1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 2: Book Club book Club, book Club book Club. Hello and 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 2: welcome to the Cool Zone Media book Club, the only 4 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 2: book club where you don't have to do the reading 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 2: because I do it for you. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 2: and every week I bring you well usually I bring 7 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 2: you stories, but I've been promising you for a little 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 2: while now the Cool Zone Media book Club is going 9 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 2: to change. It's not going to drop stories. It's not 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 2: going to drop me reading you stories. But what it 11 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 2: is is that we're going to start adding more stuff. 12 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:40,959 Speaker 2: And we've been talking about different things that we can 13 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 2: bring you and one of those things is it occasionally 14 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 2: we're going to bring you essays. We're going to bring 15 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 2: you like kind of zine content and things, and so 16 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 2: this week I'm going to do that, and I'm going 17 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 2: to do it. You're going to be shocked to know this. 18 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 2: I'm going to break that ground by reading thing I wrote. 19 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 2: And one of the other things that we're working on 20 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 2: with pools On Media book Club is being able to 21 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 2: expand what sorts of authors were able to get the 22 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 2: content of. But for now, we're expanding the type of 23 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 2: thing to read to you. I want to read you 24 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 2: this piece because I care about this piece, and because 25 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 2: I recently reposted this piece to my substack. I originally 26 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 2: wrote this piece in twenty nineteen. It's called how to 27 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 2: Live Like the World Is Ending, And it's interesting to 28 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 2: me because when I wrote this, I felt like the 29 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,960 Speaker 2: world was ending, primarily because of climate change and also 30 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,199 Speaker 2: because of the ascendance of fascism in the United States, 31 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 2: which clearly wasn't so far along in twenty nineteen as 32 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 2: it is now. But I wrote it feeling almost a 33 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 2: little alone in this kind of feeling, and I don't 34 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 2: feel nearly so alone anymore. The one strange upside of 35 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 2: this seemingly apocalyptic times that we live in. And to 36 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: be clear, and I'm going to get into this in 37 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 2: the essay, I'm not saying like the end is here, 38 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 2: but rather this is a piece that explores what it 39 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 2: means to be alive when sometimes it feels like the 40 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 2: world is ending and there's like specific dramatic things happening 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 2: around you that sure seem a little bit like the 42 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 2: end of the world. And of course, you know, I 43 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 2: wrote this, and then I pretty shortly thereafter was like, 44 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 2: you know, I'm going to start a podcast. It wasn't 45 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 2: my first podcast. My first podcast was this fiction podcast. Actually, actually, 46 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 2: if you like this, you might like the like ten 47 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 2: or so episodes I did of a show called We 48 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 2: Will Remember Freedom, I believe is the name of the podcast. 49 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 2: I like naming things very dramatically. Anyone who's read my 50 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 2: books is aware of this. And it was short stories 51 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 2: about well radical ideas and things like that, sometimes the 52 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 2: very same short stories that I've read on this show. 53 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 2: And I started that in I don't know, twenty eighteen 54 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 2: or something like that. I'm not sure. But then in 55 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 2: early twenty twenty, I was like, I'm going to start 56 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 2: a podcast for preparedness, and I was going to call 57 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 2: it Live Like the World is Ending, And a friend 58 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 2: of mine was like, that's not as good wordplay as 59 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 2: live like the World is dying. So it became Live 60 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 2: Like the World is Dying. And that became my first, 61 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 2: like real podcast, or the first podcast that anyone I 62 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 2: knew listen to which somehow leads us to the chain 63 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 2: of events that brings us here. That's not really. You 64 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 2: didn't listen to this to hear my origin story as 65 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 2: a podcaster. No one cares about that. Podcasters are the 66 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 2: opposite of superheroes, but not even in a cool way 67 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: like supervillains. So I first wrote this piece in twenty 68 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 2: nineteen and then started a preparedness podcast in twenty twenty, 69 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: shortly before the pandemic hit, which was really good timing, hooray. 70 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 2: And it's been interesting to reflect back on this piece. 