The End of the Road for the Conscious ESG Newsletter...
...and the opening of the next door
Converting a stream of consciousness into a serialized collection of articles is a profoundly moving experience. The challenge is to unpack a mindf*ck into something even partially comprehensible. It’s a journey. You start with a (complex) outcome in mind. Ultimately, the journey changes you so fundamentally that an entirely new exploration emerges.
The first time I attempted serialized writing was in 2017. My daughter had just turned three years old. It had been a dramatic year. Her mother had just burned my thirteen-year-old handwritten reflections from an out-of-body-experience on a beach in Thailand in 2004. I distilled what I could remember from that experience, merged it with all I had learned from six years in the blockchain space and serialized a “faction” (mix between fact and fiction). It was written from the perspective of my daughter writing back to us as a 21yo woman in 2035. Postcards from 2035 emerged over a period of 18 months, with 18,000 people following its gestation and birth. The discipline of turning my life-changing experience into a story others could follow changed me. More so than it did the readers I was fortunate enough to attract along as co-sojourners.
When C19 (or more specifically those who manipulated the story of a minor virus) shut down the world in 2020, I attempted another serialized unpacking of a download. Society 4.0 emerged over a period of about 6 months, supported by selected articles I had written prior to the shutdown. It was an exploration of the emerging meta-society being nurtured into existence by a global network of self-directed thinkers, architects, builders, doers & supporters.
The journey started with a talk to 600+ European computer science students on November 26, 2019, just prior to the lockdown. The talk was given in the stunning Flint Auditorium in Amersfoort, about an hour from Amsterdam. I’m pretty sure it was the largest auditorium I’ve presented in:
The serialized writing commenced with a breakdown of the C19 con on April 18th, 2020, long before the numerous anti-C19 voices we have today. Again, the writing journey changed me more than it did my readers. It ignited in me a passion to personally play a role in the emergence of this new kind of society. After the writing, I spent the remainder of 2021 and most of 2022 working with and learning about hands-on bioregional transformation. It was a steep learning curve, and a journey fraught with dead-ends.
Eventually, burnt-out and disappointed, I returned to the space where I’ve spent most of my working career: the private sector. I launched the Conscious ESG newsletter in October 2022.
My desire and (mistaken) belief was that I could show the business world how much of a con ESG was. I could then offer an alternative to ESG reporting, whereby corporates could partner with the emerging “global network of self-directed thinkers, architects, builders, doers & supporters” working on Society 4.0. My thinking was that the private sector could “outsource” the fundamental changes our societies require to grassroots movements, as an interim step in the systemic transformation of society. Eventually, the breakthroughs inspired by bottom-up next-level thinking would bubble all the way up throughout society. The approach was based on more than a decade spent in the (mostly idealistic and naive) systemic change space. I was convinced the approach had a real chance of gaining momentum.
I was wrong.
Today, I’m shutting down Conscious ESG. This will be the last newsletter published. Thank you for taking a risk by following my ramblings. I know how valuable your time is. Every time I publish I ask myself the question, “Is this post worthy of the interruption to my reader’s hectic schedule? What value will it add?”
In the face of the insidiousness of the ESG con, I’ve been unable to add sufficient value. From my recent engagements with CEOs and board members, the market demands to report on meaningless metrics is stronger than anything I can counter with. Basically, anyone involved in ESG reporting is a supporter of the biggest con ever imposed on humanity (and there have been many). But for that individual to admit the con would mean the end of their job.
“It is difficult to get a person to understand something, when their salary depends on him or her not understanding it.” ― Upton Sinclair in I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked
For about a month now I’ve felt that I’m not in flow. Combatting the ridiculous ESG mandates has felt like an uphill struggle. On January 1st I asked the Universe to show me another door. A series of subsequent conversations (which I could never have planned) has resulted in this decision to shut down further publication of this newsletter and to change direction entirely.
If you’re a paid subscriber, you’ve already been refunded. (If you haven’t, please let me know).
“Ask yourself, ‘What is the most important thing you could be working on in the world right now?’ And if you're not working on that, why aren't you?” ― Aaron Hillel Swartz (1986-2013), founder of Demand Progress and the subject of a moving documentary.
What’s Next?
By the end of January, I'll be launching a 90-day program for retired baby boomers who want to leave a lasting legacy. When they conclude the program, they will be invited to join The Collective Legacy Roundtable (CLR).
The individuals who participate were previously highly successful at the game that created the need for ESG in the first place. They have lots of money and lots of time, because they are now retired. They also no longer have any vested interest in the game that created their wealth, and so they can afford to challenge hallowed traditions like capitalism and democracy better than those still stuck in the game.
The idea is to have a global “mastermind” (for want of a less patriarchal term) that can connect regenerative projects to the resources that we know will be required. The intention is to model CLR on the Hanseatic League, which was a network of traders that ultimately birthed the next set of social systems that emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire.
At least that's my plan and what I’ve been working on over the past few weeks. It feels more aligned to what I hope to accomplish from a systemic change perspective. If this resonates with you and you want to be involved, please reach out.
Thanks again for being with me for this short journey.
Blessings,
Michael
I dont have Twitter, but can set up if necessary. I live in Villiersdorp Overberg. I got to hear of Project 222 through the Kinda Fruity Community outside Swellendam and have visited Surien on site. Also have ambitions to form node, but not Villiersdorp. Eyeing Tesslaarsdal. I wish to connect you to others in my network like Kobus White, Industrial Psychologist that also adapts systems thinking model to explore possible synergies. Email would be best.
Hi Michael. May I have your contact detail please.