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The Cash:
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The Story:
Many millenia ago, certain people started to work with herbs and other plants, healing the bodies and souls of their tribespeople. Over time, they learnt how to use certain plants to form a connection with some deep part of their unconscious, tapping into wisdom of unknown origin, which would, slowly but surely, affect the fate of humanity. Some shamans claim they contact spirits, and by using psychedelic drugs, they can come into contact with the divine.
In this episode, Kurt had a chance to catch up with Luis Fernando Mises at Anarchapulco 2016 and discuss shamanism. We discussed the contrast between San Pedro/huachuma and ayahuasca – how huachuma is like a patient grandfather who is ready to work with you at your own pace, and how ayahuasca is like a stern granddmother; how huachuma gave Luis a master’s degree on economic policy, how the roles of shaman, consultant and gun-owner are more harmonious than it might seem at first, and how psychedelic medicine can have a domino or fractal effect through many lives.
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The Cash:
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The Story:
I started writing a song for Juan Galt’s documentary series about freedom-loving expatriates in Acapulco. I wrote a bunch of verses, a few beats and a few hooks, but nothing really came out right. I asked Juan and he gave me a few concepts, laying out his vision for the song – the idea of people escaping an oppressive regrime, and the parallels to Galt’s Gulch, the refugee for productive people from Ayn Rand’s famous novel “Atlas Shrugged”.
These ideas simmered away in my mind, and in the next few days, while I was out walking, a simple hook bubbled to the surface: “I’m sailing in on a sloop on a Pacific wind/Waiting to start my life again/I don’t know much, y pues, yo no se mucho/Pero, yo se que si voy yendo a Acapulco…” I recorded it on a voice note on my phone. I felt elation, and instantly I knew that I was onto a good thing. After that, it came down to putting in the hard work to write verses which lead to the inevitable and potent conclusion.
When I posted the song in the Anarchapulco group on Facebook, Jeff Berwick heard the song and almost immediately asked me to perform at the event. I said yes, though I didn’t really know what I was going to do. The last time I had done anything resembling a performance was one year before, at Anarchapulco 2015, when Rob Hustle called for MCs to come from the crowd, and I jumped up and spat eight bars with intensity and conviction.
So I spent the next couple of weeks going through some old tracks, digging through audios to find some instrumentals from years ago, to see if I could put together a short set. This is that set.
Many thanks to Dan Dicks of Press For Truth and Doug Scribner of Watchmybit for providing the footage.
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The Cash:
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The Story:
Many people assume that having a monogamous relationship is normal and healthy. Many men get into long-term relationships, enjoy themselves for a while, but soon feel the need for the exhilarating touch of another woman’s skin, a craving for sexual diversity which many believe is biological. In such cases, men will turn to pornography, going to strip clubs, or cheating on their partners outright, with prostitutes or other women. In some parts of the world, these habits are very much frowned on, but in others they are somewhat accepted – as long as the wife never hears about it.
Individuals in the polyamorous community have decided that it doesn’t make sense to fight these urges, but instead work with them, by embracing multiple partners, in loving relationships. Humans are tribal animals, they say, and part of that tribal kinship involves sexuality. Of course, by solving the problem of cheating, they open up other problems – of course, having a relationship with one person is difficult enough.
Still others will contend that having a strictly monogamous relationship is very difficult, but entirely worth it, in maintaining the sanctity of marriage, and also providing for children in a consistent, stable environment – an environment which can even indirectly protect against government tyranny, by ensuring the family trust each other more than they do the authorities.
Which type of relationship is right for you? A monogamous relationship, a crazy single life where you screw everybody, or perhaps even complete abstinence? We explore these concepts and more, in the next willy-shaking episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
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The Cash:
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Story:
Everybody, at some point in their life, has a peak experience. It might be described as a mystical, or religious experience, being touched by the hand of God, having a spiritual awakening, or perhaps just a moment of clarity. It can come in the form of intense awe, happiness, well-being, acceptance or tranquility. Abraham Maslow coined the term “peak experience”, and originally thought they were only experienced by self-actualised people, but with further research he realised that they were available to everyone – it was just that certain types of people felt them more intensely and more frequently.