71 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 2: And I don't know, I think you all might like it. 72 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 2: How to live like the world World is Ending. There's 73 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 2: a commonly replicated piece of anarchist folk art that means 74 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 2: a lot to me. I don't know who drew it. 75 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 2: It's a drawing of a tree with a circle a superimposed. 76 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 2: The text of it reads, even if the world was 77 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 2: to end tomorrow, I would still plant a tree today. 78 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 2: I grew up into anarchy around this piece of art. 79 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,799 Speaker 2: It was silk screened as patches and posters, and visible 80 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 2: on the backs of hoodies and on the walls of 81 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 2: collective houses. It was graffitied through stencils, and it was 82 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 2: photocopied in the back of zines. The quote itself, in 83 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 2: one version or another, goes back at least around two 84 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 2: thousand years. I've actually learned that since I first published this. 85 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 2: This is my note from the future. I edited this 86 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 2: piece very lightly this morning, because I keep learning new 87 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 2: incarnations of this quote ever since I first published this. Anyway, 88 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 2: most directly, it's a paraphrasing of a quote misattributed to 89 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 2: Martin Luther Regional Martin Luther, the guy who started Protestantism, 90 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 2: not Martin Luther King Junior, although plenty of people misattribute 91 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 2: the quote to him as well. That quote, the one 92 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 2: that they're misattributing to Martin Luther, is something like, even 93 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 2: if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, 94 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 2: I would still plant my apple tree. The earliest reference 95 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 2: to this version, the Martin Luther Protestant version, seems to 96 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 2: be from the German Confessing Church, a Christian movement within 97 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 2: Nazi Germany that sought to challenge Nazi power. The quote 98 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 2: was used to inspire hope and to inspire people to action. 99 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 2: I've since learned, though, that it's a paraphrasing of a 100 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 2: hadith from Islam quote, if the resurrection were established upon 101 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 2: one of you, while he has in his hand a sapling, 102 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 2: then let him plant it then. More recently still, I've 103 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 2: found an even earlier source, Robin Johann ben Zakai who 104 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 2: lived in the first century Sea. He's a Jewish rabbi 105 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 2: is quoted as saying, quote, if you are holding a 106 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 2: sapling in your hand and someone tells you, come quickly, 107 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 2: the Messiah is here. First finish planting the tree, then 108 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 2: go to greet the Messiah. Either way, no matter where 109 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 2: you get the quote from anarchist folk art, from a Protestant, 110 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 2: from Islam, or from Judaism, regardless of whether or not 111 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 2: the end times are coming, finish your work, plant your trees. 112 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 2: That idea is something that I can get behind. There's 113 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 2: also this book that means a lot to me on 114 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 2: the Beach by Nevill Shoot. I've never read it. I 115 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 2: can't bring myself to I think about it all the time, regardless. 116 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 2: The novel describes a nuclear war destined to kill all 117 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 2: life on earth, and it describes the last days of 118 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 2: people living in Australia waiting for the inevitable death of 119 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 2: all things. It describes how they live their lives, how 120 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 2: they find meaning during the apocalypse. It's a book about 121 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 2: how to live without hope. It's a book of resignation. 122 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 2: It's too much for me. I think, at least right 123 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 2: now the world might be ending A lot of people 124 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 2: will argue with me about that. They will correctly point 125 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 2: out that for large numbers of people all over the world, 126 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 2: especially in the parts of the world long ravaged by 127 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 2: Western imperialism, the world has been ending for a long time. 128 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 2: They will correctly point out that the world itself isn't 129 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 2: going anywhere, that change is constant, and even if what 130 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 2: is left behind by climate catastrophe and war is a 131 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 2: scorched desert, it's probable that life will continue. Human life, 132 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 2: non human, animal life, and plant life will all, in 133 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 2: some form or another, survive. All of this. People will 134 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 2: argue correctly once more that most every generation has believed 135 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 2: that the world was ending. The machine gun slaughter of 136 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 2: World War I, the genocide of World War II, the 137 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 2: doomsday cel of Cold War, the AIDS epidemic, those all 138 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 2: must have felt like the apocalypse for entire peoples. They 139 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 2: were yet here, some of us are today alive. None 140 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 2: of these arguments detract from the fact that it shore 141 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 2: feels like the world is ending. Mountains are blown up 142 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 2: for coal to pump poison into the air, Pipelines clear 143 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 2: cut the last vestiges of the wild to help us 144 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 2: pump more poison into the air. Oceans are swallowing islands. 