A Civilizational Rite of Passage - Daniel Schmachtenberger's Keynote to QEW Spring Gathering 2024

https://quakerearthcare.org/ In this Keynote Dialogue, Daniel presents on the deep roots and nature of the planetary crisis we now collectively face in the 21st century and how to face up to this crisis with courage and efficacy. In this presentation, we examine how this time presents humanity with a Civilizational Rite of Passage - wherein we must become good stewards of power while simultaneously influencing the systems currently abusing such power in the direction of a more beautiful and sustainable future for us all. It's a tall order. As Daniel quotes from the book of Romans: "The path to Heaven is steep and narrow and the paths to hell are wide and many." - navigating the storms of climate change, ecological collapse, geopolitical tensions, and exponential technologies will require deep earnestness and deep strategy - rooted in love and a sense of the sacred - from us all. Contents: 0:00 - Intro 2:28 - Daniel's Opening Comments 3:59 - The Crucible of Facing the Metacrisis 6:40 - Human-Agency doesn't drive the World 10:51 - Why conscience loses in the context of empire 14:26 - It's unethical to have your hands clean while the world burns 16:49 - The need to be Ethical and Effective 18:00 - AI, Nuclear, Climate as a Mutually-Compounding Polycrisis 20:35 - Living at the endpoint of Prophecy - Wisdom or Bust? 24:50 - Multipolar Traps and Cooperation 26:15 - Can strategy born of Conscience be effective? 27:50 - Asymmetry of Strategic Sophistication between Activists and Corporations 29:16 - Head/Heart/Will as disunified developmental aspects that must be Unified 31:00 - Caring about both the result and the process (not putting one over the other) 31:40 - Realist analysis of the inefficacy of nonviolent movements without a "Radical Flank" 34:46 - Self-cultivation to empower Conscience, Leadings, Flow States, Prayer 37:43 - The sacredness of the Earth is a central belief for the protection of it 40:55 - Clarion call to Quakers to rise to the occasion and take on the Metacrisis as a timely collective imperative 42:41 - Audience Questions