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In times like these, being a citizen of the United States is a big job. Thank you for joining us to celebrate the virtues of self-rule and debate the state of our republic. Welcome to the Citizens Prerogative Podcast.
Episodes
Tuesday May 18, 2021
Tuesday May 18, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- Get your externalities outa here! Enter: Doughnut Economics brought to us by Kate Raworth. The World Economic Forum featured this short piece that serves as a nice introduction, "Meet the doughnut: the new economic model that could help end inequality." Her book is also available via the usual methods.
- This episode makes the case for why we find this new model of thinking about economics a very compelling upstart worthy of our attention. Honestly, RWJ and MVP find this view really appeals to their strategy gaming heads-up-display instincts.
- The Doughnut model provides a status overview of our biosphere and living conditions. Developing this type of broader worldview sense will be critical for anyone hoping to terraform a hostile world. At least ours is still a little bit friendly to our lives.
- We citizens want our economies and societies to live in the Goldilocks habitable zone, which we call the doughnut, between where the ecosystem can be sustained and above which point we experience starvation, dehydration, or disease. The red parts are an informational status overlay of where we're ranking.
- Welcomed are the ideas around how to embrace complexity and for us to begin designing dynamic feedback loops and control measures to manage foreseeable and unforeseeable shocks (climate swings, volcanoes, meteorites, etc.). By installing dynamic components in our economy, it will become more resilient and perhaps even offer stability during unstable times.
- MVP mentioned Bioneers in the episode and if you're unfamiliar, in their own words, "Bioneers is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet."
- In a similar lane, an ideation sensation that might tickle your thinker in one word: biomimicry. According to the Oxford dictionary, it is "the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes." check out the Biomimicry Institute for more information.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- One aside made it to air about our dear mammalian cousins: Whales. The May issue of National Geographic features an article about how these amazing creatures keep surprising us in how many ways we are like them. Disney+ also has a series dedicated to this released on Earth Day 2021.
- Did you know that we made cows? I didn't know that. Just like our dogs, a domesticated branch of a wild bunch. Cows are descended from an extinct form of Ox or Yak from Mesopotamia. Holy cow. I just heard this little snippet from the latest episode of Science Fridays, one of MVP's favorite podcasts.
- Please feel free to share your thoughts through our Contact Us page or on Facebook.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday May 11, 2021
Tuesday May 11, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- MVP and RWJ take a turn at discussing what they've learned to date about cryptocurrencies and the technology underpinning them: blockchain.
- This episode makes the case for why we are likely to keep hearing more and more about these new financial instruments and why we should start learning more to be future-ready.
- In a previous episode, we mentioned several exchanges. MVP has developed an initial fondness for Binance.US due to its features, low cost, and breath of currencies on offer. You can also access "staking" which allows your parked funds to earn a return, traditionally referred to as an APY, meaning annual percentage yield. Coinbase is a great option for those starting out who want to earn while they learn. To be fair, they have a Pro option that's trader-friendly. I can't get over the low fees on Binance however.
- A serious watch item related to the long-term viability of large, decentralized blockchains is sustainability. There is an environmental cost at the core of these various coins, it takes energy in the form of dedicated computers in order to mine/maintain transactions happening on the blockchain. People do this in return for coin all over the world. You can do it right now and start earning Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other flavors from the gaggle of upstarts. Seems like the newer ones tend to give you more buck for the bang especially when you have to net out your electricity bill. Seriously, it can be a chunk of change.
- Two recent articles examining the costs of production from an energy or carbon perspective. A keen point made by TechCrunch is that more efficient blockchains will likely be planned for the future and we would add that efficiencies in how energy is produced and transmitted will be changing in the future as well. So harping on the energy point might be moot, especially if mining is relatively less intensive than say, the existing banking system.
- "How Much Energy Does Bitcoin Actually Consume?" Harvard Business Review, 5/5/21.
