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From talking about stationery supplies and design inside the City’s Gherkin, to talking about the foundational pillars of society in the woods, my friendship with Nate has evolved over the past 16 years. Was delighted to host him in London this past month as he was making the finishing touches to his ambitious book.

In it, he contends with how we ought to live with one another. He starts the journey by looking back at the contending assumptions about human nature of philosophers such as Hobbes and Rousseau and critiques them through the archaeological and anthropological empiricism of Wengrow and Graeber. He concludes that so much of current political thought that are informed by incorrect assumptions are no longer fit for purpose. He then explores what feelings are innate to all, and concludes that fairness, care and cooperation are the three legs of a stool which society requires – if any are missing, that society will be out of kilter.

Throughout his arguments, Nate shares his own experiences, thus combining this outward jihad with insight into his own internal jihad. His journey begins from parochial Cornwall where he has access to nature but not to broadened thinking. He then shifts into a corporate worklife that promotes materialism, while his life outside the office suffers from lack of regulation around the housing market and perceived over regulation in other aspects. He escapes, and assembles his meditations amidst the peace offered of the Catalonian mountains, where he built his own home.

Throughout, Nate uses simple language so as to shine a light on the fallacies of the philosophies underlying societal thought. His society based on fairness, care and cooperation makes intuitive sense and should form the basis of common ground to people across the political spectrum.