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That all sounds great Richard. There seem to be more and more similar visions coming up all the time. I've been on the Board of the Transition Network, , was a founder member of the Open Coop, and like organisations like the Collaborative Technology Alliance, the Post Carbon Institute the Pachamama Alliance, the Collective Impact Forum, and I get invitations to online and physical events all the time promoting and training people for this. vision Yes, the key is people actively working together for people and planet, in an organised way. I like Stafford Beer's Viable Systems Model for the structure of a bottom-up culture, and also Elinor Ostrom's work on traditional commons and how they work. See also my website, https://earthconnected.net/ and my book, eGaia, Growing a peaceful, sustainable Earth through communications (free eBook version on my website), which I'm sure overlaps massively with your vision. There is a section in it "The Five Billion Year Story", that traces the evolution of life with symbiosis as a primary mechanism and has a chapter on "The Cooperative Ape: the early human story".

What projects and organisations do you see that give you the most hope, that are most aligned to your thinking? If this message resonates with you, perhaps we can have a video chat to meet and share ideas and plans.

Yours in hope, Gary Alexander (garyalexand@gmail.com)

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It's great to meet you here Gary. I checked out your website and read your pamphlet and your work is impressive, much in alignment with what I am sharing. I would love to compare notes with you sometime.

You are right, that there are a myriad of movements -- re-localization, regenerative communities, local living economies, Transition Town, Circular economies, and in the US, Christian back-to-the land movements, and there are the Living Cities Earth network, Bloom Network Earth, SEEDS, Joe Brewer's regenerative communities, and Citizen Action Networks movement, and many more. It would great to hear of others who are working on the level of building bottom-up community-based movements. PLEASE SHARE others here in the comments, with links to them.

I met with Bloom Network Earth today - https://bloomnetwork.earth/ and they are doing wonderful work. Indra Adnan's work with Citizen Action Networks - https://www.thealternative.org.uk/citizens-action-network also stands out as having a solid core and I want to support what they are doing.

My sense is that these co-emergent movements needed time to develop with their own constituencies based on a myriad of different interests, political orientations, and worldviews. These things take their own course. We may be at a time where these seemingly scattered efforts can find very practical points of intersection where they can work practically together with a shared vision -- which at some point may develop into a very healthy global movement based in local communities.

I am holding space for that, being supportive with all of these efforts, rather than myself building my own network or organizations. I am communicating a new CONTEXT that may help these separate efforts come together in very specific ways in a local community.

My personal leaning is a vision of a spiritually-based global commonwealth and it goes back to what I call an Ancient Blueprint. It is a pattern seen through time and reflected in Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, through Mahatma Gandhi's vision of a Commonwealth of Village Republics and Dr. Ari's Sarvodaya movement - https://richardflyer.substack.com/p/sri-lankas-untold-story-of-resilience-35d

My book is a map to this interior realm and a blueprint for weaving community networks without a heavy duty philosophical approach or one laden with ideology. I think people are done with that approach.

People want authentic connection, communities of support, and to be part of what we both call trust networks. It's a very scary buy also an exciting time.

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Just a quick reply for now. I find your reply great! I have taken a first look at Bloom network. Enough to know that I need to spend time going more deeply. My vision has a strong communication side, and they may already have much or all of that. I had heard of Sarvodaya, but at a first look, I share your sense of inspiration. I know Indra Adnan and her CAN. We applied for a €1 million EU prize a few years ago (which we didn't get) and she was one of our partners. My work has not emphasized the spiritual side but what you say resonates strongly with me and I look forward to learning more. I see the emerging vision, not as a new religion (because it is open, learning, questioning, locally varied, not received wisdom) but I think it fills a religion-shaped hole in society. It gives people a sense of being part of a larger whole – a primary identity as part of humanity that in turn is an integral part of the living Earth, and a vision of how to behave/what to do – look after the wellbeing of all people and the natural world.

