The “Revolution of Common Sense” in the USA

People all around the world watched the inauguration in the USA, a country with so much wealth, influence and power, hoping to gain some understanding of what is happening. What is the deeper meaning of the “revolution of common sense” promised by the incoming administration? What does this turn of events express? How can they be understood and what do they demand of us? This episode explores dynamics from recent centuries to contribute to this need of orientation, and to suggest what a true revolution in common sense requires. 

 

References:

 

Phil Klay (2022) Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War. (Penguin Publishing Group).

James W. Douglass. (2010) JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. (Simon and Schuster).

William F. Pepper (2018) An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. (Verso Books).

Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy. The White House. Available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declassification-of-records-concerning-the-assassinations-of-president-john-f-kennedy/,

Charles Taylor (2004) Modern Social Imaginaries. (Duke University Press).

Hilary Osborne (2018) What is Cambridge Analytica? The firm at the centre of Facebook’s data breach. The Guardian, 18 March. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/18/what-is-cambridge-analytica-firm-at-centre-of-facebook-data-breach.

See Arthur Zajonc (1998) Goethe’s Way of Science: A Phenomenology of Natureand Ed. David  Seamon. (Albany, NY: SUNY Press).

Dan McKanan (2017) Eco-Alchemy: Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism. (Univ of California Press).

In 2024 an event was hosted at the Goetheanum that focused on the global significance of these approaches to economics. https://www.worldgoetheanum.org/en/wgf-2024/wgf-2024-review. See also Otto Scharmer’s reflections here: https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/rethinking-economics/

Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV.
To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.

What is Questions of Courage?

“Questions of Courage” is a video/podcast with Nathaniel Williams, leader of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum. It is an independent and unique look at questions related to technology, education, art, ecology, vocation, community, justice and meaning require a deeper, spiritual take on life. The ability to take up these issues from this perspective is a question of courage.