Fighting for a better future is always spiritual work. It may cost us everything if we pretend it isn’t.
The marriage of hypercapitalism and fascism is a global vampiric death force. A powerful life force has to meet it.
As the world slides into open fascism, the whole thing has a mythical quality. It feels like our societies’ collective shadows are stepping on stage and throwing a few Sieg Heils, treating the rest of us as NPCs. The darkness that was always there at the heart of our systems is becoming very easy to feel even for those who were asleep at the wheel. This mythic quality is, of course, a big attraction of fascism. The core skill of fascist movements is to mobilize emotional energy through language, symbols and ritual action and turn it into political capital. In this, fascists understand and weaponize something about humans that those in the status quo and even many interested in better futures do not seem to want to accept.
In his seminal 2007 book ‘Dream’, cultural researcher and activist Stephen Duncombe claimed that ‘realpolitik is dreampolitik’: if we are to be ‘realistic’ about societal politics, we have to accept that people are creatures of myth, of fantasy, of large scale meaning making and imagination. Duncombe describes a skepticism in the left and in progressive movements against this large scale myth making that plays on people’s desires, imaginations and dreams. He essentially points this out as a significant limitation of progressive movements.
Those interested in truly giving better futures a fighting chance simply have to become much, much better at mobilizing societal sources of emotional energy, including those that are associated with big stories, fantasies, mainstream media and more. As my futurist friend Scott Smith said: ‘you need a future to fight a future’.
One massive source of support and emotional energy that seems to be largely untapped at least at the level of electoral politics on the left is spirituality. For decades, in the US and elsewhere, spiritual beliefs have been a driving force of political change on the right — conservative Christianity has been paired up with right wing beliefs to create a Christo-fascist movement that has successfully transformed major legislation and positions of power.
Spirituality and belief can be a truly terrifying force. People who believe deeply are able to do pretty much anything, withstand anything. It can be horribly oppressive, or powerfully liberating.
So what might this look like on the left? With activist friends we’ve discussed the following question: Fascist and far right forces have no qualms about using nefarious means to secure power — means that are purely anti-democratic and often illegal (until they’re not). They are fundamentally in conflict with democratic goals. Is there a source of power like this that is similarly entangled with those who seek a more sustainable, equal world?
A big part of the answer is true systemic and relational spirituality. This is something that has long been bleedingly obvious to many oppressed people fighting for their rights and the future of the planet all around the world, and a big part of indigenous futures work. And yet it is strangely ignored or denied by mainstream leftist and progressive politics. At the same time, a lot of ‘liberal’ and modernist practices have something akin to religious elements anyway, as my colleague Tim Stacey writes.
Of course a lot depends on how spirituality is defined. My background in Buddhism may color all of this, so fair warning, but let’s put it like this: if you are sincerely working for a better world and truly live the experience that you are part of a bigger whole, to the degree where you would happily risk your own status, safety and more for the benefit of all living beings, I believe that is spirituality. What’s more, even if you have no spiritual beliefs at all, it is still more truly spiritual to me than someone who spends a lot of time engaging in spiritual practices that just enhance their personal experience. True spirituality means serving life. True spirituality, I think, is thinking, feeling and acting relationally. Thinking, feeling and acting in systems. Understanding that we are truly in it together. These are the values that drive leftist politics, at least ideally. The key is that this true spirituality has to stand for all life, and especially for the most vulnerable — because it is so easy to twist it into something that is for ‘the collective’, but with defined boundaries that turn it into a force of exclusion and repression.
The reason I think it matters to see relational thinking, feeling and acting as spirituality is because we need something that spirituality can give us. Deeply rooting ourselves in a consciousness of the mystery, depth and sacredness of life — whatever that means to us — gives us the power to flourish, endure, stand up, sacrifice ourselves, fight, inspire others, whatever may be needed. If we are denying ourselves a sense of being carried by life just as we carry life, we may simply lack the energetic and emotional resources, the courage to do what needs to be done; or we will burn out very quickly.
This does not mean that we all have to start believing in some kind of incarnate deity. I believe that a radical pluralism in what spirituality means for people is extremely important. But it is important to recognize that the objectified and reified worldview that is held as a standard in modernity is artificial, and that denying that the world around us and inside us is relational and connected is keeping us disempowered.