I think my recent work on an easily understood framework for bottom up communities building on viable systems and commons theory might be of interest to you (but you might already have it all in some form). Perhaps a video chat would be good, if you are interested. Gary

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I am glad that you resonate with re-connecting to the "spiritual" foundation. It is sad that we have to compartmentalized spirituality as if it were a separate department of reality. Shows you how the materialistic worldview has vacuumed out not only religion, but sadly, it's vacuumed out spirituality in its authentic form. I call that "throwing Jesus out with the bathwater!"

The neglect of spirituality in its purest sense (that could include the religious as well as the spiritual but not religious) from efforts to build regenerative communities is a noticeable exclusion and I plan on making that the main foundation. I believe with this broader focus, we can reach more into the mainstream and activate more people.

Yes, let's do a call when it is convenient to you.

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Hi Alexander, I think you make a huge point when you mention that you think this emerging vision fills a religion-shaped hole in society. I remember looking at the cover of TIME magazine in April of 1966: 'Is God Dead?' I remember not being shocked or surprised because the notion was palpable – there were a lot fewer people going to church. My perception/observation is that whether or not one believes in religion, I -- and many others -- have noticed a significant degradation of morals since some time before that time and feel that it is a significant contributor. This notion could maybe be used as an effective selling point for what you and Richard are talking about, at the very least a talking point.

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Good points, Richard. Ideas that needed to incubate inside of silos, are now ready to be liberated to work and weave together. The symbiotic culture is a context, and symbiotic networks a structure for doing this.

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023Liked by Richard Flyer

There are a number of movements around the Nation and the World recognizing and trying to promote these idea, particularly as it seems like a spectrum of challenges and conflicts ascendant in the greater world of late - all of which will require radical cooperation, not extreme competition to overcome.

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Absolutely. It seems like there are many national and global movements that also have a local focus. Symbiotic weaving doesn't create a new separate project or organization. Rather, it seeks to nurture a new CONTEXT, a new role emerging that connects others, in service.

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Awesome Richard! Well done. I’m in!

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Dear Richard, after reading this I thought of the Holomovement and that it might be interesting and of benefit to weave some of your wisdom and my inquiry at your last post at hylo. Here is what I posted:

Dear Richard, it is good to see you here and feel your deeply lived wisdom and insight shared.

I just finished reading your recently updated Substack entry "On Cultural Symbiogenesis - From Single Silos to a Multi-Siloed Network-Centric Civilization" and what (I am understanding that) you point to in terms of how even those with philosophical and spiritual alignment that contain values of inclusivity can be subtly if not explicitly exclusionary and bypass our everyday commonalities and innately intelligent, emergent, generative capacities for "connecting the good" and sharing what you call "Symbiotic Kinship – consciously going beyond our likes and dislikes, inviting “all the Tribes” to work together to create a more beautiful world."

You ask (and answer through your own experience), "Is there a way to evolve beyond the siloed mentality and formal organizational structures and build new community networks that don’t follow the same pattern and themselves become silos?"

".... the Transcendent in action is the essential ingredient and organizing principle for making real structural change in how we organize society." I would like to see us open more actively to the innate creative intelligence of the interocene (a word I might be making up here ;-).

"We left the battlefield of what I call the Culture of Separation and built a whole new community playing field ---- a Culture of Connection where it was irrelevant whether someone shared your politics or religion.

What WAS important was that we shared a Higher common purpose beyond our divisions while creating a new FUNCTIONAL CONTEXT -- a community-based local economy to uplift everyone."

"Are we acting within an old cultural matrix of separation? Are we putting our New Wine into Old Skins (old and obsolete frameworks)?"

You write: "RADICAL CLAIM: Unless we solve the intrinsic “silo problem,” where we do our good work in isolation, we won’t be able to address any of the problems and issues we care about.

Unless we learn to connect across silos in new networked CONTEXTS, we won’t be able to solve any of our big problems because, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, society’s most vexing problems are complex – interconnected and entangled at every scale."