145 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 2: One hundred year storms happen every year, and it feels 146 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 2: like every day we break new climate records. A sense 147 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 2: of urgency about coming disaster is fueling the rise of 148 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 2: a I Got mine, Fuck you nationalism and climate scientists 149 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 2: are being ignored to an unconscious able degree. The world 150 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 2: is ending. It's always ending, but it's ending a lot 151 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 2: right now. For me and the people I'm close to. 152 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 2: It's ending more dramatically than it was when I was 153 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 2: born thirty seven years ago. That's fucking paralyzing. The news 154 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,679 Speaker 2: is full of extinction and fascism and death and death 155 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 2: and death, and we're expected to get up in the 156 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 2: morning and go to work just like me. My job 157 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 2: is making content that advertisers can put ads into. And 158 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 2: here I am, and here's the ads, and we're back. 159 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: For a while, I coped by means of a cycle 160 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 2: of denial and panic. The potential apocalypse was basically too 161 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 2: much problem. I couldn't wrap my head around it or 162 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 2: its ramifications, so I acted like it wasn't happening, until, 163 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 2: of course, some horrible event or reminder of the apocalypse 164 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 2: broke over a certain threshold and sent me spy. I 165 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 2: relin into despair. Then numbness took over once more, and 166 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 2: the cycle began again. That didn't do me much good, 167 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 2: But a year ago I decided to embrace four different, 168 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 2: often contradictory priorities for my life. I run decisions past 169 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 2: all of them and try to keep them in balance. 170 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 2: One act like we're about to die. Two act like 171 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 2: we might not die right away. Three act like we 172 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 2: might have a chance to stop this. Four act like 173 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 2: everything will be okay. One act like we're about to die. 174 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 2: We have so many sayings about this. Every breath we 175 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 2: take is the last breath we take. You only live once. 176 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 2: Smoke them if you got them, do as that wilt 177 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 2: Memento mory. Nothing is better later. Our culture is full 178 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 2: of euphemisms and clever sayings that focus around one simple idea. 179 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 2: We're mortal, so we might as well try to make 180 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 2: the most of the time we have. Embracing hedonism has 181 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 2: a lot to recommend it. These days. It's completely possible 182 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 2: that the majority of us won't be alive ten or 183 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:13,959 Speaker 2: twenty years from now. It's completely possible, though a lot 184 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 2: less likely, that a lot of us won't be alive 185 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,559 Speaker 2: in a year. I used to think when I was 186 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 2: younger that I was a terrible hedonist. As a survivor 187 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 2: of sexual and psychological assault and abuse, I never had 188 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 2: much luck with drug use or casual sex, But fucking 189 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 2: and getting wasted, while perfectly worthwhile pastimes, aren't the only 190 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 2: ways to live in the moment. Hedonism is about the 191 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 2: pursuit of pleasure and joy. The trick is to find 192 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:45,840 Speaker 2: out what gives you pleasure and joy. For myself, this 193 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,080 Speaker 2: is meant giving myself permission to pursue music, to sing, 194 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 2: even though I'm not trained to play piano and harp, 195 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 2: to travel, to wander, to seek beautiful moments and accept 196 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 2: that they might be fleeting. I'll rudely paraphrase the host 197 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 2: of the rather wholesome podcast ologies, Ali Ward, and say, 198 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 2: we might die, so cut your bangs and tell your 199 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 2: crush you like them. My hedonism is a cautious one. 200 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 2: I'm not looking to take up smoking or other addictions. 