Out on a ranch, thinking about the history of peyote and how it was once used in battle Read more →
Tag: mexico
Why artists should quit their jobs and move to Thailand – Episode 166
The Story: Priorities your life’s work
For a lot of writers and other creative people, it’s common to wake up with a clear purpose of creating something, yet somehow by 10pm, you’ll always hear them mumble under their breath “shit!” They got distracted by work, taking care of bills and other day-to-day nonsense – so much that they didn’t write a word or scribble a drawing towards their project. Perhaps it’s always goes that way because so many people make their job a priority, when they should be making their work a priority – staying in the office 40 or 50 hours a week when their magnum opus gets a mere half hour.
If you have a project which is really important to you, you should find a way to make time for it. If you can’t, then perhaps you need to re-organise your life so that project is at the forefront. You could start working part time, start working for yourself so you can set your own schedule, or even expatriate and live in a country where a minimum amount of dollars allows you to live comfortably.
In this episode, Kurt explains his tips for artists to be more productive – especially focusing on working less hours for others, and why living internationally may be a good option for many. Join us on another resignation-writing episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
How to live rent free (and make money doing it): Anam Paiseanta – Episode 89
The Links:
Doug Casey’s International Man
Sasha Daygame on Anarchast about being a perpetual traveler
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
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 Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
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.
Peyote Trip on Scorpion Ranch part 2
Kurt talks to a wizened conspiracy theorist and starts to try peyote out on a ranch in rural Mexico Read more →
Peyote Trip on Scorpion Ranch part 1
Trying peyote out on the ranch in rural Mexico Read more →
Nayarit Peyote Adventure: Episode 164
The Story: Peyote journey in Mexico
A few weeks ago, I (Kurt) decided to take a short trip out onto a ranch in Nayarit, about 4 or 5 hours from my home in Guadalajara, in a native American community. Once upon a time, peyote was an important tradition for the Wixárika (Huichol) people in this region, and they would walk for about ten days to arrive at the sacred site of Wirikuta – known as the birthplace of the earth – crossing almost directly over the mountains to perform the pilgrimage. Nowadays, almost nobody in this community takes this sacrament, though many who live closer to Wirikuta still partake, and some native Americans even eat peyote every day, from the time they are children.
According to the mythology of the Wixárika people, the tribe was once lost and without food, and sent off a group of young men to forage. As the scouts were wandering in the desert, they saw something very strange – a blue deer. They took it as an omen, followed the deer, and realised that the animal was sustaining itself by eating a certain cactus that grew close to the earth – peyote. If you notice a blue deer in some artwork, you can be sure that the artist is Wixárika, and is referring to this myth.
In this episode, Kurt tells the story of taking peyote out on the ranch, explains what visions he had, why the peyote told him not to take peyote, about how so much of our lives is based around our interpretation – to the extent that we don’t even see the interpretations.
Join us on another star-gazing episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
The Links:
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
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 Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
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.
Kurt on Anarchast – Living Freely and Enjoying the Ride
The Story: Kurt is interviewed by Jeff Berwick on Anarchast
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Jeff Berwick, known for his media outlet “The Dollar Vigilante” and his channel “Anarchast” in which he interviews notable anarchists, almost always beginning the interview with the question “How did you become an anarchist?”
I’ve been listening to the Anarchast for years, and hoping that one day I would be able to appear on it, so when Jeff asked me, my answer was an emphatic “Hell yes.”
I figured that, to make the interview entertaining for Jeff and for the thousands of listeners, I’d better prepare carefully, thinking about what would be engaging for them. So in the couple of weeks leading up to the interview, I wrote out many drafts thinking about how I would describe my journey of becoming an anarchist, “Free man on the land” type ideas and how they lead me to question authority, about the freedom that people enjoy in Mexico (despite its flaws), the anti-authoritarianism that exists here, spiritual experiences, and how life is full of wonders.
The Eps:
See the world with new eyes – Episode 147
Jeff Berwick: The Dollar Vigilante – Episode 77
Sterlin Lujan: Compassionate anarchy – Episode 156
The Links:
The Dollar Vigilante on YouTube
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
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 Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
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.
How to Squash Mexican Protesters: Alfredo Romero – Episode 159
The Story: How Mexico threatens, harasses and bribes activists
May 11th, 2012, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. Presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto gets up to do a speech, describing his political platform before hundreds of students. At the end of his discourse, a group of students stood up and demanded an explanation of the government action in the civil unrest of Atenco in 2006, which resulted in violent beatings, rapes, and even death. At that time, Peña Nieto had been the governor of the state of Mexico.
Peña Nieto responded that he had acted personally to re-establish order and peace, that it was within the legitimate use of public force, and that it was found valid by the supreme court.
Many of the students didn’t like it, and began screaming at Peña Nieto, and blocking his path. In order to get out of the university, he had to hide in a woman’s bathroom for some time.
After the event, Peña’s colleagues claimed that the screams from the crowd were organised by provocateurs, sent by the opposing candidate López Obrador, that they were too old to be students – 30 or 35 years and up, a small group of less than 20 people. In response, a group of 131 youths posted a video showing their university identification. Social media exploded throughout Mexico, with many showing their support of the students, and their disapproval of Peña Nietos candidacy and later presidency, using the slogan “Yo Soy 132”, or “I am number 132”.
From there, the movement grew to a national phenomenon, drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring movement, and the Occupy movement, developing national assemblies to discuss events, and of course, to attempt to impeach the president.
