Building the Future Now

Tag: life

  • Putting Critical Spirituality to Work in the World

    Introduction

    In the last essay, we explored developing our inner selves as the first bulwark against AI disruption. But inner work alone is not enough. We must put that into action in the world around us–in our relationships, our communities, our institutions, and society as a whole. Our everyday actions and behaviors do not remain isolated. Instead, they accumulate socially and help shape the larger systems of which we are part.

    By rebuilding our communities and strengthening our social fabric, by being involved in the lives of the less fortunate, and by working to address the issues that concern us most, we begin laying the foundation to confront the larger challenges ahead.

    Right now, society is too fractured, divided, distracted, and saturated with misinformation to effectively respond to issues such as environmental degradation, the enormous energy and water demands of AI infrastructure, the threat of mass unemployment, climate change, nuclear escalation, or future pandemics. We cannot meaningfully address these problems without stronger human relationships and healthier communities.

    And if we truly believe that some combination of these threats could place humanity itself at risk, then we should act accordingly.  It is not a question of who is going to go first. If you were in a house that was on fire, you would not stand still waiting to see whether others noticed the flames before deciding to move. You would sound the alarm and begin helping people toward safety. In much the same way, if we genuinely believe our civilization faces profound dangers, then our responsibility is to begin acting now regardless of what others are doing. And perhaps, by acting, speaking, organizing, and building differently, we may encourage others to do the same.

    (Re)Building Community

    In modern society, many of the social bonds that once held communities together have steadily eroded, especially over the last half century. As we work to build healthier communities, we are also rebuilding many of the things people increasingly feel are missing from modern life: trust, belonging, mutual support, resilience, shared meaning, and a greater sense of security and connection.

    One of the most important actions we can take is putting time and effort into our relationships with family and friends. This means being an active listener, showing up for important moments, being present for the good times and the bad. These actions may seem basic, but they form the foundation of strong social ties and deeply influence the people around us.

    Beyond our immediate relationships, there are many ways we can help rebuild the social fabric of our communities. This can include hosting dinners, organizing discussion groups or book clubs, sponsoring neighborhood events, mentoring young people, helping create cooperative enterprises, supporting local art and music scenes, or simply creating spaces where people can gather and genuinely connect with one another.

    Strong communities help reduce loneliness and alienation, foster accountability and mutual care, and weaken the insecurity and tribalism that increasingly dominate modern society. They create support networks that make people and communities more resilient during periods of disruption and instability. Ultimately, healthy communities form the foundation upon which stable and humane societies are built. It is worth the time and effort to get this part right.

    Caring for the Vulnerable

    Another way we can participate in building a better future is by helping lift up vulnerable people within our communities. This not only reconnects us with others–both the people being helped and those doing the helping–but also becomes a way of repairing some of the damage caused by an increasingly fragmented and unequal society. Many of the struggles people face today are deeply interconnected. Addiction, trauma, loneliness, family dysfunction, poverty, and mental illness often reinforce one another rather than existing in isolation.

    There are many different people who need care, support, and human connection: the elderly, the poor, the lonely, the imprisoned, the homeless, the addicted, the mentally ill, people with estranged families, struggling single parents, and many others.  These are people, often with difficult history and circumstances. Understanding and connecting with vulnerable people is important not only because it helps them, but because it helps restore the sense of shared humanity that our increasingly fragmented societies seems to have lost at times.

    This kind of work can take many forms: spending time with isolated elderly people, mentoring young people, supporting addiction recovery, helping struggling families, volunteering in prisons or shelters, or simply being present for people who feel abandoned and unseen. Importantly, this work does not only change the people being helped. It changes us as well. It deepens empathy, emotional awareness, humility, and our understanding of the interconnectedness of human suffering.

    If the future is increasingly shaped by technological systems, then the moral condition of the civilization building those systems matters enormously. A society that abandons vulnerable people, normalizes isolation, and treats human beings as disposable when they no longer fit neatly within the economic system may ultimately reproduce those same values within its institutions and technologies. But a society grounded in compassion, dignity, and mutual care may create something very different.

    Taking Meaningful Action

    One of the most important ways we can push back against helplessness and fragmentation is by directly involving ourselves in meaningful forms of social action. A positive aspect of getting involved is that it helps break us out of the disconnectedness of modern life. It pulls us away, at least in part, from the endless cycle of screens, algorithms, outrage, and passive consumption, and reconnects us with other people and the world around us. Instead of simply drifting anxiously into the future, we begin actively participating in shaping the kind of future we hope to see.

    There are many issues that need people willing to lend a hand: climate work, prison reform and prisoner outreach, food programs, addiction recovery, local organizing, youth mentoring, ecological restoration, elderly care, and the building of mutual aid networks, among many others. The important thing is not that everyone works on the same issue, but that people become engaged somewhere in meaningful ways.

    Many of us may not find deep purpose or fulfillment within our jobs alone, especially within an economic system that often leaves people feeling disconnected from meaningful forms of contribution. But outside of work, we still have the ability to direct our energy toward causes and communities that matter to us. In doing so, we not only help improve the world around us, but also begin reclaiming a sense of agency, connection, and shared responsibility that modern life increasingly erodes.