I thought of us at Holomovement when reading that and the following:

"Many of us may rationalize that tribes and silos are so endemic to the human condition that there is no other way than to accept them. So we resign ourselves to the belief that separate silos are the only way we can operate.

Others try to work their way around it by building wonderful networks without realizing that they have built networked silos of only people who think the way they do – and as I’ve discovered in my work, this won’t transform the mainstream.

A networked silo, while a step in the right direction, is really just one more beautiful “silo of siloes” in competition with other networked silos within the Culture of Separation.

Having spoken with hundreds of leaders over the past two years, I can point to more than ten global networks that believe they are building THE global network to bring other networks together. Whether they recognize it or not, they’re all in competition. This is totally understandable in a Culture of Separation.

Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not asking anyone to stop doing their good works inside of silos or bringing together like-minded silos into cooperative networks. The impulse to bring the threads of awakening and functionality together into whole cloth is a necessary step in what’s emerging."

I think that is something we would be wise to ask ourselves here at Holomovement where with all of the best of intentions we are attracting people who share similar world-views through familiar organizational structures. Some of the individual groups here might weave within varied worlds and world-views - yet I wonder how we might do that here in the way we form and structure.

My approach of speaking to the heart wisdom and divine creative intelligence and seeing how effective that is in empowering and calling that forward in people feels in resonance with your approach of what you have been finding in "weaving the threads of Goodness and Good Works already happening in communities, nonprofits, churches, businesses, and local government into a new “whole cloth” power for social transformation – a parallel cultural change movement."

... [I am quoting you all out of order]

"It doesn’t require creating a new project, a separate silo in competition with other beautiful siloes. It's about becoming a space holder for all of these threads of community and weaving a whole cloth movement."

In love, appreciation and dialogue,

Ellen

PS - Incidentally, your mentioning how rapidly your Food Network spread made me think of this last week and what has seemingly miraculously happened in our political scene in the U.S. where some energy got freed up and despite all expectations and trends it feels (in contrast to what was going on moments before) like people from varied silos are suddenly coming together for (what is believed is) their common good and (for the moment) a very positive and joyous momentum is evolving.

https://richardflyer.substack.com/p/on-cultural-…

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Ellen, thank you so much for your comment. I will do my best to reply --

"Dear Richard, it is good to see you here and feel your deeply lived wisdom and insight shared."

Appreciated!

"what (I am understanding that) you point to in terms of how even those with philosophical and spiritual alignment that contain values of inclusivity can be subtly if not explicitly exclusionary and bypass our everyday commonalities and innately intelligent, emergent, generative capacities for "connecting the good" and sharing what you call "Symbiotic Kinship – consciously going beyond our likes and dislikes, inviting “all the Tribes” to work together to create a more beautiful world."

Absolutely, that is the challenge of being in an immerse Matrix of separation

".... the Transcendent in action is the essential ingredient and organizing principle for making real structural change in how we organize society." I would like to see us open more actively to the innate creative intelligence of the interocene (a word I might be making up here ;-).

YES!

"I thought of us at Holomovement when reading that and the following:"

Comment was about how, even when we form beautiful networks of silos, if it is still within the culture of separation, it is still not building the interstitial networks connectivity needed.

So, there is the Holomovement; regeneration movements; civic engagement and bridge building movements; religious, especially Christian movements around Creation Care and community and inter-religious dialogue; movement for Inner Development; localism movements; new economy movements; cooperative movements; spiritual activism movements; and many, many more

"PS - Incidentally, your mentioning how rapidly your Food Network spread made me think of this last week and what has seemingly miraculously happened in our political scene in the U.S. where some energy got freed up and despite all expectations and trends it feels (in contrast to what was going on moments before) like people from varied silos are suddenly coming together for (what is believed is) their common good and (for the moment) a very positive and joyous momentum is evolving."

I am not so sure about that reflecting the new sensibility, as many people on either Left or Right are still seeing the other side as an existential threat. So, they are galvanized around their own network silos within there own politcal narratives.

