The Modern Renaissance

A guide to survive and thrive in a changing world

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I can confidently say it is clear to most people that the old world as we have come to know it is crumbling. While there have been grumblings of doom and gloom regarding this shift from the pessimists and calls of rapture from the fanatics, I see this from a more middle grounded, gray perspective. What is happening right now is a distribution of wealth, and those who can see the writing on the wall will flourish during this time, whereas those with their heads in the sand will suffer. Don’t get all dreary on me, I’m here to tell you how to capitalize on these energies from my specific vantage point. If you know me from my tarot readings (check me out on TikTok and YouTube *wink wink*), you’ll get it when I say take what resonates and leave the rest. Now let’s get into it.

A Brief Background

As with any significant societal shift, the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance was heralded by a plague; the Black Plague, to be specific. (Sound familiar)? If you’re reading this right now, I know you went through a deep personal transformation during the pandemic. Everything we experience on an individual level is always a reflection of what is happening on a much grander scale, and the personal transformations we each experienced during the pandemic were a reflection of what was going on with the world at large.

Our collective experiences from the pandemic changed everything from the way we work and operate in society, all the way down to our means of communication. Interestingly enough, the printing press, which was invented during the Renaissance, revolutionized means of communication during this era. The Middle Ages, which preceded the Renaissance, were notable for the birth of Capitalism, which is the very system wreaking havoc on today’s world. Do you see where I’m going here? I’d like to introduce you to these similarities so you may see where my line of thought stems from. I must highlight that I am no historian, I am merely a spider weaving a web; the material I use is thin, and I use it connect multiple vantage points into a coherent picture, ideally tying together past, present, and future. Please excuse any inaccuracies as I attempt to convey my perspective.

Where Is Your Advantage?

So how does any of this affect you? During the Renaissance, there was a rising class of wealth, being the merchant class. This growth of the merchant class allowed for many to acquire and accumulate great wealth. As always, there was the nobility, and the lower classes, as well. I am highlighting this merchant class, where we have a new, relatively unexplored, frontier being the internet. To tie in another historical reference, I view this internet age quite like Manifest Destiny…just without all the murder. Removing the religious aspects and forced acquisition of land, I see this age of the internet as a new frontier to be explored. We have uncharted internet real estate that any regular Joe can access. Much like Manifest Destiny led to the Gold Rush, I believe the average person has the ability to acquire and accumulate great wealth through the proper utilization of this new frontier.

As I’m sure you’ve heard many a digital entrepreneur, specifically all the good copyrighters, say that having an email list is your ticket to sustainable, catastrophe-proof wealth. That, along with ownership of your own website, is ideal. For those of you who do not have the funds to go all in on a website right away, sites such as this one are excellent places to start building. Having a social media presence is a free way to obtain an audience. Once your audience is built, you can move between platforms with relative ease.

More Creating Less Consuming

The key here is to limit consumption. As mentioned earlier, Capitalism has created such devastating global issues due to our tendency towards over-consumption. The focus needs to shift from consuming to creating. Your creativity is what will put you in the modern-day merchant class. Much like the Renaissance, we are in a unique point in history where artists can achieve major exposure and enjoy much celebration and wealth. Where the writing on the wall is looking a little scary, it is to the benefit of everyone to be producing something. It doesn’t matter what it is, it just has to be something. Creation over consumption is how we secure a piece of the pie for ourselves.

Now let’s talk about the collective. One of the benefits of becoming a creative is that it immediately shifts your perspective on what and how you are consuming. One of the biggest discoveries for me in becoming a business owner was how hard it is out there for small businesses. Not because it’s hard to find something to offer, we all offer something incredible; it's getting consumers to support us. Those who are used to the two-day shipping and exploitive prices of big business either do not want to or cannot see or value the small business perspective. I admit I was one of these people until I became a business owner, which is another reason I think it is so crucial for all of us to become producers in some capacity.

