Revisiting the Big Picture

Another way of grasping the crisis that I appear to have discovered

Okay, it seems monstrously conceited to claim that I discovered the Value Crisis. The things I talk about are mostly things that ecological economists have been writing about for decades (with some ideas going back centuries).

And yet, I still have not found any reference to the core idea that when you measure value quantitatively (by number), More is ALWAYS Better, and that will soon enough get you (and your environment) into trouble.

(I also appear to be the only person out there who refers to the current poly/metacrisis as a “value crisis”, although the Merz Institute came up with the term “behavioural crisis”, well before I joined their advisory board.)

As I noted in the reading guide for this Substack series, one of the problems with this form of communication is that, as your readership grows, the new people are only looking at the latest few articles (at best). That’s fine if you’re writing about current affairs. I, on the other hand, am trying to build on a basic thesis, so most posts build on a cohesive idea.

Here’s a little solution to that challenge which might be a good refresher for the early subscribers and a quick introduction for the new folks. A long-time supporter recently asked me for a link to what he thought was the best video I’d ever made to introduce my Value Crisis concept in a powerful way. His request inspired me to revisit the video myself and I had to agree with him - I have rarely made a better presentation.

I’d been invited to speak to the congregation of a progressive (humanist?) group, still operating under the name West Hill United Church, in Scarborough, Ontario. The story behind that particular group is fascinating, all on its own, but what attracted me most to accepting this request was their superbly crafted and concise VisionWorks document, which outlined their core values, without a hint of the omniscient powers and mystic faith associated with mainstream religions.

West Hill does not have ‘sermons’ - they call them ‘perspectives’ instead. So, here’s the link to a 30-minute video of that first perspective where I introduced the Value Crisis. I am very proud of how well-spoken I appear to be! (As an added bonus, I talk about our Value Personae - a topic I haven’t broached in this series yet.)

I’ve been asked back to share a few more perspectives in the two years since that time. (You can find more video links here.) What do you think?

One last word - a teaser for a project that I have on the go right now… I decided to bite the bullet and drop a pile of savings on an animator for making a short animated video about the Value Crisis. The working title is “Three Wealthy People”. I’m counting on you folks to share it around when it’s ready!