feminine. I first steelman the term by deconstructing Red Pill via the Kantian Society of Mind. I then titanium-man "masculinist" as "patriarchal", though with a sensitivity to context. If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 star the podcast and follow for more! If you...

In this essay, I discuss the developmental process for how a misogynistic man who cannot be friends with women can become a man capable of being friends. While the thought may seem so grotesque, the fact is that there are men like this and far, far worse. The people who most need to change must not have the tools of change taken from them. If you like this episode, please be sure to 5 star the pod...