Looking back over my own rapid deconstruction, from my pure love of all things American, Republican and capitalist into a state of total discontent and Democratic politics, I've learned one thing. As a means for giving life meaning and making it worthwhile, politics comes in a sad and distant second to philosophical, spiritual and internally sought truths. In my own deconstruction, I looked for meaning in the antithesis, or what I thought was the antithesis of conservative culture and Republican free-market fundamentalism; I pledged allegiance to liberal politics or rather egalitarian and pluralist fundamentalism. Seeking meaning in identity in anything other than that which is internally sourced is the bane of politicians, pundits and party supporters the world over; this is the ground for a profoundly inauthentic, unfulfilled life and a common folly.

I say that politics is the philosophy of the intellectually lazy, because an individual of intellectual stamina will forgo adhering to alternate or opposing conventions during his/her deconstruction. Or more accurately, when one begins to question the conventions of modern civilization it is best to remain unattached to any available ideologies. I did not do this and thereby espoused my own intellectual laziness, seeking to align with green and liberal values without entertaining the confusion for long enough to allow my true self to emerge. I needed to allow judgment and allegiance to remain in suspension for much longer than I did, in order to give myself the freedom and bandwidth to derive an internally sourced truth, a guiding principle to live my life and make my choices, of which includes political affiliation.

Anybody who has spent five minutes trying to understand human development, such as with the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs or with Spiral Dynamics, will quickly conclude that there are not two types of people in the world, conservative and liberal, rather something altogether different, one type of people - we call them humans. That is we're all the same, just people with the exact same needs, just at different levels of needs fulfillment, aka stages of development. I have found Spiral Dynamics is the best model for viewing this.

• Beige - Survivalist, dominated by nature, acting like other animals, resulting in loosely-formed clans, e.g. newborns, senile, the mentally ill, starving people.

• Purple - Tribal, magical, close to the earth, resulting in tribal groupings, blood bonds, athletic/fraternity team bonding and rituals based on respect for elders, loyalty.

• Red - Rugged authoritarianism, king of the hill, exploitation and suppression of the weak, assumption that people are bad, lazy and need to be controlled, resulting in feudal states, street gangs, terribly 2's, rock stars, rebellious youth.

• Blue - Ideological loyalty, purpose and patriotism, mass conformity, self-sacrifice, resulting in pyramidal hierarchies, religious fundamentalism, strict but fair discipline, morally prescriptive management.

• Orange - Entrepreneurial, autonomous, economically and scientifically oriented towards progress, discounts loyalty and inclusion in favor of cash/perks, rational, competitive, results in free market economy, multiparty democracy, consumerism, commercialization, conspicuous consumption, environmental and social decay.

• Green - Communitarian, sensitive, oriented towards personal growth, equality, diversity, ecological harmony, openness, trust, facilitation, inclusion, results in social justice, environmental regeneration and egalitarian hierarchies mired in stagnation and inefficiency.

• Yellow - Systemic, multilateral thinking, oriented towards learning, integration, valuing all contributions and talents, resulting in eco-industrial parks, systems reengineering.

• Turquoise - Holistic, focused on spiritual connectivity, resulting in meaningful work, balance of life's forces, integration of feeling and knowledge like a Jedi, working on large scale problems without sacrificing individuality, the work of Wilber, De Chardin, Bohm, McLuhan's global village, Gandhi's pluralistic harmony.

The Importance of the Stages
Important to note is that stages Beige through Green are first tier and share one common flaw - they all think they are right and everyone else is wrong or misguided. Only after evolving through all the first tier stages sequentially and making the leap from Green to Yellow does this flaw subside and a vision of the wholeness of a person and of humanity emerge. That is, second tier thinking is the emergence of cherishing the entire development process of a human and humanity at large, making it impossible to vilify any part of it, as a parent could not vilify its infant for not knowing how to walk.

Politics and Human Development
Party lines tend to be drawn between Green and Orange, or the interests of environmental and social causes versus the interests of free markets and economic progress. Until the 1970's the Blue traditional ideological center of the country was aligned with Green liberal politics, however the center shifted markedly as the interests of business (Orange) joined forces with the interests of conservative values (Blue) forging the now nearly unstoppable Republican political machine.

