Staking Out Higher Ground: A Post-Progressive Perspective

This summer, amid the crushing blows of the pandemic and the fires of uprising over perpetual injustice, a bright light of affirmation came my way. My friend and colleague Steve McIntosh and the board of the Institute for Cultural Evolution elected me as a Senior Fellow. Steve’s latest book, Developmental Politics, was mentioned by Jewel in her last post, “The Energy of Values.”

In light of the election results and the urgent need for visionary leadership, we agree with Steve’s statement to the nation regarding an imperative post-progressive perspective and leadership direction.

Staking Out Higher Ground by Steve McIntosh

It looks like Joe Biden has won the election. Yet America remains bitterly divided. Biden has pledged to be a unifier, but restoring the minimum social solidarity necessary for a functional democracy will be a daunting challenge. It now seems as though there’s little common ground left. So rather than searching for common ground, Biden needs to help America find authentically higher ground.

The higher ground we need can be found in an inclusive synthesis we’re calling “post-progressivism”—an emerging political perspective that transcends and includes progressivism with “something higher.” This post-progressive perspective is described at a “rational level” at this link. However, at this moment our national reconciliation needs to begin at a more emotional level. We therefore offer the following “plea” to our fellow Americans:

Staking Out Higher Ground

Dear Fellow Americans,

Let us take care of our country in her hour of need
May our grievances reflect our gratitude
May our challenges express our support
And may our pride and shame be mutually correcting

We feel the pain and alienation of Americans who remain marginalized and excluded
While we affirm the unprecedented opportunity and prosperity that American society continues to provide

We accept our obligation to atone for the misdeeds of America’s history
While we affirm the abundant ways that America makes the world a better place

We recognize the need for environmental sustainability and the preservation of nature
While we affirm the essential morality and ongoing necessity of a prosperous global economy

We revere our heritage and declare our loyalty to the best of who and what has come before
While we remain unsatisfied with the world as it is and affirm the need to keep improving

We honor the enduring values of all three American cultures—traditional, modern, and progressive
While we acknowledge that each of these cultures includes pathologies we must overcome

Our society is growing

So let us advance a politics of mutual respect in which everyone of good faith is welcome
Let us renew our nation’s political life through a new era of cooperation and kindness
Let us cherish our liberties and defend our nation’s integrity
And let us affirm that our winding way to a more evolved culture is a journey worth making

This poetic plea for staking out higher ground can be shared at this link.