The New Fascism; The UN; Angels

The New Fascism, the U.N., Justice & Angels

10/04/2026

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)

September 28, 2026: Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor Join Forces with Gil Durán on the New Fascism (MF)

We have been reflecting on Gil Durán’s new book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy, which lays bare the agenda behind the AI world as led by Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and other multi-billionaires who dream of taking over the world.

Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate and No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need, has teamed up with filmmaker/activist Astra Taylor to write a fine companion book to Durán’s: End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World.

Klein and Taylor tell us: “The most powerful people in the world are preparing for the end of the world, an end they themselves are frenetically accelerating.” The fight is between an economic system “built on limitless growth, and on limitless wealth for the winners” who do not care about the reality of an endangered planet.

September 29, 2026: Techbros, Theobros, the “Zany” Fear of Death & Quest for Immortality (MF)

The dystopian future being imagined and promulgated by multi-billionaires (and one trillionaire) is abetted by some crackpot Christians cheering on the genocide in Gaza so eager are they for Jesus’ second coming.

A very important aspect of this movement that Klein and Taylor call the “new fascism” does not get the attention it deserves, however. Psychologist Otto Rank named it almost 90 years ago,and Ernest Becker further explored it in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Denial of Death.

Rank spoke of what happens when people are robbed of the meaning of “soul” and when they don’t believe in an afterlife. They begin to explore immortality projects. Gil Durán points out that many in the Silicon Valley movement are preoccupied with immortality.

A.I. CEOs are on an ‘APOCALYPSE TRIP,’ says tech journalist, and Trump is ignoring the danger!

AI CEOs are on an “Apocalypse Trip,” says tech journalist Gil Durán, being interviewed by Lawrence O’Donnell. Video by MS NOW.

September 30, 2026: More Telling of Truth to Power by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor (MF)

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, in their prophetic book, End Times Fascism and The Fight for the Living World, are waking us up to what’s at stake with AI and the billionaires trying to take over the world. They’re not alone.

Dan Milmo, global technology editor of The Guardian, writes about how advanced AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.”* The wealth of some CEOs and venture capitalists is “staggering” with “the top fortunes growing by $100 million a day.”

For them, “power isn’t for impressing the meek. It’s for imposing your will on the world.” Klein and Taylor call for “Disarming the Wealth Bomb.” Insisting that “there is such a thing as enough,” they call for a universal maximum income or a wealth cap.

The authors have many suggestions about how we can band together to make a difference.

October 1, 2026: Signs of Hope (GG)

Many of us who watched or heard about the U.N. General Assembly of last week focused on Trump’s and Netanyahu’s displays of utter ugliness.

But there were also speeches which showed great courage and vision. The outgoing Secretary General of the U.N., Antonio Guterres, did not mince words. He said: Over the last decade, wars erupted with devastating consequences and dragged on with despicable cruelty. Civilians were targeted. Human rights trampled. Hunger weaponized. Humanitarians killed. International law cast aside….The climate crisis went from distant warning to daily reality.

And artificial intelligence moved at a speed that has blindsided even those who created it. Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, while calling out Trump and Netanyahu, added: I have also seen wonderful things that keep me believing in humanity, such as activists putting their own lives at risk.

Several leaders passionately defended the mission and purpose of the U.N. while decrying those leaders who are trampling on international law and wreaking such havoc in the world.

‘I will never, ever give up’:António Guterres receives standing ovation for his final speech to UNGA
‘I will never, ever give up’: António Guterres receives standing ovation for his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly. United Nations

October 2, 2026: The Wound of Injustice and the Gift of Justice (GG)

The title of this piece comes from a friend who frequently comments on the Daily Meditations. GG believes that we all live between the poles of injustice/imbalance/sickness, and justice/balance/health.

The feeling of balance is not measurable, rather, it needs to be experienced and felt. This fits very much with C.G. Jung’s conviction that “good” and “evil” are felt rather than thought.

The first noble truth of the Buddha — that suffering is universal — is there not to depress us, but to dismantle our illusions about life. We are wounded all the time by other people’s actions against us, or by the suffering of others.

Says GG: Through this meditation, I have come to see the wisdom of the sentence pronounced by my friend: the wound of injustice and the gift of justice.

October 3, 2026: Michaelmas and Angels (GG)

September 29 is the Feast of St. Michael and all angels, Michaelmas (Michael Mass). Rupert Sheldrake is a renowned and controversial British scientist who, in the following video explains lots of things about the meaning of this feast day, his reasons to believe in angels, and his collaboration with Matthew Fox on the topic of angels.

Here are some ideas presented in the book The Physics of Angels, cowritten by Sheldrake and Matthew: Angels have been considered in ancient and medieval cultures as “intelligences” which can act at great distances in the material world.

Thomas Aquinas described angels as individuals who can move from one place to another with no time lapse. In the Christian tradition, angels are organized hierarchically. While Matthew is not a fan of hierarchy, he appreciates Dionysius’ description of the angelic hierarchies as holy order and knowledge and activity participating in the divine likeness.

Angels and the festival of Michaelmas
Rupert Sheldrake discusses the significance of Michaelmas, the role of angels in various religious traditions, and how modern beliefs about angels persist despite materialist skepticism.

* Dan Milmo, “Anthropic ‘warns of existential AI risks to humanity” in IPO document,” The Guardian, September 29, 2026.

** Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, in their prophetic book, End Times Fascism and The Fight For the Living World, pp. 302f. 308f., 325.