201 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 2: I'm not trying to live like there's a guarantee of 202 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 2: no tomorrow, just a solid chance of no tomorrow. Frankly, 203 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 2: this would be true regardless of the current crisis, but 204 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 2: it feels especially important to me just now two act 205 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 2: like we might not die right away. Preppers have a 206 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 2: bad reputation for a good reason. The people stockpiling ammunition 207 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 2: and food and doomsday bunkers, by and large don't have 208 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 2: anyone else's best interests at heart. Still, being prepared for 209 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 2: a slow apocalypse or dramatic interruptions in the status quo 210 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,200 Speaker 2: makes more and more sense to more and more of us. 211 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 2: Preparing for the apocalypse is going to look different to 212 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 2: every person in every community. For some people, it will 213 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 2: mean stockpiling necessities, for other people securing the means to 214 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 2: grow food. One thing I've learned from my friends who 215 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 2: study community resilience and disaster relief, however, is that the 216 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 2: most important resource to shore up on isn't a tangible one. 217 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 2: It's not bullets, it's not rice, it's not even land 218 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 2: or water. It's connections with other people. The most effective 219 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 2: means of survival and crisis is to create community disaster plans, 220 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 2: to practice mutual aid, to build networks of resilience. Every 221 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 2: apocalypse movie has it all backwards. When the plucky gang 222 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 2: of survivors holds up in a cabin and fends off 223 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 2: the ravaging chaotic hordes. The movies have it backwards because 224 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 2: the ravaging hordes are, in the roughest possible sense, the 225 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 2: ones doing survival right, they're doing it collectively. Obviously, I'm 226 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 2: not advocating that we wear the skulls of our enemies 227 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 2: and cower at the feet of warlords, though wearing the 228 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:01,239 Speaker 2: skulls of would be warlords has its appeal. I'm advocating 229 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 2: staying open to opportunity and building collective power. There are 230 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 2: infinite reasons not to count on holding up in a 231 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 2: cabin with your six friends as an apocalypse plan, but 232 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 2: I'll give you two of them. First, because living a 233 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 2: worthwhile and long life as a human animal requires connections 234 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 2: with a diverse collection of people with diverse collections of skills, ideas, 235 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 2: and backgrounds. It's all fun and games in your cabin 236 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 2: until your appendix bursts, and none of your surgeons where 237 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 2: you're the only surgeon. Likewise, small groups of people who 238 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 2: tend to agree with one another are subject to the 239 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 2: dangers of groupthink in the echo chamber effect, which will 240 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 2: limit your ability to intelligently meet the challenges that face you. Second, 241 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 2: because by removing yourself from society you're removing your ability 242 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 2: to shape the changes that society will go through during crisis. 243 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 2: If you go hide in the woods with your stockpile 244 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 2: and your buddies and fascists take over. Guess what, it's 245 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 2: kind of your fucking fault, because as you weren't at 246 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 2: the meeting when everyone decided whether to be egalitarians or fascists. 247 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 2: And guess what now that rampaging horde is at your 248 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 2: doorstep and they want your AMMO and your antibiotics, and 249 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 2: they're going to get it one way or the other. 250 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 2: Fascism is always best stamped out when it starts. It's 251 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 2: never safe to ignore it, not now, not during any 252 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 2: mad Max's future. Tangible resources do matter. Of course, any 253 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 2: likely scenario that prepping is good for won't be so 254 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 2: dramatic as an utter reconstructing or collapse of society. It 255 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 2: might mean food shortages, power outages, water contamination. It never 256 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 2: hurts to keep non perishable food, backup sources of power, 257 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 2: and water filtration systems around for yourself and your neighbors. Still, 258 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 2: this is a terrible basket to put all your eggs into. 259 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 2: You probably shouldn't live out your days, whether or not 260 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 2: they're your last ones are not over preparing for something 261 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 2: that may or may not come to pass, whereas you 262 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 2: know what I I can tell you we'll come to 263 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 2: pass advertisements unless you prepared. If you prepared by getting 264 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 2: cooler Zone media, then you get one hundred percent of 265 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 2: the ad pivots and zero percent of the ads. That's right. 266 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 2: You get the finest part of this podcast without the 267 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 2: worst part of this podcast, all at once if you 268 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 2: have cooler Zone Medium. But if you don't, well, I 269 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,200 Speaker 2: suspect your phone has a plus foward, fifteen or thirty 270 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 2: second button and you can just do that until the 271 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 2: bumper music kicks in. And then like, like when I'm 272 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 2: listening to podcasts and there's an AD and I skip 273 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 2: through it, I can't handle if I cut back in 274 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 2: in the middle of a sentence, I like have to 275 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 2: go back again until I get to the bumper music. 