What do peak experiences mean? Are they blessings from God, or just a glitch in our brains? Can they reveal greater truths about life and the universe? Who knows, but I ask those questions and more in the next spine-tingling, chakra-awakening, spirit-rattling episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
The Cash:
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Story:
Many people in the liberty movement are very left-brained, extremely focused on logic, because that is how many of them came to the conclusion that allowing any particular organisation a monopoly on power is not a good idea, not effective, or even not practical. However, there are many people who have very similar or related feelings about liberty or about caring for others, who may not yet have the mental tools to entirely leave behind their indoctrination about government.
The hippie movement was a huge call for peace, though it later went on to be undermined by mysterious forces in the seventies – perhaps just by the realisation that it was time to get a job and a mortgage. But hippies as a movement are still very much alive, and in many ways, many Burners and Rainbow Gatherers are much more free than any Austrian economist writing essays in his suburban home could ever be. Step by step, the liberty movement extends to people who haven’t just come to liberty as an intellectual conclusion, but to people who live it and breathe it, who feel it in their bones, on their sunburnt faces, and on their blistered bare feet. Even many academic socialists who advocate robbery in the form of taxation, and many forms of impractical public policy, does so because it is congruent with his compassion for others – his desire for freedom and prosperity.
The question is, how can these two camps of logic and emotion, which, on the surface might seem to be very contradictory, be combined? The perfect answer is divine revelation. The practical answer is art. Through creating something beautiful, manifesting a piece of divinity in the human world, bringing people to a point of exaltation through poetry, song, food and painting, can win over hearts, where minds still lay closed.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
The Cash:
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Story:
Many people decide to set off to travel across the globe with nothing but a backpack and few changes of clothes, hopping from hostel to hostel and embracing the various mind-opening experiences that these journeys can offer them, and nursing their bed-bug bites as they go. But what if you could do it in luxury? What if you had several houses all over the country, or all over the world where you could stay, without cost, without debt, and perhaps without even owning the houses – even making a profit by controlling these houses – and in the meantime, providing a valuable solution to the person who does hold the deed.
All this is possible, with a little hard work, a little hard thinking, a handful of specific real estate techniques, and perhaps a healthy measure of intestinal fortitude.
In this episode, Kurt talks with Anarchapulco speaker, author, entrepreneur and liberty lover, Anam Paiseanta, about his methods of creating lease options to live without paying rent, to speculate on property prices and make a profit, and to help many desperate sellers to find a way out of a difficult situation. We discuss the differences between passive marketing and active marketing, and how someone can get started in this liberating endeavour. We also discuss his Connector app, which can help people of common interests find each other across the world, enabling people to prescreen new social connections, finding business and agorist networks, and developing and maintaining liberty-loving communities.
Join us on another globe-trotting, money-making adventure in this episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
The Cash:
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Story:
Many people will see a meme about a military political situation in the middle east and assume that they might understand something about it. However, a complex scenario with many different players, many motivations, prejudices and current interplays of actions is too complex to be condensed down to a few sentences on Facebook.
Is ISIS controlled or funded by the US government? Our guest Ishmam Ahmed says that the evidence points to no. There is a complex narrative behind it, involving Al-Qaeda Iraq’s split from Al-Qaeda, their subsequent organised crime activities, the de facto government infrastructure which they have now built, the rebellion against the current brutal Assad regime leading to the radicalisation of many citizens, other groups fighting against ISIS and the Assad such as the Free Syria Army, and funding of those groups from other countries in the region.
Can you work through the labyrinth of interests, radicalised interests, mixed interests and crossed interests? We review the evidence on the next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
The Cash:
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Story:
1999, nearing the dawn of the millennium. Developers Shawn Fanning, John Fanning, and Sean Parker gave birth to Napster, and on this day music was set free. As the Internet has developed – faster download speeds and cheaper access, record labels have been forced to seek solutions, trying to fit their old ways of business, into a new world of technology, and minimise falling profits. The latest and favoured avenue for music consumption has become online streaming, which has made all music on a wide scale available thanks to the likes of Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music. The craze of having the latest music at your fingertips and instant access to your favourite jams.
