ABSTRACT
Western civilization is in the process of an evolutionary transition, from its post-World War II psychic paradigm of Dominion, which has run its course and is in collapse, to an emergent new psychic paradigm the author calls Borderland consciousness. The former is represented by the Trumpian ethos. The latter, Borderland consciousness, is represented by a re-emergent psychological dynamic—Reciprocity—the chief characteristic of which is balance with and reverence for all of life. Evolutionary pressure is aimed at forcing dialogue between the Dominion paradigm that threatens our species’ survival and Reciprocity as a compensation for its addiction to Dominion. Therein lies the hope in the face of a 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that says we have ten years at best (2030) before global climate change results in changes to the atmosphere over which we will have little to no influence. The focus of the chapter is on appreciating the collapse of the old paradigm, terrifying and mad though it may be, and recognizing and receiving the emergence of the new compensating paradigm of Borderland consciousness, which has potential for holding and balancing destructive tension between the two.