276 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 2: Even if it means I listen to like ten seconds 277 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 2: of ads. It's worth it. It's worth it for the way 278 00:16:46,840 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 2: my brain is wired. Anyway, here's your ads or non ads, 279 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 2: and we're back three. Act like we might have a 280 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:14,159 Speaker 2: chance to stop this. We can and should stop the 281 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 2: worst excesses of climate catastrophe. We can and should stop 282 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 2: fascism by whatever means necessary. Throwing up our hands and 283 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 2: walking away from the problem is no solution. It's hard 284 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 2: to remember that we have agency unless we were raised 285 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 2: ultra rich. We've had the concept of political and economic 286 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 2: agencies stripped from us at every turn. We've been told 287 00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:42,119 Speaker 2: there are two ways to affect change. Vote for politicians, 288 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 2: or vote with our dollars. Politicians and Western democracies are 289 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 2: likely incapable of changing things as dramatically as they need 290 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 2: to be changed, and they certainly won't bother trying unless 291 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 2: we motivate them to do so in fairly dramatic ways. 292 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 2: As for economic agency, there is a small handful of 293 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 2: men with more wealth and therefore power than the rest 294 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 2: of us combined. We've been told we cannot take matters 295 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 2: into our own hands politically or economically. We're not allowed 296 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 2: to have a revolution. We're not allowed to redistribute the 297 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 2: wealth of the elite. You will be shocked to know 298 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 2: that I don't put a lot of stock into what 299 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 2: we are and aren't allowed to do. Still, even if 300 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 2: we give ourselves permission to undertake it, revolution feels like 301 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 2: an insurmountable challenge. We've got optimistically ten years to completely 302 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,120 Speaker 2: overhaul the economic system of the planet, five years now 303 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 2: revisiting this piece in twenty twenty five. It can be done, 304 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 2: It has to be done. Yet it feels like it 305 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:49,399 Speaker 2: won't be done. We're all running the cost benefit analysis 306 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 2: of acting directly. We all have different fuck it points, 307 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,919 Speaker 2: the point beyond which we can no longer prioritize our 308 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 2: own immediate well being but instead must act regardless of 309 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 2: the outcome. In the meantime, we're waiting until it seems 310 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:06,679 Speaker 2: like we can act and actually have a chance of winning. 311 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,959 Speaker 2: When I interject here from the future and say that 312 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 2: we're starting to see people reach their fucket point, We're 313 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 2: starting to see people act out individually or in small groups, 314 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 2: often in ways that are very unstrategic and some of 315 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 2: which are questionably moral. But we're starting to see more 316 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 2: and more people reach the fucket point, And I think 317 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 2: that it behooves us to offer support to the people 318 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 2: who reach that point, who are trying in their way 319 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 2: to make the world a better place, even if it's 320 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,199 Speaker 2: different than how we would have told them to do it. 321 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 2: That actually applies to me for people who act in 322 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:53,879 Speaker 2: ways that I consider sort of boring, like gluing yourself 323 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 2: to art or something. I don't mean to talk trash 324 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 2: on that. If anyone who is putting themselves at risk 325 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 2: to confront climate change or fascism or the current genocide 326 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 2: that's going on, we should be supporting, even if they're 327 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 2: doing it in ways that we find either too boring 328 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 2: or too extreme. Anyway, back to the essay, all over 329 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 2: the world, even in some western countries, people are no 330 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 2: longer waiting. They're acting. We need to be helping them, 331 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 2: supporting them with words and actions while we get ready 332 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 2: to act here as well. The revolution needs mediators and facilitators, 333 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 2: medics and brawlers. It needs hackers and propagandists. And it 334 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 2: needs financiers and smugglers and thieves. It needs scouts and coordinators, 335 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 2: and it needs musicians, and it needs people invested in 336 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 2: the system to turn trader. It needs lawyers and scientists 337 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 2: and bookkeepers and copy editors and cooks, and it needs 338 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 2: almost everyone almost every skill. One thing it doesn't need, though, 339 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,959 Speaker 2: is would be managers. The people who claim to know 340 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 2: how to run a revolution don't know how to run 341 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 2: a revolution, or they would have done it by now, 342 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 2: the authoritarian urge to decide what the revolution should and 343 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 2: shouldn't look like, how people should and shouldn't express their 344 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 2: rage and reclaim their agency will fail us every time. 345 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 2: Authoritarian communism is the death of any revolution. Authoritarian liberalism 346 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 2: is the death of any revolution. Even the more dogmatic 347 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 2: anarchists will get in the way if given a chance. 