- "The debate about cryptocurrency and energy consumption," TechCrunch, 3/21/21.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- Repeat mention: If you’re looking for a timely documentary to help get you up to speed on the general state of cryptocurrencies and blockchain capabilities, MVP recommends Cryptopia.
- We didn't get into it, but it's worth noting that by owning certain coins one gains access to certain benefits like a vote in what updates or changes might be implemented for a coin's codebase. We also did not cover Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in this episode, that topic will make an appearance later on.
- Please feel free to share your thoughts through our Contact Us page or on Facebook.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- Defund the Police is on the docket. We explore its driving mission and the value of taking action to better serve our communities.
- The name Defund the Police only states the beginning of the process and does nothing to shed light on what the end looks like. That's the beauty, a plethora of opportunities, and the curse of being ambiguous to its true meaning.
- In this episode, we make the case for focusing on the opportunities which require all of us to think more creatively and openly about real alternatives to posting armed troops at stations on our streets. In the meantime, we need to de-militarize the relationship between police forces and local communities and stop asking them to be the solution to all problems.
- It is still early to know what neat package of community-based services provide the best bang for your buck, but ultimately each community is unique and needs the voices of its people to be present in identifying and selecting solutions to target specific problems.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- If you're interested in a broader perspective on the roots of the Prison Industrial Complex and law enforcement economy, including the bail bond racket, check out the Netflix documentary 13th.
- Our search for alternatives to policing hasn't turned up a whole lot as of late and we'll keep looking. The Defund campaigns site has great statistics on the current state of policing and makes general cases for alternates. Vox suggests, "4 ideas to replace traditional police officers." Rolling Stone weighs in with a brief piece, "Six Ideas for a Cop-Free World." As you can see, there's no one size fits all set of replacement solutions and we look forward to more updates on this topic.
- Please feel free to share your thoughts through our Contact Us page or on Facebook.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- We are always looking for ways to provide more value to you. In response to listener feedback, we're planning to provide bite-sized morsels (electronic timer controlled 30-minute dose) with more focus in each episode.
- Topics for upcoming episodes are highlighted, with an eye towards future solutions that prove the American experiment a democratic success in the long run, not an authoritarian state:
- Defund the Police will be up on the docket. We will explore its driving mission and the value of taking action to better serve our communities using our collective tax dollars.
- A major source of power for all citizens is the vote and having representation in government. Our authority is being challenged in, unfortunate-to-say, precedented ways. We'll have an episode regarding all the good a citizen can do in using and growing their political power.
- An economy that works for all of us including the biosphere. After all, even if we go extinct from the Earth, it'll go on. Spinning and spinning and spinning until the end of our sun or other cataclysms. Climate and the economy are inextricably linked and we need to get on with building markets and making investments in capabilities to manage this balancing act in true human style.
- Finally, we survey the crypto world looking a little closer at recent developments in the ledger technology called the blockchain. It's become clearer that there is value in this space and it might quickly become the infrastructure for decentralized global finance, something more peer-to-peer-like and less middle-men-like.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- If you're looking for a timely documentary to help get you up to speed on the general state of cryptocurrencies and blockchain capabilities, MVP recommends Cryptopia. It is a follow-up to a prior film by the same maker. This one is a great survey of where we are with blockchain technology today and the roadmap for how it promises to supplant the current financial order maintained among nation-states after Bretton Woods.
- There are a number of cryptocurrency exchanges for buying and selling all the flavors out there today, some provide interest for amounts you stake to make available for lending. Sound a little familiar, like how banks today lend on deposits. MVP is currently checking out Coinbase, Binance.US, and Kraken and hopes to write his findings to share with you all soon. Also, he's only stumbled upon this after researching Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in relation to the art and sports fan trading segments. So more on that too!
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- Praise to The Old Farmer's Almanac to the rescue with the latest on a push to end Daylight Savings Time (DST) across the nation. Currently, this is a grand experiment alive and well among the states, counting Arizona and Hawaii out.
