It’s a topsy-turvy world when billionaire bankers are supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement, especially considering their primary target is billionaire bankers.

As manager of one of the largest bond investment companies in the world, Mohamed El-Erian has frequently been known to say things like:

“A peaceful drive for greater social justice can unify people from diverse cultural backgrounds, political affiliations, religions, and social classes.”

And:

“It is important to understand OWS better and engage it appropriately.”

I’m sure this guy isn’t making many friends with his elitist colleagues whose rather posh livelihoods are inextricably wrapped-up in the status quo of global economics and finance, the very status quo groups like OWS would like to deconstruct. What could possibly be going on? Why does this seem so counter-intuitive?

My theory is that El-Erian is among a group of people participating in a new way of thinking, a way of interacting for benefit. Here at the THEE online project, we’re calling this 21st Century Enlightenment thinking. Here’s why:

• El-Erian and other 21C Enlightenment thinkers realize that the world is quickly shrinking, bringing the endlessly diverse cultures, societies, and peoples of the world ever closer together. For any one individual or any society to succeed, an understanding of the perspectives of the other will be crucial.

• To understand a particular viewpoint and engage it appropriately is a hallmark of 21C Enlightenment thinking. This link shows how THEE describes it in terms of individual interactions. Obviously, we’re all different, even within common cultures. And if we want anything, we have to interact with each other. Remember the previous blog “Other People.”

The root of all prejudice is ignorance. And it is all too often that prejudiced parties have no desire to learn about anything that isn’t already familiar to them. As individuals and societies, choosing to know will be the first step.

El-Erian once recounted a lesson his father taught him, saying: “When my father was an Egyptian diplomat posted to France in the early 1970s, he insisted that we be exposed every day to a range of national and international newspapers that spanned the entire political spectrum. When I asked him why we needed such a proliferation of papers, his answer was a simple one: It is a constant reminder that there are many ways to think about the same issue; and no one should assume that they always have the right approach.”

THEE would call this a perspective centered mentality and it’s going to come in very handy in the coming generations. However, this mentality has its own limitations, as do the variety of others. Understanding how these people think is a key to unlock how to interact with them, for your and everyone’s benefit.

With 21C Enlightenment thinkers, many things will seem counter-intuitive (like the banking elite supporting grassroots democratic movements). Much of this revolution of thought will require a shedding of previously-held conventions and ways of thinking that have cemented themselves well into the fabric of society.

You too can participate! It’s as easy as choosing to know. Learn about people, both within and outside of your own society. Be open-minded and well-rounded. Be a force for change in a world desperately searching for one.

We live in interesting times, for sure. No dull moments here.

The average person generally sees themselves as little more than an observer of the larger political, economic, and social events unfolding around them. They hope for the best, of course, as these events will no doubt affect every individual in some way or another. But so many of us, regardless of our philosophical leanings, probably accept a certain amount of determinism when it comes to macroeconomics, macro-politics, and the larger society of which we are a part of and think very little about our place in ever-evolving social stages.

The purpose of this blog, and the next two, are to show that this is not at all the case. We, as a body of people, very much have control over the course of our own political and social development.

A THEE inquiry into the overall advancement of political developments has uncovered certain social stages. These stages effectively describe the ongoing relationship between people and their governments.



It all begins with pluralism, the first socio-political structure in which a certain, relatively small group of people find themselves in control of a society’s resources--wealth, land, divine rights, etc. Plural refers to the fact that many groups vie for power and wealth in society. For some, the struggle is successful--be it the monarchy or the military or the church. These elites consider themselves separate and greater than the “unwashed masses.”

This first stage of pluralism, or privileged pluralism as it is identified in THEE, can be found in many societies today such as Egypt’s military government, but to offer a few well-known historical examples, there is feudal Europe, the priesthood-theocracy of ancient Egypt, and communist Russia. Unless you found yourself among the elite in any of these societies, it would not likely be a pleasant time in which to live out one’s life.

In all political endeavor--which is essentially the drive and action to gain access to a society’s wealth and power--there is exploitation. In privileged pluralism, the elite classes are generally the least productive. They see themselves as the administrators of a society’s wealth where non-elites are the actual producers, be they farmers or artisans or laborers or merchants, and this administrative position entitles them to the bulk of the wealth.

For those vocal protestors who see through the inherent unfairness of the system, there is always an infrastructure ready to quash their voice (police, paramilitary forces, military, etc.). History is rife with examples of this. Google “Tiananmen Square Tank Man” for a particularly disturbing example of this. The elites justify their actions with the need to keep social order and/or their self-proclaimed right to power.

To further maintain their place in power, the elites control information. An historical example would be the Council of Nicaea in the 2nd century in which Catholic officials decided what would go in and what would stay out of the Bible.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Check out this recent example of what I'm talking about--or the fact that if you fly to Beijing and Google “Tiananmen Square Tank Man,” nothing comes up. If you think that the later of the two examples doesn’t happen in Western democracies, fly to Switzerland and Google “Abu Ghraib,” note the number of search results, then compare that to the same number of Google search results in the United States. It’s shocking and the implications are quite disturbing.

Obviously, we don’t live in communist Russia or feudal Europe but many of us live under Chinese party rule, or in Middle Eastern regimes. Western society has advanced through the series of political and social stages. Science, the Enlightenment, and many hard-won battles for human and civil rights, among other things, have brought us out of this primitive pluralism and seen humanity produce some of her most beautiful and admirable institutions and accomplishments to date. We will not go backwards.

However, the spiral circles back around to a new form of pluralism. The only significant differences are that the elite, responding to a population more demanding of their hard-fought rights, have devised more sophisticated, deceptive, and arguably dangerous methods for maintaining power. Western society currently finds itself deeply entrenched in this new form of pluralism. Rather than the elite being composed of feudal lords, a dominant military, secret police or religious authorities, they are now politicians, financiers, regulators, CEO’s, bureaucrats and the like.

The current unsustainable nature of our economic system and the subsequent popular reactions to it are throwing back the curtain and exposing the everyday citizen to the existence of a truly powerful elite and their exploitation of the world’s citizens and resources. We find ourselves in the midst of a transition, with all of the classic markings--the public’s widespread distrust and disenfranchisement, desperate political and economic reactions, money buying power and power buying money, and an impending, inevitable systemic crash.

Tune in next week for what’s coming.