348 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 2: The revolution cannot be branded, despite Hollywood representations of rebellions, 349 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 2: they don't work well under a single banner. They are diverse, 350 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 2: or they're not revolutions. The revolution cannot be controlled by 351 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 2: a vanguard of activists. If it is, it will fail. 352 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 2: The revolution must be controlled by its participants, because only 353 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,439 Speaker 2: then will we learn how to claim agency over our 354 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 2: own lives and futures. We have a chance to stop this. 355 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 2: I forget that sometimes, but I shouldn't. Still. I can't 356 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 2: count on hope alone, or the days when hope fails 357 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:18,400 Speaker 2: me would lay me low. And then Priority four act 358 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 2: like everything will be okay. All the times the world 359 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 2: has come close to ending before, it hasn't. It's ended 360 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,199 Speaker 2: for some people, some cultures, civilizations have collapsed, ecosystems have 361 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 2: radically shifted, species have gone extinct, including the species of 362 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 2: humans that came before Homo sapiens. Colonization was an apocalypse. 363 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 2: Some people survived those apocalypses, but plenty more didn't. Still, 364 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 2: the world is still here, and we're still here. Capitalism 365 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 2: is a sturdy beast, quite adept at adaptation. Marx was 366 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 2: wrong about a lot of things, and one of those 367 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 2: things was the inevitability of the collapse of capitalism under 368 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 2: the weight of its own contradictions. With or without capitalism, 369 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,880 Speaker 2: the society we live in might stagger on. We might 370 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 2: curb the worst excesses of climate catastrophe through economic change 371 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,640 Speaker 2: or wild feats of geoengineering. I won't bet on it, 372 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 2: but I won't bet entirely against it either. As much 373 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 2: as I need to live like I might die tomorrow, 374 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 2: I need to live like I might see one hundred 375 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:33,360 Speaker 2: years on this old, green and blue planet unless things change. 376 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,679 Speaker 2: I am not burning every bridge. I'm trying to maintain 377 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 2: a career. If I was certain to die under a 378 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 2: fascist regime by twenty twenty one, Yep, Okay, there wouldn't 379 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,640 Speaker 2: be much point in writing novels. They take too long 380 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 2: to write, publish, and reach their audience. I get some 381 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 2: joy from the writing itself, sure, but I get more 382 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,399 Speaker 2: joy from putting my art in front of people of 383 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 2: letting it influence the cultural landscape. With novel writing in particular, 384 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:07,199 Speaker 2: it takes time. That takes there being a future. I 385 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 2: want there to be a future, almost desperately, not enough 386 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 2: to bank on it completely. Keeping some small portion of 387 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 2: my time and resources invested in the potential for there 388 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 2: to be a future is important for my mental health 389 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 2: because it keeps me invested in maintaining that health. The 390 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 2: world might end tomorrow, and it might not if we 391 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 2: can help it at all. We shouldn't let it end. 392 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 2: We still ought to act like it might, and we 393 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 2: ought to figure out what trees we would plant. Either way. 394 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 2: That's the end of the piece, and it is fascinating 395 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 2: to revisit this particular piece six years later. It's fascinating 396 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 2: because I wrote this not really sure. I mean, you 397 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 2: probably picked up a this not really sure. I'd be 398 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:07,199 Speaker 2: here five years later, right, And I'm happier than I 399 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 2: was five years ago. The world is in a worse place, 400 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 2: and I'm happier in my personal life. What does that mean? 401 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,120 Speaker 2: I don't know, but I've had more of those moments. 