These two short examples are illustrative before we go to 2018 and the diverging/converging realities.

How would a monkey tell a fish what it is like to climb a tree? For the monkey it is difficult to explain. For the fish problematic to understand. They both live in different worlds. The fish and monkey excel in their own living environment, context and behavior yet can hardly imaging each other’s world because it does not belong to their daily reality. They would even deny each other’s existance.

Then there is the inspirating story of the flatlanders. These are imaginary beings that live in a two dimensional world. In their world there is no up or down, just forward and backward, left and right. How do you explain these flatlanders about the existance of the third dimension in which we can deal with depth and height too? That within these 3D we can find endless amounts of 2D worlds that run parallel and even could cross each other? And that these worlds have no idea about each other’s existance. Each of these flatlanders would also be capable of denying the existance of the other ones.

When we talk about Sustainocracy as societal alternative we also find such perceptions at human level. Sustainocracy is a different reality than what we have been used to for generations and were educated into. Just watch these 10 minutes of James Wildman showing us how we fool ourselves:

Sustainocracy is also a new dimension that has been added to our society. That is new and difficult to understand. It does not require much explanation for those who have made the step already. For those who encounter the ideology and practical reality for the first time, they tend to stay in their old patterns of reasoning. They mirror Sustainocracy against their own known and accustomed way of living. That does not work. Just like a fish will never climb a tree if it keeps swimming in the water.

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On the other hand why would an ape want to convince a fish? Or should the 2D world want to understand the 3D reality? That indeed is not at all necessary. Unless one can get clear benefits from the cross over. That is one of the reasons why new realities such as Sustainocracy came about. The current (old) human reality is destroying our habitat, including our relationships among each other and our environment. The consciousness that develops involves “it needs to be done differently”. This is already a step into the direction of a new dimension of connectedness and behavioral adjustment.

The advantage of any human being is our capacity to evolve in awareness (understanding new things) in which new dimensions become visible and challenge our behavior and lifestyle. In essence we can evolve from swimming into climbing trees and learn to manage both. We are also capable of reasoning in 2 and 3 dimensions while opening up our personal and collective evolution towards 4 and 5D consciousness. The human being has unprecedented evolutionary possibilies even during a single lifetime. This also means that certain people advance in this sooner or deeper than others.

That is how the situation arises in which different realities start to appear, diverge and mingle, colliding or strengthing each other. That does not only go for the individual but also for institutions, governance and business enterprises. In 2018 new dimensions and realities manifest themselves structurally (not ad hoc anymore) as optional next to the old one.

In Sustainocracy we position “the human being” and our core natural values at the kernel of our thinking and dealing with reality. It is all about the wellness we create together, our continuity and evolution as a species. Then suddenly different rules count than the current political and economically geared situation that made us dependent of a costly hierarchical structure. For many only this single reality exists because of their dependence on it. “It is as it is”, people state with apathy. With this attitude they reason about everything as soccer player that wants to play basketball by using only soccer rules. That cannot be done of course. It is not as it is, it is the way we interpret our reality and act accordingly. Big challenges such as pollution, deforestation, destruction of life on Earth, inequality, climate change, illnesses, etc get us to think differently. To that understanding belongs new models and behavioral patterns.

2018 stands for new societal structures that at first function next to eachother with engagement of three groups of people and institutions:

  • Those that hold on to the political economic reality and their own fragmented role in it,
  • Those that structurally engage with level 4 participation (like Sustainocracy), reasoning and dealing from a holistic approach and symbiosis,
  • Those that get stuck between the two realities.

This situation we will also encounter during the city council elections in 2018 in which core human values and cocreation have penetrated the political agenda too. An example is the Brabant Health Deal.

More and more citizens group together to take responsibility for their environment and quality of life, looking for partnerships in equality and purpose with the local policy makers. Also the political economic hierarchy has no other choice than to engage in order to avoid liabilities that can be connected to the old governance model. The new reality hence gains momentum.

Still there will be regions in which so called Trump effects can occur due to the conservative capitalists that see their position weaken. The effects are being analyzed by Otto Scharmer (Theory-U) in his recent blog. He sees it all as a prelude needed for the awareness boost that precedes change.

Anyhow, and concluding, the new realities manifest themselves, show what they are about and win engagement through self aware citizens, governors, innovative entrepreneurs and institutions. This gives both tensions and positive flows. But in 2018 for the first time they will stand side by side and fight their differences in an evolutionary battle for our sustainable future. Nature itself will add to it too assuring that it will be another challenging year full of threats and opportunities. How we deal with this duality will determine our own flow.

I myself made my choice already over 20 years ago as a person. In 2009 STIR Foundation was created to host the engagement of people and institutions that wanted to shape the core human values through innovation. And since 2012 it has its own name, framework and common denomination under Sustainocracy, which expresses itself through level 4 movements such as AiREAS, FRE2SH, COS3I and School of Talents in Eindhoven, Brabant, Netherlands, Europe and the entire world. In view of this evolution 2018 will be for me individually and collectively at the side of Sustainocracy, a wonderful year.