- Sometimes we are our own worse enemy. Automatic negative thinking, a form of cognitive distortion, has a tendency to trip us up because we don't make it a practice to notice it. Our older lizard brain has a bias towards risk avoidance which serves us well in the wilds, but not so much in the concrete jungle. Become more wise-minded by learning more about how your hardware works: "When Emotion Take Over" a very short overview by Healthline, a video on autonomous thinking and CBT, and a video on the wise mind.
- Observations from the Ant Colonies in our Phoenix hub in regard to the delicate dance of reproduction. We also touch on the sterility of humans and their friends. We're polluting our life soup at a record pace with consequences. The Guardian interviewed the author of the latest on the subject: Shanna Swan: 'Most couples may have to use assisted reproduction by 2045'.
- We have to put on our own oxygen mask before helping others, and then we need to put on our critical thinking cap and be our own coach! Give yourself honest feedback that is actionable and then take action. Hold yourself to account for taking action and measuring the results. Take ownership of changing direction when needed based on your own assessment. Check your value system and also adjust accordingly.
- We need to open our hearts and minds to our neighbors. We stand with all human communities in the face of hate or other adversity. We are one human family, under the stars, on Earth with liberty and justice for all.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- Change your self-talk and self-limiting beliefs to align with your values. If you're interested in more on CBT or other brain training-related resources, check out the tools that therapists use at Therapist Aid.
- Reiterating RWJ's call to action: reach out to your Asian (or otherwise) friends and make sure they know they count and challenge each other to do better by one another.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- An end is near for the old brittle centralized systems of yesterday's global post World War II economy. What is old must be made anew, local, small, and sustainable. Let's bring home the bacon! (Well, actually bacon might be canceled.)
- Food is fundamental for human sake, health, and long life. Will someone's god please save our potatoes? My goodness, what has happened to all the diversity in our crops? Healthcare will cost less once everyone has access to nutrient-rich foods. So then, healthcare for all becomes more affordable and less necessary, not kept on life-support for profit's sake
- Solutions are both strategic and also tactical and available today. Let us choose to make business ownership a reality for all of those who want it and let independent workers provide their services locally to those companies. Many CEOs are many times better than a few for distributing risk and providing competition in a really fair marketplace
- A floor of supplemental income to eliminate poverty and help small businesses succeed and a baseline of economic activity sustained by purchases for people's basic needs. If we make it local, it becomes sustainable, and we become a community again.
- We even provide a high-level explanation of lobbying and why it's so lucrative for the players of the game.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- MVP was incorrect! It was Eisenhower, not Truman, who was the President who signed into law the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (Public Law 84-627), was enacted on June 29, 1956. And the system has been in decline ever since.
- After "Culled mink rise from the dead to Denmark's horror," comes the "Great potato massacre of 2020." As a back-to-natural alternative, many human communities are trying to keep food diversity alive at the local level. Here's an example of a seed library maintained by the public library in Tucson Arizona.
- Nerd alert! Here's the latest on graphene in regard to a really cool material that exhibits some very unique electrical properties. Oh, you crazy universe: Graphene’s New Twist Reveals Superconductivity’s Secrets | Quanta Magazine.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
Tuesday Mar 23, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- Balancing a need for leadership and a more resilient democratic union? A dichotomous delight indeed! A treat for the senses albeit locked behind fences by greed and deceit: How wonderful it would be, to have a vote for you and me.
- Beware the Presidency and the centralized administrative authority contained by the executive branch of our republic. Coequal to its siblings, the judiciary and congress? Not if it can help it!
- The war for full citizenship, a fair shot, and an equal vote is not over until the dungeon master gives up. We are not yet that state. We want to become that state and every battle counts towards winning the freedom promised by our republic.
- It's never too late to be ready to vote. Get registered. When we all vote, democracy gets a chance.
