Creating Utopia The Podcast

The Sharing Economy has been here for a long time. It's interesting to consider that The Library is the sharing economies oldest friend, a safe place where knowledge and information is readily available, regardless of your ability to purchase books, or own them. Access is what's being valued, not ownership.

Podcoin and Sweatcoin have noticed that listening to podcasts, and walking outside are generally a positive thing to do. There's a rich well of valuable information out there to consume, and getting outside and exercising, not a bad idea for the majority of the population. What's beautiful about this is that people are already listening to podcasts and they're already walking and running, and as a general rule, the humans who participate in these activities on their own volition are better off for it. Conversely there's a vast segment of people who aren't walking outside, and they're consuming things like Fox news, as opposed to 3 hour long history podcasts or thoughtful discussions. These humans now have a tangible reason – beyond it just being a “good idea” or recommendations from friends to learn more and be active. There's no reason that positive action is not being rewarded in society more broadly... indeed it is perhaps the biggest obstacle to our flourishing – as taking care of children or the elderly, volunteering, walking, reading, recycling – these are valuable in their own right. But as a society should we not encourage these activities by permitting those who participate in them to be able to survive?

With these Apps, you have the ability to turn your everyday positive habits into a real reward, either for yourself or for others. Podcoin has donations built right into the platform, so you can turn your listening into acres of rain-forest or clean drinking water for those in water stressed areas. This episode explores a slice of the sharing economy, with digital currency and basic income baked right in.

Mentioned in this Episode: Sweatcoin   Podcoin   Legacy: The Future Started Yesterday   Random Acts of Green   Steemit   Tab For A Cause

Rushkoff and Gots are both doing their part to explore the solutions and different perspectives needed in order to break out of the “my job is my identity and purpose” mindset. Their discussions about the higher order purpose and value of life, and what it means to be human is modern day improv poetry. And they're on to something, life is more than consumption and labour and attempting to climb some sort of invisible ladder. Life isn't about what you have, it's about what you do, the connections you make.

There was a moment in their discussion about 15 minutes in, where Rushkoff says, “There's a difference between contemplating a Utopian future and dealing with this all hands on deck civilization moment”. This episode is intended to elaborate on the discussion from January 2019 regarding Basic Income, and how it can be a positive force that encourages active participation in community and society at large.

Our words can never hurt each other the way a fist, a bullet or a nuclear weapon can. And the day we forget that we have to use our words and our voices to problem solve, is the day modern civilization can perhaps wave goodbye to this trajectory of progress we've been on for over half a century.

What does it mean to be a contrarian in the modern world? There are a growing number of people who refuse to believe the Earth is round, that's a contrarian position. Climate change: not real – contrary to what the overwhelming consensus – I think it's up to nearly 98% of the human beings who study the climate, agree that climate change is real, and a threat. This is not what Hitchens had in mind. Being a contrarian, or being a “deep thinker”, not accepting the orthodox story that is handed down from those who control the narratives does not mean rejecting reality, or rejecting facts. It's difficult to analyze the present from a historical perspective, but it's quite apparent that we are in the middle of multiple revolutions. I've said it before: digital, automation, and oft overlooked is the information revolution.

Here's where Hitchen's comes in. I'd never claim to know what he might say or how he might say it, but I'm going to try to dig into my reservoir of Hitch knowledge and respond to a “space is fake” argument – as if Eddie Bravo were in front of me.

Joe Rogan had presidential candidate Andrew Yang on his podcast last month, February of 2019 to discuss Yang's Universal Basic Income, or as he refers to it, “Freedom Dividend” centered platform. My initial reaction to just seeing this episode pop up in my feed, was....FINALLY... there's so much needless confusion over what UBI is, how it would be implemented or funded, what the purpose of it is, what the consequences have been in places it's been tried, why it's needed, etc. and Yang did a remarkable job answering all of these questions and more in just 2 hours.

The main area of concern, and what seems like perhaps Yang's reasoning for why we ended up with Donald Trump, is because the artificial intelligence and automation revolutions already started, jobs in the manufacturing industry are scarce, and it's coming for truck drivers, service workers, journalists and more. This episode is intended to keep the conversation going, elaborating on an openness to looking at life and at our potential as a species, in a new way. Work and money does not equal meaning or value.

We have the knowledge and technology to empower every individual to make positive changes for the first time ever in history. And it's a true perspective changer when you realize what's possible.

