Our First Open Thread!
A place to introduce yourselves, ask me questions and share what's going on in your world with fellow listeners/subscribers.
Hey everyone!
As you may have read in this post, I’ve decided to migrate the bulk of our MGSW community engagement/activity from Discord to Substack. I really admire what Substack is attempting to do in regard to independent writing and podcasting. This platform openly and intentionally supports freedom of speech and long-form, nuanced creative expression. They also reject cancel culture and advertising/attention economy/algorithm BS.
To me, Substack feels like a return to the early days of social media which I genuinely loved (remember livejournal anyone?!), and I am all for the transition away from algorithms, word counts and ads. It feels good to align A Millennial’s Guide to Saving the World with a platform that has such similar values.
SO…
Each month(ish) I am going to create something called an “Open Thread”. It will be open to both free and paid subscribers, and a place for us to get to know each other, support each other, and engage in interesting, nuanced discussion. Sometimes the threads will be open-ended and sometimes I’ll propose a discussion topic.
To participate, simply leave a comment on this feed with any or all of the following…
Introduce yourself! Who are you and where in the world are you located? (If I already know you or you’ve introduced yourself on Discord in the past, please still feel free to say hi again so that fellow listeners/subscribers can meet you!)
Ask me a question.
Suggest a future podcast guest or topic(s) you’d like me to explore.
Let me know how you found me or my podcast.
Share an assumption or belief you had in the past that now you’re starting to rethink. I am experiencing A LOT of this reevaluation in my life at the moment and would love to vent and process with all of you. (Visit the comments section to see one of my current reevaluations).
Sending you love from Spain.
Alright... going to start things off as far as sharing a previously held belief that now I'm not so sure of.
I used to think that the way we could provoke meaningful change politically was to elect more liberal and progressive politicians who could work to reconstruct the system. Ie, if we want more equality, more socialism, and more leftist policies, we need to elect those sorts of people who could shake things up and refuse to participate in the status quo.
However, I now wonder if that would really just be signing up for more of the same - stagnancy, cowardice and ultimately, the same old nonsense disguised as "change we can believe in". Trump is insane and potentially dangerous, yes, but he also seems to cut straight to the point of things in ways that no one else does - he calls out systemic corruption, refuses to play the game, and challenges the status quo constantly. Yes, I am worried about the climate, but if (as an example) I don't really believe the Paris Agreement is doing anything to meaningfully shift our capitalist and consumerist practices in any way (the same practices and systems that caused the climate problems to begin with), does it matter if we pull out?
On the path toward meaningful change do we need to first make make a pit spot in psycho crazy town? Does it need to get worse before it gets better? If so, how much worse? I've known and worked for some pretty insane narcissistic characters in the past and while they were undoubtedly nuts and abusive, they could also move the needle and do the impossible in ways that no one else could. Nice people follow the rules, and following the rules normally does nothing to provoke any lasting difference.
Curious to hear what you all think about this... plus some other beliefs and assumptions you're currently rethinking in your own lives.
I am Eamon from Australia. Currently traveling around Australia with my girlfriend in our van working on farms and hiking. Found your podcast through Chris and TS.
Just wanted to say what I gain from your podcast - I find that you, through the insights gained by your own journey, are great at sharing what are essentially brutal truths. These truths center ourselves as being ultimately responsible for our the outcome of our journeys, how we treat ourselves and others, and the quality of our lives. Sometimes I find it difficult to listen to, but deep inside, know some of these things to resonate.
Something I have changed my mind on:
I used to believe in vegetarianism and saw it as an undefeatable position.
Now, I have come to see that through taking an animals life in a specific context, ideally by hunting a sustainable population, we eliminate the need for factory farming, transportation, plastics, storage etc. Similarly to growing our own things we stop relying on pesticides and all the emissions that come from commercial agriculture.
That's the price you pay. A lot of effort and taking a life - to avoid all the garbage that the system produces to get your food to your supermarket.
I hope to engage with your and Chris through Substack, as well as grow my own readership.
I've finished writing a two part story about when my lung collapsed in rural Myanmar, and had to have life saving surgery in a public hospital if anyone is interested in reading.
Sending love to everyone out there.