This article is part 11 of 11 in the series Regenerative Leadership & Regenerative Business

Many people who consider themselves “progressive” will be feeling a range of difficult emotions in the wake of the last US events – shock, despair, confusion. This is natural and appropriate.

However, within the results is a wake-up call that must be heeded. The reality is that, for most people, household wealth has peaked, and most voters’ kids will be less well off than their parents for the first time in recorded history. The economy may be working, but it doesn’t feel like it for most people.

People are yearning, longing, and crying out for something more. As traditional political solutions from left and right continue to fail, it has become clear that the old paradigm of disenchanted, rational liberal democracy is no longer sufficient. We cannot solve the problems of modernity from within the same consciousness that created them.

What is needed is a fundamental shift towards a more regenerative politics – one that moves beyond the partisan gridlock, technocratic solutions, and short-term thinking that has characterized modern politics.

This requires embracing a collaborative, holistic, and long-term approach grounded in principles of ecological stewardship, relation renewal, distributive power, and community resilience.

At the heart of this shift is the recognition that our current political and economic systems, rooted in a linear, extractive mindset, have led to the depletion of natural resources, the widening of societal divides, and the erosion of community wellbeing.

To create a more sustainable and equitable future, we must transition towards a politics that prioritizes regeneration over extraction, relationships as much as rationality, and systemic thinking more than mechanistic thinking.

Crucial to this transition is the cultivation of what is introspection, intuition, insight, and imagination. But the progressive movement has long struggled with ways of knowing and sensing the world that are beyond rationality and logic.

Progressives, often well-educated, are heirs to the rational, Enlightenment-based approach that privileges scientific knowledge over intuition and imagination. But it is precisely these kinds of somatic and contemplative intelligence that are needed to unlock the breakthroughs required for true transformation.

Just as the collapse of old systems is experienced as pain and chaos, the birth of the new requires a different quality of consciousness – one that embraces the non-rational, the intuitive, and the creative. This is the energy that the philosopher Heidegger called poiesis, the impulse that brings forth novel solutions and unlocks the adaptive capacity of complex living systems.

With sensitivity and attunement to intuition and imagination, we can unlock key elements of a regenerative political framework, that might include:

1. **Ecological Stewardship**: Recognizing that the health of our natural ecosystems is inextricably linked to human wellbeing, a regenerative politics places environmental protection, sustainable resource management, and ecological regeneration at the forefront. This is a deep, reverential relationship with the Earth, not just a set of policy prescriptions.

2. **Distributive Justice**: Addressing the root causes of social and economic inequalities, a regenerative politics seeks to create more equitable access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making processes, empowering marginalized communities and fostering greater social cohesion. This is not just about redistribution, but about the equitable distribution of power, voice, and creative potential.

3. **Decentralized & Collaborative Governance**: Rejecting the top-down, siloed approach of traditional governance, regenerative politics embraces multi-stakeholder collaboration, inclusive policymaking, and the integration of diverse perspectives and ways of sensing and knowing the world. This is about tapping into the collective intelligence that arises from the synergy of many minds and lived experiences.

4. **Long-Term Systemic Thinking**: Rather than focusing on short-term political gains or the next election cycle, a regenerative politics takes a more holistic, future-oriented view, considering the long-term impacts of its decisions and working to create a more resilient and sustainable future for generations to come. This is about fulfilling our responsibilities as stewards of the Earth and ancestors of generations yet unborn, and about thinking in systemic and complex ways to fit the reality we live in.

5. **Community Resilience**: Recognizing that true change must be rooted in local communities, a regenerative politics supports the development of community-based initiatives, grassroots organizations, and decentralized decision-making structures that empower citizens to shape their own futures. This is about nurturing the diverse, vibrant, and interconnected ecosystems of human communities.

6. **Transformational Leadership**: Rather than succeed as political operatives, local, regional, national, and supranational public leaders must be trained in how to effectively and empathically lead and land genuine changes in society and government services, changes that will be painful for most communities as they give up some of the comforts and conveniences of modernity to embrace a regenerative future.

The reality is that neither the traditional Left nor the Right has the ideas or the leadership capacity to lead us through the complex challenges of our time. The solutions will not come from technocratic policies or partisan ideologies but from a deeper reconnection to the life force within and between us that the philosopher Baruch Spinoza called the Conatus.

Working with grounded insight, intuition, and imagination rather than ideology, aliveness brings with it the ideas, the energy, and the collective intelligence required to move beyond the trappings of modernity and embrace what I have dubbed the “MettaModern” – a future beyond modernity premised on relationship, resilience, and regeneration.

The path forward is not an easy one, but the stakes have never been higher. By unfolding a regenerative politics grounded in care, connection, and purpose, we can work towards a future that is more equitable, sustainable, and resilient – one that honors the interconnectedness of all life and empowers us to co-create a better world for all.

You can deep dive more into this idea in my article here.