Premium Members Get 10% Off and Earn Rewards Find Out More

How Soon is Now: From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation

Add to Wishlist

How Soon is Now: From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation

eBook

$10.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

eBook
$10.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps.

WANT A NOOK? Explore Now

Buy As Gift

Related collections and offers

Overview

We are on the brink of an ecological mega-crisis threatening the future of life on earth and our actions over the next few years may well determine the destiny of our descendants. Between a manifesto and a tactical plan of action, How Soon is Now? by radical futurist and philosopher Daniel Pinchbeck outlines a vision for a mass social movement that will address this crisis.

Drawing on a huge range of resources and references Daniel Pinchbeck presents a compelling argument for the need for change on a global basis – it is only when we see ourselves as one planetary tribe that this change can occur. The central thesis is that humanity has self-willed the ecological crisis in order to bring about the necessary conditions for transcendence of our current state of being, by undergoing an initiatory ordeal on a planetary scale.

This collective ordeal is necessary for us to evolve from one state of being – our current level of consciousness – to the next. By passing through this initiation we realize ourselves as one unified being, a planetary super-organism in a symbiotic relationship with the Earth's ecology and the entire web of life. Covering everything from energy and agriculture, to culture, politics, media and ideology, Pinchbeck's book is ultimately about the nature of the human soul and the future of our current world. He calls for an intentional and consciously designed metamorphosis of our current systems, which transform capitalist and exclusive structures into participatory, democratic, and inclusive ones, based on an integration of Eastern metaphysics, social ecology, and radical political thought. "How Soon is Now? gives us the context we need to understand the chaos and turbulence of our times." – Sting

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786780362
Publisher:	Watkins Media
Publication date:	02/21/2017
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
File size:	477 KB

About the Author

Daniel Pinchbeck is the author of Breaking Open the Head (Broadway Books, 2002),2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl (Tarcher/Penguin, 2006), and Notes from the Edge Times(Tarcher/Penguin, 2010). He is the founder of the think tank, Center for Planetary Culture which produced the Regenerative Society Wiki and his essays and articles have been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Rolling Stone, ArtForum, The New York Times Book Review, The Village Voice, Dazed and Confused and many other publications. In 2007, Daniel launched the web magazine Reality Sandwich and co-founded Evolver.net. Evolver currently includes Evolver Learning Labs, a webinar platform, and The Alchemist's Kitchen, for online retail. Daniel also edited the publishing imprint, Evolver Editions with North Atlantic Books. He is featured in the 2010 documentary, 2012: Time for Change directed by Joao Amorim and produced by Mangusta Films. He hosted the talk show, Mindshift.net, for GaiamTV.

