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Are You A Developmentalist?
Take the Test
Take a 2-minute test of your political developmentalism, and see your “transcendence and inclusion score.”
This simple test asks you to select your level of agreement or disagreement with twelve political statements. The test results will indicate your inclusivity score, your transcendence score, and the overall extent of your developmental perspective.
Worldview Questionnaire
What is your worldview? Take this 7-minute test and find out which “values frame” describes you best.
By answering these 17 questions you may learn more about your own worldview, as well as about the worldviews of others.
Character Development Exercise
Become a better person through this brief exercise in character development—create your personal portrait of the good.
Answer 10 questions to create a personalized chart of what matters most to you. This chart—your Portrait of the Good—will be sent to your email address as a pdf file.
Community Comment
“I am grateful for the post-progressive way of thinking. It was totally new to me, and now that I have been exposed to it, I think it is the way forward. It is the future. If there is a way out of this terrible culture war, I think it will be something along these lines. I love the idea of taking the best of the different worldviews and bringing them together into a more inclusive post-progressive worldview. This is a brilliant approach, and I am going to try to share it with as many people who are willing to listen to me as possible.”
– Lucas Chasin
Community Comment
“Progressivism doesn’t work without a foundation of modernism and traditionalism. Post-Progressivism allows modernists and traditionalists to feel significant, to feel needed, and to have a foundational seat at the table. The reason I don’t identify as a progressive, even though I am a vegan, spiritual, conscious, burning man guy, is because I feel its rejection of these previous worldviews …”
– Thomas Waterman
Developmental Politics is now available as an audiobook!
Check out this clip about how this new perspective can create a vision of progress that attracts the political values of traditionalists, modernists, and progressives.
Purchase the audiobook here: http://amzn.to/3lasWpa
This book will enlighten you about politics. https://twitter.com/developolitics/status/1526311376221679617
We have republished a transcribed excerpt of @GlennLoury interview with @gregthomas22 in The Developmentalist. It has been significantly edited from the video version for readability. You can check it out here:

The Dignities of Modernity
Without us being W.E.I.R.D.—Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic—postmodernism wouldn't even have a b...
developmentalist.org
Developmental Politics is now available as an audiobook! Check out this clip about the blessing and the curse of the postmodern progressive worldview. Purchase the audiobook here: http://amzn.to/3lasWpa
We are pleased to announce the publication of Developmental Politics—How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself as an audiobook!
You can purchase it here: http://amzn.to/3lasWpa
Steve McIntosh’s newest Critique of the Week of David Brooks has been published in The Developmentalist. In it, he shows how @nytdavidbrooks and his large audience could benefit from a developmental perspective.

Critique of the Week: David Brooks
For the past twenty years, political and social commentator David Brooks has been an influential voice in American ...
developmentalist.org
How would a new political decision-making process have to look like that honors all layers of cultural values in a nonexclusive way? #integral #holacracy #politics Thanks to @developolitics

Values Integration via the Integrative Decision-Making Process
How would a new political decision-making process have to look like that honours all layers of cultural values in a nonexclusive way?
denniswittrock.medium.com
Still talking with Greg Thomas at The Glenn Show. Also remembering Albert Murray, contemporary of the great American writer, Ralph Ellison, and author of the still timely assessment of American culture "Omni-Americans". See the full conversation now at http://glennloury.substack.com
The dignities of modernity | @GlennLoury and @gregthomas22, co-founder of the Jazz Leadership Project and senior fellow at @developolitics, discuss the past and future of black cultural forms. https://youtu.be/0d2U_Uuwd50?t=1298
Hey @JohnRWoodJr - We saw that Braver Angels is doing a We The People’s Forum on Homelessness. Have you seen The Institute for Cultural Evolution’s Win-Win-Win Policy Proposal on #homelessness yet?

Homelessness in the U.S.
www.culturalevolution.org
I am only about 1/3 of the way in, but Fukuyama’s new book is probably the most proto-developmentalist artifact I have ever encountered from someone not exposed to explicitly developmental perspectives. His understanding of political value polarities is remarkable. ... See MoreSee Less
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So glad to hear!!!! Emerging insights...🙏
I'm loving it, too. And agree.
Bookmarked.-
I am heartened and not all too surprised to hear this. I suspect that his end of history thesis was largely misread as Whig history, merely modernist, but I already thought it was more complex than that
I'll join shortly. But I am not surprised by this developmental respect if you perceive. Fukuyama has written on political development and decay; and he is most famous for his work that draws on Hegel and Kojeve. And I suggest that Hegel is nothing if not developmental.
I have gone so far as to read this review of it, in the Washington Post, by the excellent reviewer Carlos Lozado. He is also reviewing The Age of the Strongman, the essay is titled: "Authoritarianism is surging. Can liberal democracy fight back?" I would suggest that the project of Developmental Politics is in fact dedicated to this cause, or should be. Lozado: "Francis Fukuyama restates the case for liberalism even as he considers its critics on the nationalist right, who despise its cultural and secularist manifestations, and on the progressive left, who abhor its economic inequalities and its privileging of individual over group identities. “The answer to these discontents is not to abandon liberalism as such,” Fukuyama argues, “but to moderate it.” Fukuyama freely acknowledges the “legitimate criticisms” of liberalism from right and left, but still contends that the benefits flowing from liberal values — reduced violence, enhanced personal autonomy and economic growth — are worth the price. Besides, he asks, “what superior principle and form of government should replace liberalism?”" The answer is China's model. Or as I said in a reply to Amiel Hanlesman, the modern-center is not holding. And, just to tie this together with a question, while getting near the end of Ray Dalio's excellent book: "Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order," He dedicates the greatest number of pages to the rise of China. In reading it I am struck with a number of important observations, leading to a question for Integralists/Developmentalists/SD Wizards. The observation is that China has a 4,000 year history vs 400 for the current global hegemon, the USA. The US and the West think tactically, with short-termism vs the Chinese who think strategically with Strategic and Long Term planning, with metrics to monitor their societies progress. Their primary influences are Confucious and Marx, not the Bible and western philosophers, who they do read. So here is the question - Given this long sweep of societal history in China, has Integral Theory, Spiral Dynamics, or the notion of evolutionary/developmental theory made its way into China? If not, why not? Shouldn't it? Or stated another way, in participating in these groups on FB, I see nobody from China participating, perhaps I've missed it. www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/05/13/fukuyama-rachman/
Here's another great review of both Fukuyama's book and Mounk's...more DP awareness supporting Jeff's belief that "we will muddle through." www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/books/review/francis-fukuyama-liberalism-and-its-discontents-yascha-mo...
Fukuyama fans (and for the Fukuyama-curious) will be delighted to know that he was a just-posted interview on Vox that's quite good. If you're looking for an encapsulation of his arguments in his new book that Josh Leonard enthused about, here's a great place to get it. megaphone.link/VMP2884732339
I'm curious as to what you all might think is the best approach to addressing things like literal white supremacy, hate crimes, and the like. I understand the motivation to make condemnatory statements about it (especially if there are politicians using talking points resonant with or promoting that), but I don't see how that really addresses the problem in a deep and comprehensive way. I find myself completely puzzled as to how, for instance, wielding signs that say things like "Stop Asian hate" actually do anything. I greatly admire Daryl Davis's work with white supremacists yet recognize people of his capacity and desire to address this directly and relationally are few and far between. ( www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/accidental-courtesy/) I wonder a lot about how to help people navigate difference and change, what sorts of systems or structures might better help groups of people with different worldviews and cultures coexist and thrive. ... See MoreSee Less
Great question and I will share my view as long as you understand it is only my view. People change when they change and it is a long internal process. ( Here is the non-popular part ). I have found working on your own mess and development far more helpful in the long run. As my teacher often said, " mind your own business." That being said you are probably much more cleaned up than myself, plus I tend to be a hermit recluse monk so I should probably mind my own business. Ha.🙏🙏.
I resonate with your words Deborah. I feel deep anger and frustration over how our current systems continue to do nothing when faced with the kind of atrocity as the Buffalo mass murderer and his own political grooming. And I wonder if developmental politics is impotent in this matter? How does integral theory respond to atrocity?
I think the simple protest/speaking out against hate has its place, it can draw attention to the underlying problem, it can challenge our complacency, it can alert representatives that their constituents care about an issue, it can galvanize solidarity in a collective struggle for justice. But, protest alone will never be enough to effect lasting change. From my limited perspective, here is the multifaceted approach I think we need to reduce this particular kind of hate crime: 1)Challenge the toxic ideology, and offer something better. The fact that Tucker Carlson has been fear-mongering white-supremacist rhetoric like Great Replacement Theory to millions of viewers, pulling it into the Overton window perhaps, is a real problem. The fact that there seems to be no way of holding Fox News accountable for spreading lies and false conspiracy theories is a problem, and just one example of the challenge of todays media landscape. I don’t know how best to do it, but the “others” that are repeatedly scapegoated by these pundits need to be humanized by other media sources that can reach the same audience. 2)Tend the wounds. I don’t think anyone latches onto such toxic ideology if they are secure in their own human dignity and value. This is a societal and individual challenge. Patriarchal norms and expectations, and emotionally stunted expressions of masculinity have severely limited boys and men from developing self reflection skills, conflict resolution skills, emotional intelligence, intimate connection with others, etc. We need a social revolution of values and widespread interpersonal support and connection. Maybe this could be implemented by increased funding/awareness for school guidance counselors, emotional health programs at churches and community centers, and better narratives in media. 3)Legislation. I can’t accept that nothing can be done to stop these tragedies. We have an absurd number of firearms in this country, and there is no single simple solution to reducing them, or keeping them out of dangerous hands, but we have to overcome the polarized debate on guns. It’s keeping meaningful action off of the table. I might come back with more thoughts later
I don't think there's any single answer, but I can think of a few very good, thought-provoking resources, which I will post below in case you're interested. First that comes to mind is: deeyah.com/blog/white-right-meeting-enemy/
In an ever more Bizarro twist: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/17/buffalo-shooting-suspect-eco-fascism
I think the best thing we can do is to stop feeding into their conspiracies by suppressing the .01% of the info they are bandying around that is actually accurate. And to widen the practice of selective empathy towards all groups, as they often correctly point this phenomenon out in the media and it only deepens their ideology.
Something that may or may not be developmental, but I wanted to run it by the team here anyway.
I think at this point it's critical for the Western strategists to understand that the only path to security is not some sort of reformed RF without Putin. The world's last land empire needs to disintegrate like all of its predecessors. This is also what many in Russian opposition are talking about. The way out of sanctions for RF territories is peice by piece. Those smaller components must get easy access to some sort of a Marshall Plan as soon as they have a potential for emerging. Those multiple Marshall plans will be a lot more cost-effective than dealing with another destruction, such as what we are experiencing in Ukraine in 2022.
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Nick Gluzdov, you raise many important questions here. I'm going to respond a bit indirectly by sharing a couple of quotes about the Marshall Plan from Tony Judt's magisterial book Post-War: "Marshall’s proposals were a clean break with past practice. To begin with, beyond certain framing conditions it was to be left to the Europeans to decide whether to take American aid and how to use it...Secondly, the assistance was to be spread across a period of years and was thus from the start a strategic programme of recovery and growth rather than a disaster fund." "But despite the initial interest shown by Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Albania, no future Communist state took part in the European Recovery Programme or received a dollar in Marshall aid...Czechoslovakia’s exclusion from the Marshall Aid programme was an economic and political catastrophe for the country. The same is true of the ‘choice’ imposed on every other country in the region, and above all, perhaps, for the Soviet Union itself. His decision to stand aside from the European Recovery Program was one of Stalin’s greatest strategic mistakes." "Without Marshall Aid it is not clear how the fuel shortages, food shortages, cotton shortages and other commodity scarcities could have been overcome at a politically acceptable price." "One might almost say that the Marshall Plan helped Europeans feel better about themselves. It helped them break decisively with a legacy of chauvinism, depression and authoritarian solutions."
Agreed. The world's last empire needs to disintegrate just like it's predecessors. That would be the US though, not Russia. What is it with the obsession to destroy Russia? This has been the goal for the last century. And if Russia is destroyed, who will step into the territory? I'll tell you, it's China. And there is no greater threat to the US than China. Russia is nothing, China will be the next technocratic superpower and China could topple the US in a matter of weeks if it chose to. And speaking as someone whiskies in a former Soviet Bloc country, the Marshall Plan was a disaster. Simply set up the region for the US global company takeover that was completed in 1990. Read the French economist Thomas Picketty. And you people need to listen to Peter Hitchens re: Russia and Ukraine. How on earth did I get on to this page?
Another one begging for a DP response. I hear Jeff ... See MoreSee Less

podcasts.apple.com
Show The Ezra Klein Show, Ep Anne Applebaum on What Liberals Misunderstand About Authoritarianism - May 17, 2022This series he’s been doing has been so good, grappling with things we really should be grappling with. I wonder if anyone from this group would be willing to annotate one of these episodes, basically inserting a 3rd voice to add perspective wherever they see opportunities, even if just a copy/pasted transcript plus added notes.
Ezra Klein has just posted an interview with Anne Applebaum about her new introduction to Hannah Arendt's THE ORIGINS OF TOTALITARIANISM. I know that there are many Klein & Applebaum fans here (me included). And I suggest Hannah Arendt to anyone interested in our contemporary plight (which, we might say, includes entails the events in this century, the last century, and the whole of the Modern Age). I agree with Sean Illig (who conducted a recent interview with Arendt scholar Lyndsey Stonebridge) that Arendt is the most important political thinker of the 20th century. Not easy, sometimes vexing, but always worth the effort. www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-anne-applebaum.html
Whoa! Rachel Eryn Kalish scooped me! I thought this post was to his earlier podcast. Not looking carefully! Well, to reinforce Rachel's point.
Intrigued by your idea, Kenneth James Hogan, of annotating the transcript. In the meantime, let me ask a question out loud about this: "And we’ve seen over and over again that’s not really true, but I think it gets to something in Arendt’s thought that once people hit a certain level of cynicism, not only do they not care if their leaders are lying, they think lying is how the game is done...And so to lie well, and to lie effectively, is actually part of proving that you can be the leader of this movement, that you can survive in this dog-eat-dog world, you know, where the institutions are all controlled by a cabal of your enemies." I sense in this quite a bit of warlord/warrior, aka pre-traditional, worldview here. Lying doesn't matter because you want to go with the one with the most unilateral power. This is such a foreign concept to the modern and postmodern worldviews—no wonder so many folks continue to wonder, "How can you support someone who lies and cheats?" Answer: because the folks interpreting the lying and cheating are, at least at that moment, operating from a pre-traditional worldview.
Developmental Politics is now available as an audiobook!
Check out this clip about how this new perspective can create a vision of progress that attracts the political values of traditionalists, modernists, and progressives.
Purchase the audiobook here: amzn.to/3lasWpa
... See MoreSee Less
The Development Movement, Developmental politics, developmentalist...............it seems we have an interesting trend! ... See MoreSee Less

The Development Movement | Substack Q&A with Glenn Loury and John McWhorter | The Glenn Show
youtu.be
Watch the full Q&A by subscribing at glennlourysubstack.comIn this excerpt from a Substack subscriber exclusive Q&A, Glenn and John ask whether the e...Eh I wouldn’t go that far. So far as I can tell, all they are talking about here is building up a healthy modernism to help young Black people achieve—which is good, of course. But the praise of Norman Vincent Peale…keep in mind that he preached at the church the Trump family attended, and his philosophy obviously finds a garish and cartoonish expression in trump himself, and even trickles into The Secret, New Age power of intention stuff. There’s an important truth in all that, but it often overlooks the macro-forces beyond the individuals control
# **An Excerpt from Glenn Loury's Interview of Greg Thomas Has Been Published in The Developmentalist**
When Glenn Loury interviewed Greg Thomas on The Glenn Show a few weeks back, he published a transcribed excerpt of their conversation on his substack. We asked Glenn Loury for permission to republish it, and he agreed. It has been significantly edited from the video version for readability. You can check it out here:
... See MoreSee Less

developmentalist.org
Without us being W.E.I.R.D.—Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic—postmodernism wouldn't even have a basis upon which to stand. The reason they can critique is because they can p...I thought his use of WEIRD was really skillful in this part of the conversation. WEIRD is pretty much a synonym for modernity, the modern self. Important to realize that WEIRD is a destiny to arrive to - most people with ambition, regardless of origin - want to end up somewhat like that. And then postmodernity can be framed as a critique/reaction to that achievement en masse.
www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/05/12/dugin-russia-ukraine-putin/
Note the description of Traditionalism later on in the piece, as well as Steve Bannon’s attraction to this ideology.
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Perspective | The far-right mystical writer who helped shape Putin’s view of Russia
www.washingtonpost.com
Alexander Dugin sees the Ukraine war as part of a wider, spiritual battle between traditional order and progressive chaos.Fabulous conversation around places for coalition building. Still needs a developmental framework but getting closer to something I know Steve and the rest of us would recognize as potentially good ... See MoreSee Less
I'm glad Ezra is having these conversations!
I thought this latest episode was really good, and was hoping we would discuss it here! I don’t really know where to place Ezra Klein “on the spiral”, and that might be exactly why I appreciate him so much. I like that he doesn’t specifically communicate with the language of integral theory or spiral dynamics, though I’m still trying to figure out why I like that. I think he’s one of the wisest millennial voices in journalism, often modeling a rare balance of strong conviction, intellectual humility, and good faith engagement with people of very different mindsets. At the risk of sounding like an ignorant progressive who doesn’t fully understand yellow/developmental/integral paradigms, which may be an accurate description, I will nonetheless try to articulate something I’ve been mulling over. I think S.D. and integral spaces tend to have some generational and cultural blindspots. It seems that most of the influential writers and practitioners are coming from western cultures and older generations. As I’ve listened and learned from them over the past few years, I’ve had a nagging suspicion that this framework is often being held and implemented with a bit too much self-certainty and confidence in its ability to accurately and completely identify and describe human development. And so, I’ve been looking for complimentary knowledge and wisdom outside of integral spaces, in thinkers from younger and older generations, in people from other cultural backgrounds, other pedagogies and social paradigms. Ezra obviously has more overlap than not with most integral thinkers, but I find his insights and angles into conversations very refreshing. Maybe a good analogy to the observation I’m trying to describe would be major world religions. They all have distinct beliefs and practices that differentiate themselves, and yet, they all have some common tendencies, postures, and growth possibilities. Many people within each religion see their own as right, or best, and find it difficult to see the goodness and value in other religions. Thankfully they all have mystical traditions too that find a lot more overlap and harmony with one another. So, maybe what I’m trying to say is that I would hate to see S.D./Integral communities become too evangelistic, feeling the need to teach or convert others into practitioners of this model before we can take them seriously, or before we can believe that they also have “higher” wisdom to offer. I don’t mean to say that anyone here is taking Ezra Klein to be an inferior thinker just because he doesn’t use this model, I don’t think that’s what you mean by, “still needs a developmental framework” Rachel Eryn Kalish, and in fact, I would love to hear your thoughts on that! I perceived Ezra to be trying really hard to challenge the guest on his own level, and appeal to common interests, but his responses did not meet Ezra’s questions face to face. Does that make sense? Did you see something similar, and do you think Ezra could have drawn out better responses if he had asked different questions, or communicated in a different way?
Wow, bravo to Ezra Klein for speaking in such a polite tone with this conservative guy who has a stand morally, but who seems to contradict himself at every turn. Really weird how he sees the conservatives economically promoting what's really the Democratic agenda ... and who cannot see that the conservatives are the ones who oppose any law beneficial to poor people. How can you deal with such people? And that's an extremely learned person. So no wonder the masses are completely lost.
I think that many of the comments heretofore have been prompted by Klein's most recent podcast with Notre Dame political theory prof Patrick Deneen. (podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-does-the-post-liberal-right-actually-want/id1548604447?i=10005...). I thought Klein did a masterful job of cross-examining Deneen w/o coming across as hostile (or even as cross-examining him.) I'm taken with Deneen bc I read is book WHY LIBERALISM FAILED and found it vague and not revelatory or persuasive. (And I'm very interested in critiques of liberalism even as I'm liberal-dominant). Although I haven't read Deneen's most recent articles, I perceive him in other pieces I've read as having gone off the rails, close to a full Orban. Here, he doesn't come across as very militant or irrational, but he really does remain vague. And on Klein's part, I give him credit for engaging in fruitful dialogue with those who think and believe very differently from himself. I don't always agree with Klein, but he gets his guests and himself to articulate their positions such that listeners can join the issue.
Developmental Politics is now available as an audiobook! Check out this clip about the blessing and the curse of the postmodern progressive worldview. You can purchase the audiobook here: amzn.to/3lasWpa ... See MoreSee Less
In spanish, please! 🙏
Community Comment
“I really appreciated the use of gay marriage as an example of win-win-win policy solutions because it shows how people with different approaches to political issues can still align on values. In speaking to my friends about using this value integration technique I realized that it can be helpful to use value as a verb, rather than a noun. When you look at value as a verb, as in ‘what do we all value?’, it really does become possible for traditionalists, modernists, and progressives to value a lot of the same things.”
– Scott Kirby