This is all part of the surface illusion, as the artists are still sold short, still not adequately compensated for their creative works. Behind a complex system, with a careful formulae to direct and nudge the tips, money doesn’t go to the artists that you listen to – at least, not the way most would think. There are flaws in this streaming system; a customer is paying for a service and receiving a service – but one must consider:
The payment algorithm – How is the balance of fans vs plays?
Mathematical calculated – How are artist royalties decided?
Your choices – Do they count, and do you matter?
Amongst these issues, the major flaw in the “big money pool” – the way most streaming services distribute the revenue – is that it is does not distribute the money fairly amongst the artists. The system is being gamed and hacked. Active corruption plays a role in the form of click fraud – where the competition of fans vs clicks takes place. The system is manipulated to serve a targeted minority. There are other methods to manage streaming revenue distribution, such as stream payment VS subscriber payment. However, as long as the music industry is centralised and under control by large labels, these issues will remain inherent to the music industry, with fans and artists scrambling to find ways to publicise this plight.
Technology shifts are here again to change the game, providing the answer and guiding an alternate form of online distribution. The new Internet, powered by blockchain technology, will give ownership back to the artists and expand options for consumers. Artists understand that they are also the entrepreneur, in control of their brand, marketing via alternative media, personality via social media and responsible for their revenue streams. Startups such as Baboom and Peertracks are taking advantage of artist value, market needs and the technology, providing the answer to this industry fault. Baboom promotes fair-trade streaming combined with an online music store, they pay artists 90% of the revenue directly and support a paying artists for fan subscription. Peertracks will utilise the blockchain which will allow artists to connect with fans, by giving the fans the chance to trade unique tokens – a form of currency which can be used to fund albums, and buy concert tickets and merchandise from that artist, and to hold a share in the artist’s success. Companies that support a direct relationship between artist and fan will gain traction, allowing artists to independently build an income stream which reflects their real popularity. These interactions will create communities and ensure that artists remain inspired and supported in producing and giving to the world.
Join us as we explore the technological vortex which could lead to a whole new era of creative genius on the next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
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The Cash:
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Story:
Ever since the peaceful anarchist event, Anarchapulco, in 2015, many people from the US and Canada have decided that moving to Acapulco, Mexico might improve their lives. Many found ways to make money off the Internet or to transfer their existing jobs to a new location, and start a new life where they didn’t have to worry so much about any government interfering their lives, threatening them for operating their business in a way that the state didn’t like, or getting their dogs shot by police officers for no apparent reason.
They may face many obstacles on their journey, including their friends and family warning them to stay away from the city which is run by drug cartels, where the police periodically go on strike, and which is reputedly the fourth most dangerous in the world. Nevertheless, these brave soldiers journey on, and many of them are willing to share their expatriation wisdom experience with the world. It takes one man to document the evolution of this community of liberty-minded individuals, this Latin American “Galt’s Gulch”, and his name is Juan Galt.
In this episode, Kurt interviews Juan and talks about the ways that cryptocurrency might be used in the near future to replace government property registry systems, his documentary (renamed since the interview as “Seeking Freedom: The Acapulco Files”), and ways to break down borders using Bitcoin and smart contracts. Join us on a jet-setting, freedom-fighting, border-bounding episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
The Cash:
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Story:
Just 30 years ago, nobody really knew what the Internet was or what it was used for. Just 15 years ago, nobody in the music industry knew or cared what file sharing was. Now, large record companies are facing even greater threats to their oligopolies, such as crowd-sourcing of albums and tours – a method increasingly used for upcoming artists, thereby bypassing the traditional system all together.
In this episode, we interview Diaz Rodolfo, musician and fellow Guadalajara resident about his ideas on how Bitcoin is going to change the future of music. We also talk about how Bitcoin can help people evade the control of their governments, finding freedom through cryptocurrency. Join us on the next enthralling installment of … The Paradise Paradox!
