Member Reviews
I found this a really interesting and convincing opinion piece. Most of what Wilber discusses aligns with my own beliefs, so it was a little case of preaching to the choir - but still, I took a lot away from it.
Wilber attempts to explain the election of Trump, and the current notion of "truth" and "post-truth" in the world today using his own integral theories. I had no prior knowledge of his work on Integral Theory and the four quadrants, but this book was written in a way that made it easy to pick up quickly.
He explains the divide between liberals (or, specifically, Democrats) into two leading categories that conflict with one another and fail to provide a platform on which America can move forward. There are the traditional "orange" liberals who put emphasis on the importance of freedom above all else, and the emerging modern "green" liberals concerned with equality and all acts of oppression. In other words, what one might refer to as SJWs.
This is something I feel quite strongly about, though I rarely have time to write politics essays these days. I, too, am concerned with this kind of radical liberalism (indeed, radical anything usually comes dangerously close to mirroring the opposite).
Wilber talks about an issue that I've seen a lot in the media since the election of Trump - the way in which white, rural, uneducated people have been dismissed and looked down upon by an elitist liberalism. It is interesting how liberals often participate in forms of aggressive conservatism - such as classism - in order to enforce their worldview. The result, of course, is that Trump won the election.
Wilber makes a lot of great points, even if I think he sometimes a) oversimplifies issues and b) overuses phrases like "aperspectival madness". I especially enjoyed reading his theory on the different stages of human worldview development and the way we progress from focusing on the self, to the group, to a more universal outlook.