"The continuity of the cultural field". (2) Modernity is dieing. What comes after Modernity ?

While writing my earlier books I published a first draft  week after week.  

For the present book I will, from time to time, publish some parts that I think illustrate a particular   flavor of our present air of the time. 

 

Today I offer a chapter about what comes after Modernity.
Your comments are welcome.

"The continuity of the cultural field" : A new project (1)

I just commented on an article written by Peter Koenig for The Saker Blog.

The substance of this comment addresses one of the matters I'm presently writing about. 

Here follows this commentary :

 

 

Digital variations : Wall 205 is online

The complete gallery of 256 digital variations that compose wall 205 is online.

Here under are a few samples from this collection. The size of each of these variations is 60 x 90 cm and the complete wall is 9.6 x 14.4 meters. 

 Click on the images to get a larger size at 1200 x 800 px. 

Digital variations : Wall 204 is online

The complete gallery of 256 digital variations composing wall 204 is online.

Here under are a few samples from this collection. The size of each of these variations is 60 x 90 cm and the complete wall is 9.6 x 14.4 meters. Click on the images to get a larger size at 1200 x 800 px. 

 

 

Digital variations : Wall 203 is online

The complete gallery of 256 digital variations composing wall 203 is online.

Here under are a few samples from this collection. 

The size of each of these variations is 60 x 90 cm and the complete wall is 9.6 x 14.4 meters. 

Click on the images to get their full size.

The ebook "First societal blow in Late-Modernity" is online

 

I formatted the series of articles titled "First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity" in e-book form and made it available from my website.

This series has become a long text. The 2nd edition of the book totals 599 pages.

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First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (20)

 7.4.6. giving meaning to one’s life

Last article in this series. 8,052 words.
 

I want now to address, the perception of our present human condition, from a holistic angle. This placing into perspective, of the structural factors that shape the human condition in Late-Modernity, forms the conclusion of this long series of articles.

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Content

7.4.6.1. the whole is the ultimate purveyor of the universal potential
7.4.6.2. polarities are powering changes and transformations that open the doors to the universal potential
7.4.6.3. living species are the embodiment of life
7.4.6.4. Non-submission to the foundations of life results in the species’ extinction
7.4.6.5. the settlement of disputes, between their polarities, leads species toward more complexity
7.4.6.6. the loop from the whole to the local and back to the whole
7.4.6.7.  the true meaning of life
7.4.6.8. a new credo in After-Modernity

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First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (19)

7.4.3.2.  the transition from Late-Modernity to After-Modernity

This article is 7,500 words long and covers the following :

        7.4.3.2. the transition
        7.4.3.3. a creative life style
7.4.4. cheering life through pragmatism
         7.4.4.1. pragmatism in knowledge
         7.4.4.2. pragmatism in living
         7.4.4.3. pragmatism in societal organization

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Content of Part 7.4.

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (18)

7.4. giving meaning to one’s life

 

This article is 5,200 words long and covers the following :

7.4.1. pointing fingers at scapegoats is no solution
7.4.1.1. Sinophobia and the yellow peril
7.4.1.2. China is the chance of humanity

7.4.2. fairy-tales, magic, dystopian adventures

7.4.3. escaping the negativity by scanning for positivity
7.4.3.1. a worldview that quietens the mind.

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Complete table of content of Part 7.4

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First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (17)

7.3. the principle of life

The determinant force driving Modernity is capital, or more precisely, it is the insidious ideology proclaiming that “the reason at work within capital” is rationality reigning supreme. Emerging in Early-Modernity “the reason” gave rise to some 6 centuries of commercial capitalism. It forced nations to adapt their political economies to their local context and so its implementation naturally took different forms.

The results, of the adoption of “the reason that is at work within capital” and its adaptation by all nations on earth to their local contexts, are now in. During all these centuries humanity has been blinded, by the illusion of material possessions, while it was savagely trampling the principle of life and unleashing multiple side-effects that are now threatening to extinguish life on earth.

How could humanity be bamboozled to unleash such a devastation on the principle of life ?

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (16)

Part 7.  A changing context forces a new worldview and a new form of society to emerge

7.2. Reflections on the lessons from history

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (15)

Part 7. 

A changing context forces a new worldview and a new form of society to emerge

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (14)

Part 6.   The paradox of humanity’s predicament

6.1. Modernity, is the greatest achievement of humanity but it fosters life extinction

6.2. the shift in the governance-world leads to uncertainties

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (13)

5. A gradual shift from a Western to an Eastern model of society

5.3. Covid-19 is a first fatal blow to Late-Modernity

Covid-19 did not collapse national economic systems as is portrayed in Western mainstream media. It was merely the catalyst that activated the clean-up of the many severe imbalances that had been accumulating since the nineteen-eighties which then exploded after the  great recession of 2007-2008 :

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (12)

5.  A gradual shift from a Western to an Eastern model of society

5.2.5. the rise of the Asian model of governance

Regional Economic Blocks have a decisive governance advantage over the present world institutions. For one they group neighboring countries that have privileged and often long-standing inter-relations. Secondly they are not burdened by the weight of bureaucracy and corruption that characterize present day International Institutions. Thirdly these regional blocs are not torn apart by the ideological divisions between the declining power and the upcoming power.

