#3 Cosmolocalism, Civilisation History, and being 'Twice Born' (with Michel Bauwens)
Are the institutions of our world fundamentally misaligned with addressing global crises, from war to ecology? Could it be that the design of the institutions is why we even have these crises in the first place?
Michel Bauwens writes:
“Corporations and states are competitive entities, geared towards extraction to serve the relative strength of their owners and citizens. These institutions are problematic by themselves, in an age facing a planetary meta-crisis.”
In an interconnected living system, where is the ‘external’ to outsource to?
Australian Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta on civilisation:
“civilisation is an outsourcing of entropy…rivalrous competition that destroys the commons…that always ends up being a self-terminating algorithm.”
What are the alternatives to States and Markets?
'Cosmolocal' is an emerging framework to help conceptualise and organise in ways that encourage global solidarity and identity while maintaining deep and meaningful local connections and ties. Cosmolocal is centered around protecting and enhancing the commons, a paradigm shift from the extractive logic of capitalist markets. It is a framework that captures ancient wisdom and practises in a 21st century digital context.
In a two-part conversation, I speak to Michel Bauwens, founder and director of the P2P Foundation, and person who has spent decades studying these questions. He is also one of the early proponents and conceptualiser of cosmolocalism and co-author of the Cosmolocal Reader book. Post-Covid, Michel Bauwens is doing 'civilizational transition' research for the Civilization Research Institute, and functions as research coordinator for the Global Chinese Commons, a crypto-nomadic community. Over the decades he has founded companies and directed documentary films on Transhumanism. Ken Wilbur was a mentor to him although the severed ties a few decades ago during a period of great turmoil and suffering leading him to being 'twice born' which he candidly shares with us in part 2.
I sat down for a conversation with Michel on cosmolocalism. To get there and fully appreciate this vision, Michel takes us on a civilisation history perspective on our world, and explains why he believes we are in a period of major transition.
Part 1 - Cosmolocalism & Civilisation History
Themes Covered:
• Michel’s civilization history perspective of our world today and why we might be living through a moment of transition and the birth of new commons-centric institutions.
• A cosmo-local view of the world with institutions that are neither market- nor state-centric, but commons-centric.
• How Open Source Software and Technology are creating the conditions for the return of the commons and the creation of new institutions outside of the market and state.
Part 2 - Cosmolocalism, Crypto, Being 'Twice Born'
Themes Covered:
- Historical perspective on how belief systems and worldviews interplay with civilisation-level system transitions.
- Crypto as a social elite in the creation of new open infrastructure and institutions.
- a Cosmolocal view on how crypto can play a role in the pulsation of the commons.
- [43:00] Michel's personal journey: a difficult childhood growing up in Belgium, becoming a revolutionary Marxist in early adulthood, living in Osho's Rajneeshpuram, inspired to create as an entrepreneur & documentary film maker, going through major life crises and being 'twice-born', setting up P2P Foundation and interest in civilisation history.
Connect with Michel Bauwens:
• Substack: 4th Generation Civilization
• X (formerly Twitter): @mbauwens
• P2P Foundation: P2P Foundation Wiki
The music for the podcast is produced by me using a combination of Bandlab and original recording of a Hapi drum (a type of tongue drum) played be me.