I think a spiritual transformation is also important at the collective level. What is happening to our planet can accurately be described as a spiritual disaster.
I really don’t think I’m being overly dramatic if I say that the marriage of hyper-capitalism and fascism is a kind of global vampiric death force.
A powerful life force has to meet this death force.
There are many in power who benefit from dividing us and distracting us from this essential fight. And it also happens inside of many of us.
True spirituality, a true sense of living for the planet’s life and its future, has the capacity to strengthen us, both to allow us to risk ourselves and our ways of being, to take on hard conflicts, speak powerfully, and to nurture us and give us solace when the fight is hard. Historically, social movements have shown time and again that spiritual belief provides the engine for emancipatory change. Leaders and collectives, especially those repressed by unfair systems, have been able to mobilize immense spiritual power for change.
I believe there is a lot of potential here in our current time as well. In the face of a global crisis of meaning, many people turn to spiritual practices, and especially easily marketable ones — like practices of spiritual embodiment that are handily stripped off of their religious context. People turn to psychedelics for similar reasons. All of this is mostly absorbed again into ‘spiritual materialism’: individualist, capitalist ways of being are extremely resilient. Of course, it is easier to be ‘spiritual’ if it serves mostly you, your mental health and your career success. If it helps you fit into existing systems better. But great meaning, joy, connection and life can come from collective, systemic spirituality. I have noticed this in my own spiritual circles, including in my own work with meditation teacher Rosa Lewis and in my meditation group, the Dharmagarage, where mystical plurality and a sense of systems action go hand in hand.
So, here are some questions and suggestions for taking action together:
· How can the popular need for meaning making through modern spirituality be connected to what seems to be a natural partner — transformative and systemic politics? Where are the figureheads and leaders that develop inspiring, transformative spiritual ideals in the service of global life?
· How could more overt spirituality transform (electoral) politics on the left? What are the risks of doing so?
· How can existing spiritual circles become places of dialogue about real systemic action to a better world? Think of popular meditation and yoga spaces and retreats, men’s and women’s groups, ecstatic dance events, and communities and events around the existing major religions. How do we make space for diverse experiences and emotions in these spaces, such as experiences of disability and burnout? How does spiritual experience give space to different emotions — such as grief, anger, joy?
· How can we support those of us who would normally stay far away from any consideration of spirituality in connecting more to what spirituality means for them? Where is the space for spiritual atheism or agnosticism? How can a sense of the spiritual still made accessible to such people, and what does this mean? How do we recognize, create and protect what I call ‘infrastructures of mystery’ — those physical, financial, cultural, social and institutional infrastructures that support a wide range of connections to the depth and mystery of life, and to belonging?
· How can systemic spirituality become a bigger part of mainstream media? We are asking this question for our upcoming game All Will Rise.
· How can a light holding of spiritual systems and a playful, humorous approach avoid spiritual reification?
And for you, dear reader, specifically — how do you relate to a sense of the spiritual, whatever that means to you? How does it connect to a sense of serving life and recognizing the interconnectedness of all of us humans and non-humans? What is the relationship between your sense of the spiritual and the way you feel supported, strengthened or nurtured? Is there a desire to discover more in this regard? What do you need from your community and from societal infrastructures to find the courage, support and joy to fight for the future?
It’s good to ask questions, but something needs to happen around all of this to create a rich soil for radical change. So let’s pick up the pace. Talk to me if you have ideas and let’s make some beautiful things happen. More thoughts, feelings and actions coming soon.
If you’re interested in listening to some of my spiritual work with the Dharmagarage, check out some recordings here.
Dr. Joost Vervoort is an Associate Professor of Transformative Imagination at Utrecht University. His work focuses on connecting games and creative practices, mystery, politics and action to create better futures. He leads the NWO Vidi project Anticiplay and is a leading researcher on the Horizon Europe project STRATEGIES which focuses on the transformation of the European game industry. He co-leads the pluralistic meditation group the Dharmagarage, sings about the global crisis in Terzij de Horde and paints weirdly dark album covers for other bands.
