See Zimmerman's integral review
of the Encyclical. One of his complaints is that it is not
integral because it doesn't delineate phases of cultural evolution.
True if by that we mean in the way that developmental psychology
does. But the latter is not necessary to exemplify the phases, i.e.,
it doesn't have to be framed in developmental language to be
integral. E.g., Zimmerman admits that “although the Encyclical
includes certain elements of this view of cultural development, those
elements are not woven into a coherent thread, nor are they
foregrounded.” This is such a red herring and straw argument that I
find it hard to believe anyone still accepts it in the integral
community. The actual elements of such development are even quoted by
Zimmerman in plain sight and meaning. Just invoking a developmental
paradigm is not in the least necessary for anything, including the
Encyclical, to exemplify such levels. Integralists really need to get
off this kick and realize it's partly motivated by their own need to
control debate, elevate their own status, and sell their integral
modeling products. All manifestations, by the way, of the sort of
modern capitalism the Pope criticizes, and which many integralists
unconsciously accept.
As to the last statement, Zimmerman
notes that the Pope's presentation displays postmodern values but we
must also find a way to include the “values that are central to
contemporary modernity, including individual liberty, democratic
politics, market economics with a social safety net, and desire for
ever-expanding knowledge, power, wealth, and comfort.” The Pope
certainly includes some of those things. Democratic politics is
indeed included with reference to how to do markets, i.e.
democratically with safety nets. The Pope is only against markets
done from a dysfunctional capitalism that is not in the least
democratic and could give a shit about the health, wealth or safety
of its citizens. But Zimmerman reveals in this statement some of the
aforementioned modern and dysfunctional capitalistic assumptions like
ever-expanding power and wealth. These are not only not necessary to
postmodern and integral levels of development but actually prevent
its emergence, being on the dissociation side of Wilber's 'transcend
and dissociate' metaphor.
The problem arises because Zimmerman
confuses basic with transitional structures (e.g. see this Ning IPS
thread). Yes, we include the healthy elements of previous
structures, but the worldviews are themselves transcended and
replaced. We discussed this in the FB IPS thread on anti-capitalism
discussing Stein's anti-capitalist manifesto. As noted above the
Pope certainly provides examples of how to incorporate said elements
of pre-modernity, modernity and post-modernity into an ecologically
spiritual framework that nonetheless transcends and replaces those
previous worldviews. This is indeed a developmentally integral
ecological view that has no need of kennilingus hubris, since the
Pope isn't selling it for profit. This is a P2P gift shared in true
Commons style indicative of the actual emerging next phase in our
cultural development.
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