When looking at politics through the lens of Spiral Dynamics, it all seems so silly. It's just unhugged, unloved babies and toddlers fighting for the best toys in the sand box. It's not until one has evolved into the more integral tiers, Yellow and Turquoise, that the sandbox and the toys begin to lose significance, in favor of the much more complex dynamic of human existence and purpose. We're here to enlighten, evolve and self-express, to be Divinely inspired, creative and productive, not to fight each other over resources and rights. Seeing the world and humanity as a whole, as an evolving organism, we recognize that politics is an incredibly mundane pursuit. It is a tool, not an ideology.

It should be noted that this Second Tier thinking occurs only with a profound appreciation of the subtle realms. That is, spiritual significance, tranquility and general awe of life, become more important than any program, material wealth, way of thinking, etc. It all becomes beautiful and Divine.

Therefore politics is a sad excuse for life principles. Politics are not principles, rather handed down ideas, used to rally and mobilize one group of humans, to dominate another group of humans. Whether we're talking about the importance of free markets or ecological sustainability, the issue is not that the other side doesn't have the same values as your side, but rather how much more they prioritize one value over another, due to their respective level of development. Democrats don't want a centralized economy any more than Republicans want to destroy the environmental and social systems their grandchildren will need. The elephant in the room is which side is more evolved or developed. Though both Democrats and Republicans are both at each other's throats and willing to do anything to vanquish their enemy, it is clear, per Spiral Dynamics, Maslow, et al, that Democrats have a slightly broader conception of the Universe due to the other-centered and pluralistic nature of their programs and policies.

Unfortunately there is no escape from this vicious cycle of living a life with clear victors and villains. That is unless one rejects it ALL. And goes inward to determine which values are authentic and which are adopted. Meditation, time in nature, with young people, with old people and with loved ones are all activities which are conducive to deriving an individual life philosophy. Oh, and quitting your job and severing all ties with ideological organizations, like religious, political and non-profit orgs, would also help, but this is likely impractical for all but the most serious lovers of truth.

To put things more simply, align yourself with activities and people which facilitate peace, tranquility and the examination of ideas AND disalign yourself with activities and people which facilitate conflict, chaos and fixed allegiance to ideas. Only then will an authentic and sustainable set of life principles present themselves, from which pure action results. This action may even be political, but likely, more rewarding pursuits will also present themselves like channeling one's efforts into a sustainable business, creative pursuits or into human development initiatives like healing, education, social services, etc. The possibilities are endless, only one of which is political action.

One need only look at how rewarding politics is - long election schedules, reversible legislation, underfunded programs, inauthentic peers, etc. versus the more dynamic and feedback-oriented endeavors available in the for-profit and non-profit world. Or look at the compensation and appreciation awarded to politicians versus that granted business and NGO leaders. Moreover, politics is a crapshoot - there is no guarantee or even modicum of predictability relegated to any electoral or legislative efforts. It is clear that corporations and NGOs are rising in significance with respect to their impact and power over the course of human affairs. Politics is slow, inefficient and mired in egoic subplots, much more so than its peers, unencumbered by a 200 year-old legacy. Politics, to any self-aware being, seems an illogical choice to allocate one's precious time.

More to the point, not only are politics, in this author's opinion, an inefficient use of energy, but also an extremely discomforting source of chaos. Keeping up with politics is like watching a Roman lion devour a Christian in slow motion. There is never an upside, or at best occasionally; only an ongoing ooze of corruption, inauthenticity and incompetence. Why would any self-aware being allow oneself to needlessly become embroiled in that kind of drama? Read a weekly periodical and you've got all the info you need to stay current - anything more than that, like tuning into TV news networks or worse, web-surfing for political drama, is an incredible waste of time and assault to your serenity and quality of life.

In summation:

1. Make yourself familiar with all things related to philosophy and human development.
2. Allow your principles to drive your actions, the least of which ought be political, and not the inverse.
3. Take the time to unplug and deconstruct so your principles make themselves known.
4. Don't listen to anyone encouraging you to act without first allowing you to explore and evaluate the philosophical basis for their actions.

Brandon Peele is Founder of Namaste Economics, a set of economic principles defining the path of conscious business.

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