    Conclusion

    In this essay, I have focused on what we can do as individuals. This is not because I believe the full responsibility rests on ordinary people, but because this is how I have personally learned to deal with my own apocalyptic anxiety.  There needs to be larger systemic change, and ultimately the owners of AI need to be humanity as a whole instead of a few wealthy elites, corporations, and national governments. There ultimately needs to be larger systemic change, and I believe that increasingly powerful technologies like AI should ultimately be governed for the benefit of humanity as a whole rather than controlled by a small number of wealthy elites, corporations, or national governments. But meaningful systemic change rarely emerges out of nowhere. It requires groundwork. It requires relationships, trust, shared understanding, and communities capable of acting together.

    By rebuilding relationships and communities, we begin breaking through the individualistic shell that the digital age has increasingly placed around us. We create spaces where people can talk openly, think together, and resist the distorted and emotionally manipulative information environments created by modern media and social media algorithms. Strong communities make it easier to overcome misinformation, fear, tribalism, and isolation because they reconnect people through direct human relationships rather than purely digital ones.

    Rebuilding community also helps prepare us for some of the immediate disruptions that AI and other technological transformations may bring. Mass unemployment, for example, may eventually require large-scale wealth redistribution, forms of Universal Basic Income, stronger mutual aid systems, and more localized economies capable of supporting people outside mainstream economic structures. There are also major environmental concerns surrounding AI infrastructure itself, including enormous energy demands and water usage that are often pushed onto communities that are poorly equipped to resist exploitation or advocate for their own well-being.

    If we remain fractured, isolated, distracted, and emotionally disconnected from one another, addressing these challenges will become extraordinarily difficult. But if we can rebuild stronger communities grounded in trust, compassion, and shared responsibility, then we may still be capable of shaping a more humane future together.

    ____________________________________________

    This essay develops themes explored more fully in my recently published book, The Last Apocalypse: Consciousness, Revelation, and the Future of Humanity.

    Buy my book here

  • What Can We Do About Apocalyptic Anxiety?

    In a previous essay, we examined why it feels like the world is coming to an end. The central point was that while there are serious issues we must confront, we still have time to act.

    Part of the reason I approach apocalyptic anxiety the way I do comes from my work in construction. I’m a foreman for a construction company with seven other employes, we specialize in the renovation of historic commercial spaces. Each project entails its own unique challenges, both big and small. For example, in the project I’m working on right now, there is a structural wall that runs down the middle of a two-story building. We realized that the wall had become unsound over the years and we needed to replace it.

    This was an issue. It wasn’t a barrier. It was a challenge to overcome. That’s the way I have to look at every issue that comes up in a project.

    That’s why I approach the issue of apocalyptic anxiety the way in which I do. I feel it is a subject that many people do not want to address, so sometimes I feel like I’m bringing up something that shouldn’t be brought up.

    But if we truly believe the stakes are this high, then the question isn’t whether others are comfortable talking about it. It’s not about if other people are taking action. It’s whether we are. When the possibility on the table is self-destruction, waiting for broad awareness is a risk we can’t afford. At some point, individual recognition has to give way to action.

    This brings us to the question: What can we do about apocalyptic anxiety?

    My answer is relatively simple: we build a better future that is informed by what I call critical spirituality.

    Critical Spirituality

    We live in a world largely shaped by material concerns both at the surface level and at the level of our underlying worldview. The accumulation of things often drives our lives, and these things can come to define how we see ourselves and how others see us. At a deeper level, scientific thought plays a central role in shaping modern society. While enormously powerful, it is primarily concerned with the material world: the things that can be observed, measured, and tested.

    At the same time, fewer people in the developed world identify with organized religion. The result is a cultural environment in which there is often little room for spirituality. And yet, I believe that ancient wisdom traditions still have an important role to play. They offer insights into meaning, purpose, and human experience that can help us navigate the challenges of our time.

    We don’t have to accept these traditions uncritically. Instead, we can approach them with care and rigor. They are best understood by examining them in their historical and cultural contexts, and understanding how they developed and changed over time. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Buddhism, and many indigenous traditions all offer perspectives worth engaging.

    The goal is not to retreat from the modern world, but to develop our inner lives alongside it. We should cultivate depth, awareness, and a more complete understanding of what it means to be human. If we are to become the builders of a better future, if we are to avert potential catastrophe. then we need a solid foundation. Critical spirituality is an attempt to draw on deep traditions of wisdom while applying them thoughtfully to the realities we face today.

    Putting It into Practice

    Critical spirituality is not just a way of thinking, it is something that has to be lived. It takes shape at three interconnected levels: the individual, the community, and society as a whole.

    Individual
    It begins with our everyday actions: how we treat the people around us, how we respond to stress and uncertainty, and whether we choose compassion over reaction. Small choices matter. Cultivating awareness, patience, and empathy in daily life is the foundation of any meaningful change.

    Community
    From there, it extends into the communities of which we are part, such as our families, workplaces, and local networks. Critical spirituality calls us to engage more intentionally, to listen, to contribute, and to help create spaces where people can connect in more meaningful ways. Real change rarely happens in isolation; it grows through relationships.

    Societal
    At the broader level, these patterns can scale. Individual actions shape communities, and communities shape society. What begins as small, local efforts can grow into larger movements over time. While no single person can solve global problems alone, collective action, grounded in thoughtful and ethical engagement, can shift the direction of the systems we live within.

    Conclusion

    It can be difficult in our modern world to find time for reflection—for meditation, reading, contemplation, and taking a more active role in our communities. But this is what it will take to build a future that does not end in collapse. That future is not going to emerge on its own…it must be built through our everyday actions. This will require effort, intention, and a willingness to act even in small ways.

    In future essays, I will explore how, in the face of specific challenges such as AI, global instability, and climate change, spiritually informed action can help guide meaningful responses.