As I was watching The Late Show with my wife, the topic of the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie divorce came up on the show. I realized that this is a traumatic event for many people. Then I wondered why. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that people longed for this to be a…
Recently, a prominent architect informed me that he is an ally of ours. I expect that he will in future help to guide us as we organize teams of people to build the first Celebration Society, either in simulation (as I have proposed) or in physical form. I also expect that he will eventually blog…
I’ve always viewed a Celebration Society as a collaborative process. After all, if people don’t collaborate in its creation, how will they feel any sense of ownership? When I wrote the book, it was basically the pulling together of a lot of different ideas from a lot of different people. I didn’t really create very…
As my wife recently pointed out, there is a particular error to which meritocracies are prone. While they start out with clear principles favoring merit as the basis for advancement in society, inevitably some of those in exalted positions come to believe themselves inherently superior, rather than superior by virtue of past merit. This fall…
Some critics of a Celebration Society believe that everyone should be a Citizen. In my view, that diminishes the importance of the title and office. In modern democracies, citizenship is a birthright. As such, its powers and responsibilities often remain little known or taken for granted. While a society can force people to learn these–and,…
I am an admirer of Peter Diamandis. He and Steven Kotler have been largely responsible for shifting the planetary conversation from endless doom and gloom within a context of scarcity to the possibility of sustainable abundance. For the book Abundance and his related work, I believe we all owe him a large debt. Peter is…
Meat consumption is a problem is many ways. A substitute for industrial “farming” of animals is needed. This could take the form of vegetable “meats” (more on this below) or a 21st century alternative to industrialized animal “husbandry”. We will, in future, grow meat in vats in a factory-type environment without the involvement of any…
While some believe that money is necessary to motivate behavior, this is false. Significant organizations exist that operate on the basis of voluntary, mutually supportive service. That service is unpaid, and can be highly effective. One prominent example is Toastmasters. Toastmasters was founded in 1924 —almost a century ago. It has grown from nothing to…
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.” ~Winston Churchill With all due respect to Churchill, that’s not quite correct. Democracy may be better than other present day systems, but a system once existed that led its people to world naval dominance, a culture that remains greatly…
(I have touched upon this topic in another blog and in the book. I regard it as more important than I have previously been able to do justice, and indeed beyond what I am capable of doing now. This is a topic that we will have experts advising, so the initial residents/founders have as complete…