One Man Empire

I was just shown an online ad from a company called ‘One Man Empire’, promising me a 7-figure turnover.

To me, the phrase ‘One Man Empire’ sums up everything we’re getting wrong at the moment: it focuses on the individual, and leans into modernity’s promise of ever-increasing ‘more’. The ad was basically saying “You can have everything you want!” It’s about as clear a symptom of the metacrisis as I’ve seen.

It’s not the fault of any particular individual[s]. I doubt the people behind One Man Empire are evil. They probably love their kids, and likely believe they are making the world a better place by encouraging small businesses to grow.

But that growth comes at a cost. When I get more, someone - somewhere - has less. It’s a systemic issue, and we’re getting better at seeing the connections.

Whether it’s physical [environmental degradation], societal [political polarisation], or emotional [mental health], the consequences of our endless pursuit of growth are becoming increasingly obvious. And it’s uncomfortable - more and more, we have a sense of something not being quite ‘right’ in the world … but how do we balance that with the need to look after ourselves and the people and things we care about?

There’s not a magic bullet here - no pithy three-word ‘solution’ to our predicament.

However, there are responses.

And we can start by questioning ideas like ‘One Man Empire’.