Symbiotic Culture transcends electoral politics and the two party system in America

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Thank you Richard, for your reply and elucidations.

Of course I fully agree that U.S. political factions are still galvanizing through division and around their own silos and that Symbiotic Culture and the paradigmatic shift that you are inviting “transcends electoral politics and the two-party system in America.”

I am very interested in the evolution of consciousness and I watch how we are learning. What I am sensing is that within one very large silo which includes various political parties they are getting a dramatic taste of how energizing (or deflating) a narrative can be, and the empowering effectiveness of meeting the energy where it is through joy and being an ally to the beloved community. I see individuals and groups uniting for something beyond (yet also inclusive) of themselves and being energized by that. I see various factions of groups that do not agree putting aside their differences. It is at least a taste for now. It may not last beyond the high of going to a large music concert, where everyone loses themselves in the music and the ecstasy of the group field. I am not sure how deeply integrated this learning goes or will lead to causal inquiry, systemic change and transformation. However, I do sense an intelligence behind it. I am not in denial that It is still very much embedded in seeing the other side as an existential threat. But the energetic shift, although coming from years of stuckness seemed to happen overnight. The power of the media and various industrial complexes may pull this back to their unexamined survival settings with all of their influence. I shared this here and

with you because I think there’s elements in the dynamic at play that are not unlike what you talk about with regard to meeting through our common values.

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Mar 26Liked by Richard Flyer

When did you live in Reno? I would be very grateful if you took a look at our website and offered your feedback to our team. Thanks!!!

https://www.regenesisreno.com/aboutus

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Great to hear from you Gordon. I lived in Northern Nevada from 1999 until 2021! I would be happy to check out your website. Let's set up a call sometime to discuss how I can support your work. Do you have a calendar link?

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Nov 11, 2023Liked by Richard Flyer

Let's talk

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Great to see you here. You’re doing awesome work! Feel free to text me at (775) 721-3287

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Great stuff, Richard. Are we readers also single siloed with respect to each other and would benefit from networking. Is that in the works?

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Yes, absolutely. There is a method to my madness! Since I am launching the first two-thirds of my book here on Substack, I wanted to start with grounding "early readers" in some of the overall ideas covered in the book, through poetry, mini essays, video messaging, and at some point live video calls with breakout rooms. It's a process. I want people to get to know and trust me first, and as we build a community, to meet each other, first online, then in face-to-face community. That will take several months.

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Our work at neighborhoodeconomics.org is squarely in line with your vision. Join us February 26-28 in San Antonio

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Kevin, that sounds great. Would love to hear more about your work. I was born in San Antonio!

As I am releasing the first 2/3 of my book here as a weekly serial next month, one of the chapters is on building what we called a region wide neighbor network. It is a way to bring together all of the groups and organizations that care about neighbors (neighborhood watch, churches, charities, businesses, government, etc.) to form a symbiotic network in a whole region that encouraged people on the street level to bring their neighbors together. Local media loves to support things like this.

What started as a weekly gathering once a year that happened on 100 different streets in Reno, NV, turned into an ongoing street level neighbor connectors project with thousands participating. Here is a link from Parade Magazine about many efforts, including ours.

https://parade.com/48456/peterlovenheim/02-meet-the-neighbors/

We had built a short how to guide for a neighbor on a given street showing them how to start with a potluck and invite their nearby neighbors from the surrounding twenty homes. They became neighbor connectors and got involved in ongoing mutual aid, sharing backyard produce, helping each other on an ongoing issues.

It was a way to make literal, what Jesus taught in the Sermon in the Mount --- Love God and Love your neighbor.

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Im traveling this coming week. Let’s talk the week after kevindoylejones1@gmail.com. Parade. Wow haven’t seen that in a while. Looks like great work. I know the woman who was running the community foundation in reno. Did you work with them?

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Sounds great. Let's get in touch. The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada was led by Chris Askin during that time. Yes, they were supportive.

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