402 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 2: If I'm going on act like we might die and 403 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 2: just seeking out beautiful and precious moments. I've had more 404 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 2: of those now, and I'm so grateful for every single 405 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 2: one of them, even the ones I don't remember. That's 406 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 2: not a statement about me drinking, because I actually don't 407 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,199 Speaker 2: really drink. That's more statement about how I have a 408 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 2: really bad memory. So I try to write things down, 409 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:45,120 Speaker 2: but I don't write enough things down. And I also 410 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 2: think that okay, in terms of priority to get prepared, 411 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 2: that's happening more and more. I think that part of 412 00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:01,240 Speaker 2: why I'm happier is that the idea of mutual aid 413 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,719 Speaker 2: as disaster relief, the rise of that and having that 414 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 2: supplant old prepper narratives is really really beautiful and gives 415 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 2: me hope. It gives me hope about the ways in 416 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:20,160 Speaker 2: which we can shelter from storms. On the other hand, 417 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 2: point three about how maybe we can stop this not 418 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,439 Speaker 2: looking so good Five six years later, I gotta say 419 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 2: we have not taken measurable steps towards confronting climate change 420 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,959 Speaker 2: at all. We have gone backwards by anything that I 421 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,159 Speaker 2: can immediately measure. I'm sure that there are hope punks 422 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 2: out there who keep track of everything that we've done 423 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,959 Speaker 2: positively and maybe certain by some certain measure, we are 424 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,680 Speaker 2: confronting things better. But I would say culturally, we are 425 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 2: gutting any portion of our political system that might possibly 426 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 2: have been used to confront climate change, even though our 427 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 2: political system was always poorly designed to do something like that. 428 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:08,000 Speaker 2: And we are on our back foot compared to where 429 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 2: we were. But backfoot doesn't mean down and out right, 430 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 2: It just means backfoot. We've always been in this permanent 431 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 2: ebb and flow between you know, people power and freedom 432 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 2: on one side, and fascism and authoritarianism in whatever guys 433 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 2: on the other side. We've always been an ebb and flow, 434 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 2: and pieces of one side of that turn into pieces 435 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 2: of the other side of that, and everything is messy 436 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 2: and not a not a tug of war, but you know, 437 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 2: spiraling tides if you can imagine my visual metaphor in 438 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 2: this audio medium, and maybe more people are aware that 439 00:27:55,600 --> 00:28:00,680 Speaker 2: things are dire and that it's going to take dramatic 440 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 2: action to at the very least defeat the mini boss 441 00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 2: of fascism. And I hate calling it the mini boss, 442 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:14,439 Speaker 2: but climate change weights in the wings laughing. As for 443 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,400 Speaker 2: act like everything will be okay. I have a more 444 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 2: complicated view on this than I did before, because I'm 445 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 2: starting to understand that things being okay is even more 446 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:31,679 Speaker 2: subjective than I would have guessed before, and that in 447 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 2: some weird way, acting like everything will be okay ties 448 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 2: into acting like we're all about to die. It ties 449 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 2: into the hedonism, the seeking of joy, because acting like 450 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 2: everything will be okay means building things together, and it 451 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:53,480 Speaker 2: sort of means planting that tree. It sort of means saying, 452 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 2: if the world were to end tomorrow, I would still 453 00:28:55,240 --> 00:29:01,480 Speaker 2: plant this tree today. Is to say like, acting like 454 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 2: we can win, acting like we can survive, is probably 455 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 2: overall a better way to go about things. That's my 456 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 2: analysis of this essay that I wrote. But it was 457 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 2: a long time ago, so I feel like I can 458 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 2: do analysis of my own essay a little bit. And 459 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 2: that's where I'm at. If you want to read more 460 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 2: things like this, I write about this kind of stuff 461 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 2: all of the time. Over on my substack. Almost all posts, 462 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 2: including this one, are free for anyone to read, and 463 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 2: they just some of them are behind at paywall. They're 464 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 2: more personal, and I like, you know, tell them talking 465 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 2: about my weekend or my young life as a crosspunk 466 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 2: gloving under bridges or whatever. That stuff is more likely 467 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,360 Speaker 2: to be paywalled. But all of this stuff is free, 468 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 2: and I will see you next week on cool Zone 469 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 2: Media book Club, where maybe I'll also go wildly back 470 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 2: and forth between reading you Winnie the Pooh one week 471 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 2: and telling you that we're all about to die in 472 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 2: the next week. Who knows. I actually don't, because I 473 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 2: figure out what I'm gonna read as the week goes on. 474 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: All right, by everyone, It could Happen here as a 475 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: production of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool 476 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: Zone Media, visit our website coolzonemedia dot com, or check 477 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 478 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It 479 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: could Happen Here, updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. 480 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.