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (11)

5.   A gradual shift from a Western to an Eastern model of society

5.2.4. the irresistibility of Regional Economic Blocks (REBs)

A painting from 1515 turns a mirror on its Western viewers

Hell Is for White People.

"A painting from 1515 turns a mirror on its viewers" in Cabinet Magazine by Alexander Nagel.

Nagel's commentary is well worth the 5 minutes necessary to read it. Here is how Rumple describes Nagels' commentary on Metafilter :

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (10)

5.  A gradual shift from a Western to an Eastern model of society

5.2.  Toward a world confederation of regional blocs (REBS)

The Western centric world institutions, created after the 2nd World War, did not adapt to a changing Geo-political reality. Western countries have been resisting the institutional reset that naturally should have followed the shifting of the center of gravity of the economy-world towards East-Asia. Under necessity the world is now starting to turn toward an alternative institutional setting to accomplish what the international institutions no longer can.  Along the last decades we observed the the first timid steps of the re-organization of the world, into Regional Economic Blocs (REBs) and the twenties, of this 21th century, will see an acceleration of that process.

An ode to blogs

You are What you Read: How to Manage your Personal Echo Chamber

By Ugo Bardi  [ member of the Club of Rome, faculty member of the University of Florence, and the author of "Extracted" (Chelsea Green 2014), "The Seneca Effect" (Springer 2017), and Before the Collapse (Springer 2019) ]

I believe that blogs are by far the best source of information for individuals like you and me.   

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (9)

5. The shift from a Western to an Eastern model of society

5.1. after covid-19 reality = affirmation of regional blocs

The economic reset, that is taking place in this first part of the 21th century, is a historical event fraught with danger. The West is losing its hegemony over an evolving Late-Modernity. The center of gravity of the economy-world is moving to a nation outside the Western civilizational realm.  But the West, or would it be better to say the USA, is not taking this reset agreeably and is multiplying the provocations against China.

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (8)

Part 5:  The shift from a Western to an Eastern model of society

Economic reality finances the social and cultural endeavors of a society and so the comparative influence of societies in the international sphere is given primarily by their economic power. The following table traces the evolution of economic power between the West and East-Asia over the last 20 years.

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (7)

4.2. the last stand of ‘big capital holders’

Western big capital holders’ have always been well aware of the financial mess the US and Europe have gradually created for themselves. The core of their strategy now is to suck all they can out of their countries of origin and the easiest conduit to realize just that is through the national banks’ money creation capabilities.  The recently approved Cares’ act in the US gives them the legal cover they need to ensure a non-stop supply of free dollars from the Fed all the while imposing ‘the reason that is at work within capital’ to society at large.

The Cares’ act is the first step of a hastily conceived financial strategy to try to push through a radical worldwide reset of the governance-world. The plan is to finance a campaign to maximize the control of big capital holders over the whole earth by affecting the following 3 determinant factors of the governance-world :

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (6)

Part 4.  The virus is the pin that deflated the bubble of everything

“  In less than three decades, a mere blink of the eye in historical terms, the United States has gone from the world’s sole superpower to a massive foundering wreck that is helpless before the coronavirus and intent on blaming the rest of the world for its own shortcomings.  … But how and why did this pitiable condition come about? Is it all Donald Trump’s fault as so many now assume? Or did the process begin earlier?

The answer for any serious student of imperial politics is the latter. ... two things are clear. One is that the process did not start under Trump, while the other is that it will undoubtedly continue regardless of who wins in November. Once collapse sets in, it’s impossible to stop.”  (1)

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (5)

Part 3. an unquestionable qualitative difference

By way of introduction let me first observe that, for the first time since the emergence of High-Modernity, Western governments have answered a pandemic by privileging peoples’ lives over the profits of capital. What is it that motivated such a political turning point ?

First devastating societal blow in Late-Modernity (4)

Part 2.  Timeline of the Chinese answers to the outbreak of ‘Covid-19’

The fact that the COVID-19 epidemic broke out in Wuhan does not imply that the virus originated in Wuhan. In matter of fact the origin of COVID-19 is still unknown. Calling it “China virus” or “Wuhan virus” is thus dishonest to say the least. It reflects a will, by those who use such terms, to manipulate peoples’ minds and glue in the collective unconscious a narrative that satisfies their ideological interests.