In this episode, Kurt interviews Alfredo Romero, a long time activist in Mexico who was involved in Yo Soy 132, among other social movements, was threatened, prevented violent agents provocateurs from throwing stones, was accused of throwing the same stones, was arrested and intimidated by the police, and even offered comfortable government positions to silence him. Alfredo also talks about a couple of grass-roots solutions that are popping up in Mexico right now, including the work of Archbishop Vera López, who is attempting to establish a parallel government, focused on the voice and the needs of the community.
Join us as Alfredo lays out the dirty tricks used by governments everywhere to silence dissent in this next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
The Links:
Alfredo Romero interviewed on We Are Change about being kidnapped by police
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
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 Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
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.
Psychedelic Che Guevara Mandela Effect – Episode 130
The Story: A Che Guevara T-Shirt and questions about his past
Che Guevara is a very controversial figure. Many idolise him, many detest him, and many are left confused about the wide gap between these two points of view. Of course, many people had the incentive to lie about Che. The Cuban government wanted to present him as a hero, a warrior who fought against the oppression of foreign interests, and as a gentle soul, a doctor who wanted to heal people. The US government wanted to present him as “The Butcher of La Cabaña”, an evil, twisted, sadistic man, a fraud posing as a fighter, a heartless murderer and rapist who valued nothing more than the blood of his enemies, and his allies.
Some say that destroying the symbols of a good thing, such as hope or fortune, can have a kind of magical or psychological effect – something like the “Newspeak” discussed in George Orwell’s famous book, “1984”. If you remove the ability to discuss a certain thing, that can make it harder to think that thought. If you take a symbol such as a swastika, which was known almost all over the world as a symbol of good luck, fortune, and even God Itself, and change it to a symbol of hatred, murder, and even pure evil, how much will that serve to confuse people? And to those who still believe that Che’s was a symbol of hope, of revolution, of better things to come, if you wanted to destroy their future, would it be enough to destroy the symbol? As the saying goes, the winners write the history books. Are they still rewriting them?
In this episode we talk about Che Guevara as an icon, and discuss whether it’s possible that governments may still want to destroy it, how a Che T-shirt can apparently appear out of nowhere, and how governments may take the time to rewrite history. We also discuss Kurt’s ideas of continuing to take psychedelics, pushing the mind to new frontiers, and about bargaining in life and death situations.
Join us in the next time-shifting episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
Disappearing reappearing objects – Episode 98
The Face of Death – Episode 22
The Links:
9/11 No planes theory debunked
Laurel Canyon conspiracy – rockstars as US government conspirators
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
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 Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
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.
Ayzee Returns to Australia – Episode 128
The Story: The return to Australia
To start this episode I wanted to talk about ‘bugging in’. Which in my world means, returning to Australia and reintegrating back into the first-world reality. But, of course we were distracted (mainly myself) and begin talking off topic. However, in a roundabout way we end up covered related stuff.
So after two years of Mexican experience under my belt, Australia doesn’t seem quite the same. Over all it feels pre-fabricated, packaged up and somewhat plastic like. Everything is in order and a sense control can be found everywhere. Everything is very tidy and neat. Everyone that arrives from somewhere else knows that – Australia is a dream. But, I believe deep down within the self, in the dark shadowy parts of the human experience, human beings have normal and natural urges to dislike such a level of nice. Somewhat like the urge that arises when approaching freshly poured concrete – to put your foot through it, or to at least write my name in it. Perhaps there is something wrong with me, looking for the imperfections that accompany these feelings towards this wonderful perfect world called Australia.
In this episode Kurt and I have an impromptu conversation based around my return to Australia. We discuss a few stories which I overheard on the local news, thoughts on the Australian real estate bubble and possible issues with the Australia welfare system. These ideas were originally shared by sponsored television programming.
Tele – transmission over a distance
vision – power of sensing with eyes
Programming Noun – the act or process of planning or writing a program.
Programming Verb – to write code for
vision – power of sensing with eyes
Programming Noun – the act or process of planning or writing a program.
Programming Verb – to write code for
I had forgotten what commercial television programming was all about – Turn off the box.
The Eps:
Magical Mysterious Medical Stories
Propaganda Tips 101: Types of Propaganda & Principles
The Links:
Noam Chomsky – Manufacturing Consent
Luke Rudkowski – We Are Change – Germany Telling Its Citizens To Prepare For Disaster
Mike Maloney – GoldSilver.com [VIDEOS]
Jeff Berwick – The Dollar Vigilante [VIDEOS]
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
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 Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
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.
Decision maker: Getting your priorities straight – Episode 123
The Story: Travelling, making decisions, and taking responsibility for them
When people are talking about the decisions they make in their lives, it’s common for people to say things like “I should do this,” “I have to do that,” “I need to…” using many phrases that indicate an obligation. But nobody is holding a gun to their heads, so why do they say they “have to”? The fact is, it’s extremely rare that you don’t have a choice in the course of action you’re going to take. More commonly, we make choices, avoiding negative consequences or seeking positive consequences.
As an example, suppose your sister is getting married in a foreign country – which happens to be a real inconvenience for you. You don’t want to experience the negative attention that you’ll receive from your family if you decide not to go, but you also want to enjoy time with your family, and be there to support your sister in what might be one of the most important days in her life. Remember, you don’t “have to” go. You decide to go, because you decided that family is important; you decided to make family a priority, despite the inconvenience.
In this episode, Kurt and Aaron discuss the importance of taking responsibility for your own actions, remembering that it’s you who is in control of your own life, and also some interesting stories from Aaron going through airports, travelling, occasionally struggling with the company of his family, and enjoying the company of his family.
The Past Eps:
We the media: We’re all journalists now – Episode 34
Podcast journalism – Episode 111
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
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 Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
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.