By Steve Conley, Academy of Life Planning
In recent years, countless victims of financial harm have encountered a devastating pattern: institutions that once promised protection now offer only deflection. When the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) tells a victim to “contact the Slovakian regulator,” and that regulator says “only in person,” while HMRC claims “we only handle tax matters,” and the FSCS or FOS reply “outside our jurisdiction,” we are not just witnessing inefficiency—we are witnessing systemic moral failure.
So how do we make sense of this abdication of duty? Dr. Iain McGilchrist, in two profound lectures delivered recently, offers a philosophical lens that explains not only what is happening—but why.
The Future of Humanity: Lecture One The Sovereignty of Truth with Dr Iain McGilchrist
The Triumph of the Machine – Lecture Two from The Future of Humanity with Dr Iain McGilchrist
🧠 The Tyranny of the Left Hemisphere
At the heart of McGilchrist’s thesis is a radical diagnosis: our culture is dominated by the left hemisphere of the brain—the part that favours abstraction, control, categorisation, and self-interest. In contrast, the right hemisphere seeks truth through relation, context, and empathy.
In the modern bureaucratic state, the left hemisphere has overthrown its master. The result? A system that:
- Prioritises internal logic over real-world consequences.
- Compartmentalises moral responsibility.
- Defers accountability to procedure.
This explains why victims are passed endlessly between agencies, each one shielding itself behind remit and regulation, while no one takes responsibility for the lived harm caused. The system appears coherent—but at the cost of truth, justice, and humanity.
🏢 Bureaucracy as Tyranny Without a Tyrant
McGilchrist draws heavily on Hannah Arendt, who warned that in a fully bureaucratised world, no one is left to be held accountable. This rings painfully true for victims who fall between regulatory cracks—trapped in a loop where every door is shut, every voice automated, and every harm dismissed as someone else’s problem.
“We are hollowed out,” McGilchrist says, “by the lack of deep sustaining beliefs, by disconnection from our history, and by abandonment of the values without which no society can stand.”
What we’re witnessing is not just institutional indifference—it is a spiritual and moral crisis.
🛠️ Repair as Sacred Work
Despite this bleak diagnosis, McGilchrist offers a way forward: repair, drawn from both Jewish mysticism (tikkun) and Japanese aesthetics (kintsugi). These traditions teach that what is broken can be remade—not back to its original form, but into something stronger, more beautiful, more meaningful.
And this is exactly the work that advocacy groups, citizen investigators, and projects like SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) are doing. We are not waiting for the system to save us—we are becoming the system’s moral conscience. We are picking up the shards.
🌱 The Role of the Individual
Some may ask, “What can I do? I’m just one person.” McGilchrist’s reply is powerful: “We don’t know how important a single individual can be.”
- A single voice speaking the truth can awaken others.
- A single community acting in love can model a better system.
- A single act of courage can crack the wall of silence.
We are each whirlpools in the stream of life—distinct yet inseparable from the whole. Our resonance matters.
🧭 Conclusion: From Bystanders to Repairers
Regulators and institutions are increasingly captured by abstraction, legalism, and control. Victims are left out in the cold, often retraumatised by the very systems meant to protect them. But we are not powerless. We are the gardeners, says McGilchrist—not the creators of life, but the ones who prepare the ground where truth, dignity, and justice may grow again.
The answer is not in louder complaint, but in deeper alignment with values that precede and transcend bureaucracy:
💛 Truth.
🌿 Compassion.
🌍 Responsibility.
🕊️ Love.
Let us begin the work of repair. Not because the system grants us permission—but because humanity demands it.
Steve Conley is founder of the Academy of Life Planning and SAFE, working to empower victims of financial harm and rebuild ethical, human-centred financial systems.
Your Money or Your Life
Unmask the highway robbers – Enjoy wealth in every area of your life!
By Steve Conley. Available on Amazon. Visit www.steve.conley.co.uk to find out more.
Academy of Life Planning 