BY RYAN FORTUNE
When we hear the word "revolution," we often imagine large-scale changes — toppling governments or reshaping economies. It's all about sweeping societal shifts driven by external forces and collective movements.
But there's another dimension to revolution that's often overlooked: personal transformation. Real change doesn't start with the system but with a shift in individual thinking, as we break away from the forces that dominate our everyday lives.
In today’s world, survival, work, and consumption have become the main focus. This creates an illusion, or a “spectacle,” that separates us from our true selves and from each other. We’re fed stories of progress and human superiority, but beneath it all, there’s a deep emptiness we’ve come to accept as normal. This illusion is kept alive by ideologies and mass media that distort our reality, preventing us from making genuine connections with the world.
Our society uses tools like humiliation, isolation, suffering, and relentless work to maintain control. These forces slowly wear people down, leaving them feeling powerless and disconnected. We’ve been reduced to living in survival mode, where we’re treated like objects, going through life on autopilot, controlled by external forces.
While entertainment and consumption offer brief distractions, they never address the underlying emptiness. This survival mindset stifles creativity and reinforces the very systems that claim to challenge it.
True freedom begins with a personal shift in perspective, a rejection of these imposed narratives, and a reconnection to our inner creativity. By reclaiming the core of creativity within each of us, we can begin to transform not only our own lives but the world around us as well. This isn’t about retreating into self-centeredness, but rather recognizing that real change starts on an individual level.
By embracing our authentic desires and passions, we can break free from the roles and ideologies society pushes on us. This personal liberation opens the door to genuine communication and participation, allowing us to build communities based on shared values and the desire to live authentically.
At the heart of this shift lies a deep yearning for connection. The erotic, in its purest form, represents this fusion of individual creativity with the desire for shared experience. It symbolises how deeply personal desires can align with a collective will to live fully and authentically.
"Uncivilised" art and writing offer a powerful example of how this personal and collective transformation can take place. By challenging the idea that humans are the center of everything, they expose the destructive consequences of our endless quest for control and domination.
Robinson Jeffers, an 20th century American poet who critiqued human arrogance, serves as a reminder of how resistant people can be to ideas that truly challenge the status quo. His work highlights the need to move beyond our narrow focus on human centrality and reconnect with the natural world, recognising that humanity is just one small part of a much larger web of life.
Uncivilised writing calls us to step outside the walls of civilisation and embrace the wilderness within and around us. It's not about rejecting humanity, but about rediscovering what it means to be truly human — living in harmony with ourselves and the world. It’s a call to abandon the artificial structures of society and embrace a life that is more in tune with our natural instincts and creativity.
The revolution of everyday life requires us to let go of the narratives of progress and survival that have dominated for so long. It’s an invitation to reclaim our individual creativity and forge new paths beyond the confines of civilisation.
The "Dark Mountain" calls to us, offering a space where uncivilised art and writing can flourish, inspiring a new generation of revolutionaries. The question is, are we ready to shed the chains of civilization and step into this uncivilised path? Our future may depend on it.
Fortune is a techno-realist who helps businesses adapt to new digital innovations. He can be contacted at https://topmate.io/ ryan_fortune