The United States southern border wall is one of the most discussed, divisive and sensitive issues on the worldwide stage. What does the wall represent? Is there anyone who has had their mind changed by a new perspective on this topic? This episode of Creating Utopia discusses the walls that have been created within our own minds, preventing us from connecting with the humanity of those around us. We need to recognize that no matter how controversial an idea or a belief, that behind the idea exists a person, worthy of respect and dignity. We can turn this conversation inward, and examine our own lives looking for the walls within, that might be causing more harm than good. As Douglas Rushkoff would suggest, it's imperative now more than ever to "find the others", because when we do, we'll see that they're people, like us, and they aren't others at all.

If you haven't listened to Peterson's breakdown of his thoughts regarding climate change in his podcast episode #59 with Bjorn Lomborg, I highly recommend it. It was interesting to listen to right after releasing my own episode on the topic, and wonderful to hear them discuss the issue from a perspective that's often overlooked, being – what can we do now regarding climate change, and what will it accomplish.

Whether it be a perspective, an idea, a thought, an axiom, a proposition, or an equation – there is no one who knows everything. We're all ignorant to something and to someone in some realm, and each of us is ignorant to varying degrees about almost everything. So when we come across a person or a group of people who are acting or believing certain things that we can't quite comprehend or we find abhorrent even, the solution has to be to still try. To reach out, to show our humanity and try to educate, encourage and enlighten in any way shape or form is a valuable endeavor. 

This episode sheds light on a recurring tactic used by intellectuals and Influencers when confronted with a viewpoint in stark contradiction to their own.

The conversation surrounding climate change has gone on for decades, and yet somehow, we still can't agree on the fundamental reality of what is taking place on our planet. Maybe we're so used to having conversations in terms of "Us vs. Them", or from the position of trying to prove someone else wrong, that we forgot what it means to converse at all. This episode is an attempt to go back to square one, and look at climate change from an angle that we all can see, but perhaps we forgot was available.

The reason we have progressed as a species, specifically so remarkably in the past 100-200 years, is that some of us made a commitment to finding out what's true about the world, the universe, nature, reality, and ourselves.

What is lying, really, and what are the consequences? Sam Harris is one of my favorite authors – he's a contemporary philosopher – elaborating on topics such as free will, morality, consciousness, and meditation. But the reason I picked Lying as the first book to discuss, is because I think most if not nearly everyone is operating with the assumption that lying is something we need to live with and come to accept. In this episode I elaborate on Sam's thesis, that the world we create through honesty is much more beautiful than even conceivable, through lies.

Mental Wellness, to build off of Part 1, is the concept that's going to be explored a little bit further. More specifically, the arbitrary nature of considering others' mental states to be illnesses and the potential consequences that can have is what's examined in this episode. Can it be that somehow the struggles that we face within, can be the cause of greatness? Is it to be assumed that we should avoid quote negative mental states at all costs at all times, or... is struggle and pain a part of human existence that can unleash in us potential that we were unaware we had? A common theme in many that spend their lives doing good things is a past history of struggle. The more extreme the struggle, often the more a person commits themselves to do good.

I wonder how many insights have been missed throughout time, because we decided to classify some people, in some way shape or form, and miss out on more potential greatness said individual has to offer. We may not notice it, but our own mental wellness is being affected by the way we respond to and judge others.

I just listened to the recent Jordan Peterson podcast with Gregg Hurwitz, and I couldn't help but ask myself the entire time it felt – where were these thoughts in 2016, or 2012, or 2008? Campaign finance reform, admitting that the gerrymandering process is extremely unfair, voter ID laws and the suppression that follows. Where was the interest in candidates that propose solutions to the problems affecting society? I relinquish just a bit of frustration here, because I know the likes of Andrew Sullivan, or David Frum, Cenk Uyger, or the late Christopher Hitchens have been advocating along these lines for decades now, and it seems like people are just starting to listen – or feel like they're discovering these ideas themselves. The intellectual dark web has been a vibrant community for at least a decade now, there is no invitation necessary.

You are not throwing your vote away, by voting for a third, fourth or alternative party, and you're not failing your democracy if you refuse to vote for the candidates that are put forth. There should be someone you can look to that represents you, that will fight for you, protect your rights and enable you to live a free life, with the opportunity to flourish. We are the government, and it is our responsibility to demand more from the political process.