A lack of connection to the process has been detrimental to us on many levels. Society has come to function like a machine, and the idea of exploiting one another is favored over supporting one another. If we are to thrive through the upcoming societal shifts, we must come together as a community to support each other. As I stated earlier, my biggest lesson in starting a business has been in how crucial it is to support those just like us. If I can avoid shopping with big business, I do. If there is a small business option, I will always take it. If I can’t afford it, I question if I even need it. Like I said, I only adopted this perspective after becoming a business owner. Once you realize who it is you are supporting, how you make your purchases and live your life changes completely. Not only does producing something put you in the advantageous position of the new merchant class, but it also allows you the distinct perspective shift of community that you may not have had beforehand, like me.

Behind The Scenes

I believe that we are currently in the transitory period from a so called “Middle Ages” to a Modern Renaissance. Much like this previous transitory period, the stink of feudalism is in the air, which is where my main concern stems from and is the main reason for my writing this very article. To give a very rough, glossed over depiction of what this entails, the extremely wealthy class owned all of the land. Operating from this center of control, many people could not afford to live and were thus forced into serfdom - aka legalized slavery. We’ve already been feeling the beginnings of this with jacked up housing costs and food prices skyrocketing. In reality, the cost of everything has gone up, and this is very deliberate.

I’d like you to take a look at what our wealthy class is doing. Let’s take Bill Gates as an example. In recent years, he has been buying up lots of farmland. In fact, last time I checked, I believe he is the largest farmland owner in the United States. If this doesn’t concern you, it should, but please don’t let a crazy lady tell you how to think. Many of these billionaires are targeting land with natural water sources within them, as well, which I find doubly concerning. The wealthy class controlling our access to land, food, and water is scary to contemplate.

To circle back, feudalism is where a landlord (the ruling, wealthy class) divides their land into units and offers these units, along with “protection”, to the lower class in exchange for payment. The payment comes in the forms of money, food from the land the lower class is forced to work, or military service, which provides the protection the landlord is supposed to offer. Those who couldn’t afford these payments were considered the “unfree peasantry”, which is the legalized slavery I am referring to earlier. As you can see, it seems that only one party benefits from this arrangement, and the other party is manipulated into believing this set up is advantageous. I see us headed in this direction by current way of things. However, I do not believe it has to get to this point if we are able to read the writing on the wall early enough.

The Uprising

What is comforting to keep in mind through all of this is that an uprising of the lower class during the period of Enlightenment is what ended this reign. (Think French and American Revolutions). My thoughts on this are that we can come together early enough to get to an Enlightenment stage before we descend any further into this hell pit. I understand we have been marching blindly into the pit for quite some time now, but I have faith that we are collectively waking up to this now and can thus mold the future into a unique era of our own creation, rather than just repeating history. I believe the prevalence of social media, and our ability to share ideas so widely and so quickly is our biggest advantage during this time period.

It is crucial that we come together to support one another. Becoming producers in our own right, who then come together to support other producers, is how we reclaim our community. All of this free real estate available on the internet makes this an advantageous time to really take the power back. It is so much deeper than just having the ability to communicate instantly with a wide expanse of people, although that is unprecedented and a critical piece of the puzzle. We all have the ability to start an online business and make money from the internet with minimal to zero start-up costs. Those who keep their heads in the sand during this time and expect to be compensated fairly through their regular 9 to 5 employer will be at a severe disadvantage, I fear. Having something you produce, at least on the side, is your ticket to not getting stuck in the lower classes during this transfer of wealth. There has been a lack of jobs available in the job market, and I do not see that issue getting any better for reasons stated above.

I have other ideas regarding how we can come together as a community, specifically in the utilization of non-profits. However, I believe I will save that for another post, as this one is already quite lengthy, and I am deeply appreciative of your time.

Let’s Talk About It

Let me know, did I get this all wrong? Are we actually coming out of a Renaissance and into an Enlightenment period? More importantly, what are your thoughts on how we move forward in an empowered way? Please feel free to comment any thoughts on this brain dump below. You’ll have to excuse me while I go touch grass for the next 30 minutes.

Thank you for taking the time today to explore one of the many circles of hell, being my brain. I salute you; you truly are God’s strongest soldier.