Democracide, Democratic Socialists & Rituals

7/26/2026

This is a summary of the previous week’s daily meditations. Some are written by Matthew Fox (MF) and some are written by his colleague, Gianluigi Gugliermetto. (GG)

July 20, 2026: An American President Preaches Death to American Democracy (MF)

In his recent speech to the nation, it is clear the president has no interest in democracy. Instead, he’s doing everything possible to sabotage our rights to a free and safe election.

On January 6, 2021, thousands of people stormed the Capitol, trying to overturn the peaceful transfer of power. Then, after many of those same people were convicted of their crimes, he pardoned all of them. In addition, through his paramilitary force, he’s been waging war in our own cities, abducting people without due process and shooting people in the streets.

What we heard on Thursday night was a mountain of lies, applied with a passion to destroy democracy by any means possible.

July 21, 2026: Politics From a New Generation: A Democratic Socialist Gathering (MF)

Matthew highly recommends a recent article by Patrice Mersault in his Substack, “Open Letter by Mersault.”* He shares with us what transpired in a day-long meeting of young leftists who identify as Democratic Socialists of America.

He cites a new CNBC poll which found that more voters are now open to candidates who identify as democratic socialists than “to candidates aligned with MAGA or endorsed by Trump.” And the shift is “largely driven by younger voters.” Anna, the main speaker, said that “internal democracy” is missing in the Democratic Party.

The bottom line was this: Concentrated wealth has captured American democracy in both parties.

July 22, 2026: Mersault On the Young Democratic Socialists, continued (MF)

We continue to explore the Democratic Socialists of America. Anna, the main speaker, stressed that capitalism leaves people “isolated,” “atomized,” feeling alone, and vulnerable to seeking quick hits of dopamine on their phones, etc.

In contrast, meaning and purpose are meant to be at the heart of work, which Matthew discusses in his book The Reinvention of Work. Patrice Mersault tells us he found the atmosphere of the gathering not one of resistance so much as “momentum” and “confidence.”

Measuring purchasing power parity (PPP): World Inequality Report 2026, World Inequality Lab, by Chancel, L., Gómez-Carrera, R., Moshrif, R., Piketty, T., et al. Creative Commons Licence: World Inequality Report 2026, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read the complete report at wir2026.wid.world.

July 23, 2026: The Reappearance of Ritual (GG)

GG is enjoying a book by philosopher Byung-Chul Han entitled The Disappearance of Rituals: A Topology of the Present. The first chapter opens with the following statement:

Rites create a community without communication, while today communication without community dominates. GG concurs that true rituals do not need a lot of words.

Another gem from the book? Rites produce a distance from self, a transcendence of self. They de-psychologize, they de-interiorize those who participate in them.

July 24, 2026: Ritual as Performance (GG)

When GG was a child, he was enchanted by the incense, the chanting and the organ in his little parish church. Ritual became instantly the source of meaning in his life.

He became a “ritualist” in a world where ritual was becoming more and more devalued. GG believes there is a fine yet strong line between the spiritual ritualist and the obsessive ritualist. Both derive meaning from the ritual, but the line is strong because the first group is completely aware that rituals are human constructions, while the second group seems to think that they are divinely ordained.

Ritual is a performance because it is bodily and not mental or verbal in the main. Ritual is a performance because through it the community builds and rebuilds itself through the right kind of repetition.

July 25, 2026: Losing Oneself in Ritual (GG)

A very important sub-theme emerged this week during our reflections on the theme of ritual. And that is the relation between the individual ego, community, and the Divine, which takes place in and through the ritual action.

For instance, Byung-Chul Han writes: Rites produce a distance from self, a transcendence of self. They de-psychologize, they de-interiorize those who participate in them. GG concurs that we need a transcendence of self.

We need to loosen up and lose our egos in worship and dance. Says Han: The ego libido cannot get attached to rituals, because if it gives in to the rites, it must then leave itself aside.

Enter this ritual space on hands and knees, leaving ego at the door:
“Sweat Lodge.” Photo by Matthew Venn on Flickr.

*Patrice Mersault, “PART 2: I Went to a Meeting of Young Leftists,” Open Letters By Mersault, July 19, 2026.

Byung-Chul Han, The Disappearance of Rituals: A Topology of the Present.