E57: Do We Need the State?

with Special Guest Gregory Sams

 

E57 Introduction

Today’s guest reminds me of a Paul Arden quote.

Paul said, “Making the safe decision is dull, predictable and leads nowhere new. The problem with making sensible decisions is that so is everyone else. The unsafe decision (or the Hero’s Journey) causes you to think and respond in a way you hadn‘t thought of. It will take you to a place where others only dream of being.”

We need to give ourselves permission to explore new ideas about all sorts of things. This is how we grow. Radical ideas really shouldn’t scare us off. At least not before we have explored them and their possibilities.

Ideas that seemed too radical even 10 years ago suddenly are on the table and seem more plausible, doesn’t that often seem to be the case? Can you dear listener explore things without quickly and completely dismissing them? Can you turn over an idea and let it perculate in your sub-conscious mind without having your conscious mind slam the door on it. Give this a go and see what you find out.

Gregory Sams Bio-

My guest today is a cultural change agent Gregory Sams. Gregory is a fractal artist, social thinker, author of both The State is Out of Date and Sun of gOd. He is also a publisher, inventor and the creator of the veggie burger.

 E57 Final Thoughts-

I hope you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did. I absolutely love people who take the road-less travelled and lead an adventurous life. Gregory certainly fits the bill. I will think of Gregory from now on whenever I eat a veggie burger, or contemplate a world with no top-down hierarchy. Thank you for joining us listeners and we’ll see you next week.

E56: Radio Q & A with author Tony Rezac

 

E56 Introduction

Welcome to Basecamp for Men and episode 56. I can’t believe my excellent sound editor Chris Rodd and I have already done 56 of these! What a fun creative project this has been.

Last year, I did a Radio program called Life Mastery Radio with Todd Alan and Debby Handrich. I thought you might like the conversation. We talk all about the Hero’s Journey, why we do men’s work, and I even take a couple of good call in questions from listeners. I would like to thank Todd and Debby for having me on their show. It was super fun.

Lastly, if any of you listeners are looking to get into one of my online men’s groups in 2021, reach out to me through my website at www.basecampformen.com. You can sign up for the newletter there. We’ll be putting these together in the fall  and we would love to see you in 2021.

And here’s this weeks episode. Enjoy!

E55: The Measure of Men with Jeff Perera

 

E55 Introduction

What is the current measure of a man? We have all grown up with all sorts of cultural imprints around this. The macho tough guy. The stud athlete. The alpha male and high-achiever and blah, blah, blah. I’m so bored with these guys.

And to a certain extent, we have all been asked to accept that the measure of a man is about his status and how much money he brings in. What sort of house he lives in or what kind of family he comes from. Everything is meant to put you in some sort of imaginary pecking order.

But things are changing. The conversations that men are having ABOUT men is taking how we measure ourselves into a new arena. One with more heart and soul and more breathing room for all of us. The new measure doesn’t exclude the high-status former alpha male. It’s just requiring him to right-size his ego and stop making everything about him and his image.

We have outgrown the old measure. This much is clear. The new measure will show that men are capable of a lot more than just being status ponies.

I’m excited to talk to my guest today as he is an expert on the inner lives of men and is helping to create this new measure that I am speaking of.

Jeff Perera Bio-


Jeff Perera
 has been speaking for over 12 years to audiences and teams across North America about men helping end gender-based violence, modelling healthy ideas of manhood, and empathy-building. Jeff started HigherUnlearning.com to explore how ideas of manhood impact all of us. Jeff has delivered two TEDx talks and contributes opinion pieces for Huffington Post.

 

E54: Educating Our Boys with Special Guest Jennifer Fink   E54 Introduction Currently there is a sea change happening in how we educate our boys. Brought on by this pandemic, parents are looking at alternatives…

E53: Envisioning Our Future with Special Guest Ian Mackenzie

 

E53 Introduction

In the coming episodes, I hope to speak with more futurists and visionaries. I like to have conversations about what is possible as we navigate change.

I am reminded of a Kurt Vonnegut quote. He said,“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things that you can’t see from the center.”

It is good for us to listen to alternative perspectives and ideas. It sharpens our intellect and keeps our brains working well. You may not agree or can envision these ideas bearing fruit. But new systems are often started by visionaries and futurists who try and sketch out what they are seeing. And we, as early adopters of these new ideas, work to turn these ideas over in our conscious and sub-conscious minds. Working the fertile ground of our imagination. Trying our best to allow others to contribute as we seek our own place and contribution to the greater good.

I am at a point in my life where I don’t want to close off an idea because it initially feels “out there”. Our greatest transformations, both external and internal, may come from these very esoteric and edgy ideas and concepts.

My guest today is someone I have a great deal of respect for, both as filmmaker and a futurist.

Ian Mackenzie Bio

Ian Mackenzie is a filmmaker and visionary artist and creator and host of the podcast The Mythic Masculine. For over 11 years, Ian has been tracking the global emergence of new culture, seeking out and amplifying the voices of visionaries, artists and activists who have ben working towards planetary system change.

Here is my interview with Ian MacKenzie.