Twelve Dimensions of Siblinghood

A framework for doctrinal coherence and growth for the Grey Robes.

There is a paucity of spirit in our times. Once, we came together through multiple dimensions that were the sources of siblinghood. Today, we live in digital Skinner Boxes created by the proxies of corporations and states. The proxies lie to us, herd us, and mulct us for taxes and profits.

Yet, we have gotten comfortable.

Those who wish to manipulate and control us—the Enemy—are working at a clip to keep us blind, numb, and vaguely amused. From central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to the censorship-industrial complex, the contours of our invisible prison are almost perceptible. Whether out of sheer horror or fawning admiration, the powerful are jealous of CCP, which has shown the way. So, they are Sino-forming the West as you read.

We cannot let them get away with it.

But what shall we do? We must start with a spiritual revolution: an Empire of the Mind. Crudely put, today’s paucity of spirit is an opportunity. We will grow if we provide spiritual nourishment for each other. And if you, like me, have felt so starved, imagine how we can transform lives through what follows.

Twelve Dimensions

Here are the twelve dimensions of decentralization’s secular siblinghood, which correspond to the months of the year. I say “secular,” not because we lack spiritual elements. We are secular in that our shared Mission demands that we be ecumenical—even syncretic—in accepting and integrating people from various traditions. We shall weave their wisdom with ours in pursuit of liberation.

The dimensions are rather like the bones of the order.

1. Mission

We are dedicated to bringing about a worldwide consent-based order.

Without a mission, a siblinghood such as The Grey Robes would be little more than a social club. While we will smoke cigars and drink bourbon in leather chairs, we will put the mission comes first. That mission is to revive “the consent of the governed,” a Jeffersonian phrase for a decentralist age.

2. Morality

We commit ourselves to the virtues and the eschewal of vices.

It’s not merely that we will be little without a moral core—that is, we’ll have fewer common values to bind us—but moral doctrine and practice help us construct an Empire of the Mind. Our example makes us a force for good. Ours is not the morality of the Tutting Schoolmarm or Pillar Saint, but rather the practices of a people who are strong, creative, and free.

3. Means

We employ means such as subversive communication and innovation.

What we believe is important, but what we undertake will make all the difference. Subversive communication means developing a messaging memeplex to change how people think, feel, and act. We are both monks and missionaries. Subversive innovation means using creativity to make it easier for people to cooperate, make life harder for predators and parasites, and make it easier to exit bad systems.

4. Mastery

We will improve until we die.

Mastery involves ceaseless striving—a willingness to cultivate skill, knowledge, and wisdom. It means continuously improving. You must be willing to approach mastery, though perhaps never achieve it, and show the scars you have earned. You must be willing to fall in love with your fate—amour fati—to serve our order along these twelve dimensions. Master yourself in equipoise. Radiate in self-sovereignty. Self. Community. Country. World.

5. Meaning

We will make meaning even where there is none to be found.

Meaning is about the deeper significance that siblinghood adds to the lives of those in our order. Grey Robes make meaning as others practice piano or yoga. Meaning is a source of spiritual nourishment, which includes a sense of belonging, fulfillment, and sublimity—higher forms of happiness. Encouraging members to make meaning strengthens their loyalty and fuels their ambitions.

6. Mutualism

We will expect you to stand strong, but we will lift you when you fall.

Imagine having two families. One connects you to others by blood and marriage. The other connects you to others by vision, values, and strength in virtue. As so most have outsourced their sense of community to distant capitals, they have forgotten how to live in a community. We can neither afford to be oppressed by collectivism nor atomized by individualism. We must be free in dynamic interdependence—to find and look out for one another.

7. Mystery

Life, the universe, and our inner worlds are endless sources of wonder.

The mystery keeps us humble. It keeps us searching for answers—eyes to the cosmos, outer and inner. Without curiosity’s pull, we become boring, dogmatic, and sclerotic. While the Twelve Dimensions require a doctrine that will settle into dogma, we never sacrifice inquiry. We are curious. We are open. And we will forever bask in the mystery.

8. Metamorphosis

We embrace continual change and growth.

The path of the Grey Robe is one of constant metamorphosis—shedding skins and old habits to emerge renewed. Stagnation is the enemy; we must evolve continually or risk becoming indistinguishable from the bleating herds. Change and growth, with all its suffering, allow for cycles of rebirth into higher versions of ourselves.

9. Memory

We honor our roots while planting seeds for the future.

Even as we transform, The Grey Robes remain tethered to our origins by the unbroken threads of memory. We preserve our ways as a legacy for those who follow. We drink from wisdom’s well, then add our drops later so those who come after can drink, too.

10. Malevolence

We stand vigilant against those who would corrupt or control us.

The path of virtue is narrow. Malevolent forces have plans for us. We must know ourselves, of course, but we must also know our Enemy. We remain alert to manipulators, deceivers, and dominators and are prepared to confront evil. The Grey Robes steel our defenses and sharpen our discernment against the Enemy, who has many faces.

11. Mortality

We number our days to make them count.

Life is a candle in a wind storm compared to a burning star. So, complacency is vice. Even if we exist after death, what use is it to haunt our children as ghosts with chains? We must leave traces. Each breath is life’s currency to be spent with care. Our eventual demise is not a morbid obsession but a call to purpose.

12. Mythos

We are writing an eternal narrative.

Sometimes, greater truths live in stories. Through works and words, we write the texts and tell the tales that will set future imaginations alight. Animated by our myth and narrative, The Grey Robes can go on after you and I are dust.

E Pluribus Unum. Ex Uno Plures.

I want to thank our inaugural Grey Robe participants from Sunday. We’re taking baby steps, and it’s still formative—but it’s coming along nicely. Get in early and help us develop the future’s fraternal society.

Paid subscribers are free to attend our next Grey Robes Zoom meeting on
July 7th, from 1:00-3:00 ET.