Eco Civilization: Transforming Our Operating System with Jeremy Lent

Overview

In this episode, host Rachel Feltman interviews Jeremy Lent, author of Eco Civilization, about shifting humanity from an extractive operating system to one of mutual abundance and ecological regeneration.

• Core idea: replace the modern, separation-based worldview with an ontology of interconnectedness
• Concrete example: Mondragon cooperative shows alternative enterprise design that prioritizes employees over shareholders
• Methodology: backcasting starts with a flourishing future and maps steps backwards
• Practical takeaways: local cooperation and participatory governance can move societies toward a sustainable future

Overview

The podcast features Jeremy Lent explaining Eco Civilization as a world built on interconnectedness rather than separation. He traces the roots of the current operating system to early modern Europe and the scientific revolution, where nature began to be seen as a machine and people as resources. He argues that this worldview makes extraction and exploitation seem natural and even virtuous, and he contends that science has repeatedly shown that humans are not inherently selfish in the way the myth suggests.

From Modernism to a Regenerative Ontology

Lent describes how the modernist operating system shaped economics and culture, then contrasts it with an ontology of mutual flourishing that could guide policy, business, and culture. He cites the field of systems science, ecology, and cognitive science to argue that relationships and connections are often more telling about a system than its parts. He also notes that indigenous wisdom and eastern philosophies have long emphasized interdependence, and modern science is catching up to these insights.

Eco Civilization in Practice: Corporate Organization and Wealth Flows

One key example is Mondragon in Spain, a large cooperative with about 80,000 employees and a narrow pay gap between the highest and lowest paid workers. Lent uses Mondragon to illustrate that large, complex enterprises can be organized around cooperative principles rather than a shareholder wealth pump that concentrates wealth at the top. He argues that many of the largest economies are dominated by corporations rather than states and that alternative models exist that can align incentives with human and ecological well being.

Backcasting: A Roadmap to a Desirable Future

He endorses backcasting as a planning method that begins with a future in which all beings flourish and then identifies the steps needed to move from the present to that future. This approach, he says, avoids the trap of only pursuing what seems feasible today and instead constructs a path toward a regenerative economy and culture.

What Everyday People Can Do

The author emphasizes cooperating with others rather than competing. He suggests recognizing that human well being grows from community and care, not from solitary achievement. He encourages joining or forming local groups, supporting cooperative enterprises, and influencing policy through collective action.

Conclusion

The conversation frames Eco Civilization not as utopian fantasy but as a practical, research-grounded vision for a next chapter in humanity. By combining insights from science, philosophy, and real-world experiments, Lent argues that a regenerative economic and cultural system is within reach if society chooses to reframe its operating system and commit to collective flourishing.