It's Not Just a Speed Bump
by Jay McDaniel
President of Claremont Institute for Process Studies, Philip Clayton,
asks four questions as we anticipate a post-pandemic world
The pandemic is not just a speed bump, momentarily disrupting our habitual ways of living in the world and organizing life. It's a crisis and an opportunity - so we learn from Philip Clayton's PPT shared below and the work of the Institute for Ecological Civilization, of which he is president.
Indeed, the pandemic and its emerging aftermath are a twofold revelation of sorts:
(1) a revelation of the failures of our prevailing economic, social, and cultural systems to meet the needs of people, other animals, and the earth; and, conversely,
(2) a revelation of the best and only hope, which is that we build local communities that are creative, compassionate, participatory, diverse, humane to animals, and good for the earth, with no one left behind.
Philip Clayton and others speak of these communities as the building blocks of ecological civilizations. In such civilizations inhabitants live with respect and care for one another, other animals, and the earth, mindful that they are small but included in a larger web of life. The ‘economy’ is understood as a subset of the web of life, not the other way around.
Where to begin? If you, like me, want to play a role in helping bring about this kind of civilization, Philip Clayton invites us to ask ourselves four questions as individuals and local communities as we anticipate the aftermath of the pandemic:
- How will you think differently?
- How can you organize smaller-scale communities?
- How can you retain different lifestyles among friends and family?
- How can you expand these innovations to the community level?
Exploring these discussions is indeed something we can do, now.
- Jay McDaniel
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Claremont Institute for Process Studies
This is the second of a three-part conversation between John Cobb, Philip Clayton, and friends of the Cobb Institute discuss the impact of the coronavirus, and what it might mean for the future. Dr. Cobb is the main speaker during the first part. Dr. Clayton is the main speaker during the second part. The final part is an open conversation.
Coronavirus: Rogue wave or speed bump? And what’s next?
- Cobb & Clayton Conversation - Part 2
MEET ECOCIV - An Introduction to our work
Find out why we started our non-profit, why we are
working on the transition to an ecological civilization,
and what this means. Learn more about EcoCiv at