Steve McIntosh - Following the Prime Directive

Integral wunderkind Steve McIntosh and EnlightenNext editor Carter Phipps explore the concept of global governance from an integral point of view. The idea of a global legislative, judicial, financial, and military body is not exactly new—consider the United Nations (and the League of Nations before that) or NATO or the European Union. But for every new era, the fundamental concepts and organizing principles of these high-minded bodies must evolve and adapt to keep apace—or better yet, keep ahead—of the changing life conditions of the planet's populace. Integral thinker Steve McIntosh has applied his intellectual knowledge and practical inclinations to formulate an approach to global governance based on the insights of modern developmental theories like Spiral Dynamics and the big-perspective inclusivity of integral philosophy. In part one of this dialogue, McIntosh delves into the worldcentric morality that underpins his concept of global governance, and discusses some of the practical manifestations of that perspective. In part two, Phipps and McIntosh discuss the current situation in Iraq and then explore the ways such failures might be better addressed by a sophisticated, modern, and truly integral global government.

BIO

Steve McIntosh is an activist working to apply cutting-edge philosophy to bring about positive social progress. His primary focus centers around researching, writing, and speaking on the topic of the integral philosophy of evolution. Steve is currently working on a book with the working title: Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution. Additionally, as part of his philosophical activism, in 2004 Steve founded the Project for Integral World Federation, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural evolution.

In addition to his philosophical work, Steve is also a lawyer and the founder and president of Now & Zen, Inc. Now & Zen is a profitable consumer products marketing and manufacturing company creating popular "natural lifestyle products" (each designed by Steve), such as its best selling product, The Zen Alarm Clock®. Founded in Boulder, Colorado in 1995, Now & Zen's mission is to create a national brand of products that make a real difference in people's lives and bring beauty to their environment.

Prior to founding Now & Zen, Steve was Director of Corporate Development and General Counsel of Celestial Seasonings tea company. He has also worked as an investment banker with Morgan Grenfell Capital Financing, and as a corporate lawyer with Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro in San Francisco. Steve is an honors graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and the University of Southern California Business School.

About Steve's forthcoming book Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution
This book is about the immediate future of our civilization. It focuses on the evolution of consciousness and culture and shows how a more informed understanding of this process can actually produce the kind of evolution that our society now urgently needs. This profound new way of seeing things—known as integral consciousness—provides realistic and pragmatic solutions to the world's growing problems, both environmental and political. However, the integral worldview offers more than just a “global vision,” it also provides a well-defined path for significant personal growth, so it is useful not only to those who are interested in global solutions, but also to people interested in personal development.

This is really two books in one: the first half serves as an accessible and highly readable introduction to the power of integral consciousness; and the second half makes a variety of original contributions to the integral worldview, breaking new ground in the application of integral philosophy to politics and spirituality. Moreover, McIntosh provides a much-needed contextualization and critique of the integral worldview's leading author, Ken Wilber, which helps make integral philosophy relevant to a larger audience. As this book convincingly demonstrates, the integral worldview provides a way for us to literally become the change we want to see in the world.