Introduction by Steve Brett
Alnoor Ladha is a friend, activist and original thinker whose perspective on our late-stage capitalism, its historical roots, and the possibilities of a new post-capitalist infrastructure, is one we wholeheartedly share. As well as having a razor-sharp political and socially critical mind, Alnoor’s eclectic background, in particular his foundation in the Sufi tradition, provides a deeply holistic and spiritual grounding to his worldview.
“We now live in a world where abstract thought gets rewarded. If you’re a hight velocity day trader, you’ll get paid $300,000 a year. But if you are doing work that has been traditionally done by female bodies, care work, education work, hospice work, parenting, birthing, there’s no economic value attributed to that. Because the system reflects the values, of not only a 5,000-year-old system, but a white, heteronormative, Christian, dualistic understanding of the world, where the white Christian male was on top of that hierarchy. And yes, things have changed. Progress has happened. But there’s a structural time-lag historically that gets played out in every moment. Nobody’s outside of capital. It’s mediating every aspect of our lives. Where you grow up. What you do for a living. Who your neighbours are. What their racial makeup is. It’s all been mediated by this historical force of a 5,000-year march, accelerated by the industrial and scientific revolution and this idea of dualism, accelerated by technology and neoliberalism, and this corporate-state nexus collusion that’s happened in the last 50 years. So, we’re not outside of it. We’re actually feeling the quickening of it.”
We recognise Alnoor as one of the rare public intellectuals who sees consciousness and specifically the evolution of consciousness, as primary in terms of what progress might actually look like within the human family. If you are not familiar with Alnoor, or you simply would like to get an update of his current understanding and insight on our present global predicament and how we might respond to it, this video is a great place to start.
Post-Capitalist Dialogues in the Kali-Yuga, with Alnoor Ladha, is also an opportunity to introduce you to the US based MaEarth digital platform, which hosts other stimulating and insightful conversations.