Acknowledgements vii

Preface by Sting ix

Introduction Russell Brand xi

Part 1 Planetary initiation

1 Burning Down the House 3

Revolution for the Hell of It 4

System Change 8

Climate Chaos 10

Sandy 11

Riding High 12

The Day of the Dead 14

What Happens Next? 17

Psi 20

Prophecy 21

Rebellion and the Sacred 24

2 Ecstatic Contact with the Cosmos 28

A Collective Rite of Passage 31

The Prefrontal Cortex 33

My Journey 34

Biocentrism 38

Sex and Drugs 39

Global Reboot 41

Competition to Cooperation 44

The Noosphere 45

Part 2 Hard Limits

3 Earth Changes 49

Dread or Detachment? 51

Planetary Boundaries 55

Biodiversity 57

Global Warming 58

Feedback Loops 60

Arctic Methane 62

Who Do We Blame? 63

Nitrogen 69

Land Use 69

Fresh Water 70

Ocean Acidification 72

Environmental Toxins 72

Aerosol Pollution 73

What Do We Do? 75

Part 3 Regenerative Solutions

4 Energy 79

How Do We Transition? 81

Deep Decarbonization 84

The Solar Singularity 86

The Internet of Energy 88

Algae-based Fuel 89

Nuclear Power 91

Cold Fusion, Zero Point 93

Making the Energy Transition 94

5 Farming 97

Meat 99

What Can We Do? 102

High-and Low-tech Innovation 103

Genetic Engineering 107

Transforming the Food System 111

6 Industry 112

Corporations 112

Innovation or Transformation? 116

The Story of Stuff 118

What Do We Do? 120

Inventing the Future 122

Eco-cities 124

Water and Waste 125

Industrial Design and Aesthetics 126

Summing Up 128

Part 4 God, Love and Revolution

7 Mythology 133

The Elder Brother 137

The Spiritual Worlds 139

The Cosmic Illusion 143

Technology Is Consciousness 148

8 Love 152

Sexuality Is a Superpower 154

Sex at Dawn 158

Eros Unredeemed 161

A Healing Biotope 162

Communion 166

9 Rebellion 168

Occupy 170

Reform or Revolution? 172

Democracy and Anarchy 175

Spontaneous Evolution 179

Occult Conspiracy 182

Pronola 184

10 Revolution 187

The Promise of Politics 190

Crisis is Opportunity 194

Revolution 2.0 196

The Venus Project 200

Permanent Revolution 201

Manufactured Mind 204

Part 5 Post-Capitalism: Property, Money and Power

11 Possession Trance 211

The Problem with Property 212

What Do We Do? 215

Stewardship and Usufruct 217

12 The Money Problem 219

What's Wrong with Money? 219

Masters of the Universe 221

Money is a Design Problem 222

Reformist Approaches 223

Systemic Change 227

What's After Money? 232

13 Power and Leadership 236

Wisdom Revolution 237

Revolt of the Masses 238

Two Forms of Power 241

Liquid Democracy 243

Epilogue Conclusion and Action Plan

Conclusion What Do We Do Now? 247

Unify 251

Social Networks 253

Ecological Conversion 257

We Are the Super-organism 257

Festival Earth 258

The Outer Reaches of Inner Space 260

Editorial Reviews

12/12/2016
In this radical call to consciousness, Pinchbeck (2012: The Return of Quezalcoatl) claims that Western culture is rushing towards global catastrophe and human extinction because we no longer have the experience of rites of passage. He lays out in detail how our quest to continuously acquire has led to the dire realities of climate change, and asserts that rapid, fundamental change to human culture is not only possible but essential. While acknowledging the benefits of computer technology and reduction of environmental impact, he also makes reference to various futurists, philosophers, and his own experience with psychedelic drugs, arguing that we need a deeper change to our nature that honors Eastern wisdom, local production, the reality of occult forces, and radical democracy. At times, Pinchbeck’s urgency devolves into rambling, and he often concludes with prophetic and universal assertions plucked from his very particular experiences. A brief conclusion suggests some concrete actions, but the whole work remains utopian and frustratingly vague on how to implement the leaps he calls for. Though the book succeeds in presenting the imperiled state of humankind, Pinchbeck’s proposed future collapses to incoherence amid his alarming conviction of his own correctness. Agent: Bill Gladstone, Waterside Productions. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

'It speaks to something I often say our culture sorely lacks: Rites of passage.' - Neil Strauss

‘How Soon is Now? gives us the context we need to understand the chaos and turbulence of our times.’ – Sting

'A blueprint for the future' - Russell Brand

'Daniel Pinchbeck's HOW SOON IS NOW? is a powerful exploration of our need for a massive upgrade of collective consciousness if we are to address the inconsistencies and pathologies that afflict the modern world. While we have seen massive progress, we have also seen moral failures... and our unwillingness to question preexisting dogma might cost us dearly. Daniel's book offers a startling call to action!' - Jason Silva, artist, filmmaker and futurist

‘Here we are, humanity, caught in the moment between devolution and conscious evolution by choice, not chance. Daniel Pinchbeck's new book takes us to this exact inflection point and reveals in remarkable clarity and brilliance, We Do Know What To Do, in almost every field from spiritual to social to environmental innovations arising everywhere.’ – Barbara Marx Hubbard, author, Conscious Evolution

‘Daniel Pinchbeck has emerged as a rational and clear voice of hope for a new post-capitalist future, offering alternatives to hack democracy for a better society.’ – Jefferson Hack, CEO and Founder, Dazed & Confused

‘I recommend this book to anyone who is trying to make sense of climate change within a bigger picture that includes the evolution of civilization and consciousness.’ – Charles Eisenstein, author, Sacred Economics

‘How Soon Is Now offers a spiritually driven approach to global economic and ecological crisis… With dangerous and admirable honesty, Pinchbeck tests his deepest held assumptions and judges his life choices in a crucible of self-doubt. It's at once an initiation for himself, and an invitation for us to ask these same sorts of questions of ourselves as individuals and a society.’ – Doug Rushkoff, author, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus

'Provides deep insight into the essential issues of our time ... could spark the revolution of consciousness that is the revolution not just of thinking, but of acting.’ - Ervin Laszlo, Bestselling Author and Philosopher

'Daniel Pinchbeck’s life is the hero’s journey. Like Homer’s Odyssey, How Soon Is Now is a song of redemption for a world torn apart by the monsters of our own creation. We’ve dreamed a world that is consuming itself into extinction. Pinchbeck offers us a new dream and in doing so takes us on a powerful, magical voyage into balance and sanity.' - John Perkins, New York Times Bestselling Author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman

'With his new work Daniel Pinchbeck is proposing systemic solutions to the ecological crisis looming over us, requiring a drastic shift in lifestyle and new levels of global cooperation. Whether or not you agree with all of his conclusions, How Soon Is Now? will challenge most conventionally held assumptions about the global environment.' - Moby

From the Publisher

How Soon is Now: From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation

How Soon is Now: From Personal Initiation to Global Transformation

eBook

eBook

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews