Peter joseph the new human rights movement

In our interconnected world, self-interest and social interest are rapidly becoming indistinguishable. If current negative trajectories remain, including growing climate destabilization, biodiversity loss, and economic inequality, an impending future of ecological collapse and societal destabilization will make "personal success" virtually meaningless. Yet our broken social system incentivizes behavior that will only make our problems worse. If true human rights progress is to be achieved today, it is time we dig deeper - rethinking the very foundation of our social system.

In this engaging, important work, Peter Joseph, founder of the world's largest grassroots social movement - the Zeitgeist Movement - draws from economics, history, philosophy, and modern public-health research to present a bold case for rethinking activism in the 21st century.

Arguing against the long-standing narrative of universal scarcity and other pervasive myths that defend the current state of affairs, The New Human Rights Movement reveals the critical importance of a unified activism working to overcome the inherent injustice of our system. This book warns against what is in store if we continue to ignore the flaws of our socioeconomic approach, while also revealing the bright and expansive future possible if we succeed. Will you join the movement?

No one can accuse Peter Joseph, founder of the global organization The Zeitgeist Movement, of thinking small. Joseph thinks in terms of systems and structures, and in his new book, The New Human Rights Movement: Reinventing the Economy to End Oppression, he offers a comprehensive critique of the market-dominated economic system that has been in place in the United States and large swaths of the world for the past four decades.

Joseph argues that the difficulty with structural oppression — be it economic, racial, or environmental — is that while we all participate in the architecture to some degree, it’s almost impossible to discern its impact and effect. What this means, according to Joseph, is that society is constantly focused on symptoms rather than causes. Unlike most contemporary analysts, Joseph devotes scant time to blaming Republicans, Democrats, or greedy capitalists for the ills of the world because the American government — like the governments of most nations — always supports dominant economic interests. The individuals and corporations who profit from the arrangement aren’t necessarily intent on subjugating the masses and dominating the world, but this is often the end result because the framework in which they operate rewards perverse values and incentives.

Joseph repeatedly makes the point that the root socioeconomic orientations of a society organized around neoliberal economic principles are competition, dominance, and scarcity. He writes, “It is fruitless for us to demand idealized or more just behaviors from our existing institutions, since they have been built around a value and incentive system that thrives on the very behaviors we wish to change.” This is particularly apparent when it comes to the environment. The capitalist system with its insatiable demand for constant growth is inherently at odds with sustaining human existence on a finite planet.

The magnitude of the cultural shift Joseph writes about looks unlikely to occur in the current political and economic moment, but the overall tone of The New Human Rights Movement manages to be hopeful without being unrealistic. Sociological transformation will not come easily or without disruption, and can’t happen until the dominant economic model is replaced with one that, in Joseph’s words, “favors behavior that condones sustainable, collaborative, and socially just outcomes.”