- We didn't always have a vote and some people like it better that way. For maps and time traps kind of folks, check out this perspective on shifts after the Voting Rights Act passed and a 2020 list of which states make it hardest to vote. Guess what they're still doing right now: Making it even harder?
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- We ain't got no more. Not for this one. We're fresh out.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- Royal racism? Say it ain't so! They just came to civilize the savages of the world. Bless their hearts. Our Declaration of Independence from the crown was done by Englishmen for their own betterment at the time.
- The "Five Civilized Tribes" of the Southeastern colonies (credit to National Geographic) were among the earliest examples of a people terrorized for their success because it challenged notions of European exceptionalism and white male supremacy. Wikipedia also covers this a little differently.
- A cake so nice, we had to use it twice! Back from episode 8 by popular demand, an image we reference during this episode time and again. Forget the reference to Capitalism and just examine the layers. (see the episode home page)
- Have you heard of the Homestead Act? Check it out here and gain a sense of appreciation for the power of agency and freedom that could come with land ownership. Plus counties get to collect taxes to improve our whole nation. Of course, it was too democratic to survive our republic.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- The lower layers of the cake get cut into many, many, pieces. This is the quintessential and timeless strategy of "divide and conquer." The art of pitting us against ourselves and our own interests. This serves the prevailing power structure well.
- Judas and the Black Messiah is a must-see movie for our time. It speaks to the past, present, and the future of our society, if it is ever to rise above and fulfill a long overdue promise for all Americans. Warning: the truth can be painful.
- AHOY-HOY! Here's a nice and concise video featuring the history of the word which is just good fun. Here's Charles Montgomery Burns's version.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- Morality is natural and ethics are human! Branding need not apply. We are ethical animals even without religion.
- Greed is not good when one is fully indulged, like many other addictive substances. It's a motivational thread that strings together the worse versions of many systems we've built.
- We gain so much more through building with cooperation on common ground: food, water, housing, electricity, and healthcare. All good ways to love thy neighbor.
- Naturally, our amygdala (our old, almond-sized brain) can perceive danger in the unfamiliar or undesirable. This makes sense because humans are the most dangerous animals on Earth; especially when they're in groups. This is true regardless of the game board you play on, leafy bush or concrete maze.
- Featuring the most bush you've ever heard in one episode! Plus a better relationship with meat. Thanks, RWJ!
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- The President of the United States is not a religious position, is not ordained a prophet, and does not otherwise embody any of the gods.
- We are hardwired for certain innate sociological survival instincts and behaviors. They are literally bred into us over successive generations of humans surviving in a human-made world.
- Learn more about "Groupthink in Action: Individual Differences Disappear in 50-Person Groups," a Neuroscience News and Research article that makes a compelling case for how we each operate differently in predictable ways when operating in groups; right down to the size that makes the difference. Again there are both beneficial and malfeasant ways this knowledge can be used for us all.
- Regarding child behavior, the quote below is from a NIH scholarly article titled, "Early Development of Prosocial Behavior: Current Perspectives."
- "It is now clear... [from] a growing number of studies, infants between 12 and 24 months of age have been shown to help, comfort, share, and cooperate with others. The mystery is how such young children can generate these relatively complex, other-oriented behaviors and what could account for their emergence in this period."
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Episode discussion topics
- Religion is up on deck and clearly within citizens' prerogative territory as it's mentioned in our founding documents.
- Once within the U.S. Constitution: Art. VI - no religious Test for any office of public trust.
- Twice within the Bill of Rights: Amend. I - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
- Once within the U.S. Constitution: Art. VI - no religious Test for any office of public trust.
- A clearer perspective of where MVP and RWJ stand on this topic and why they don't take it lightly.
- In a nutshell:
- The lane where religion best serves its believers and society at large under our system of self-government.
- The shelf where religious books rest along with other great works of art.
- The home where faith lives, inside each of us and all of us.
Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.
More info
- Albeit this tends to be a touchy topic for one and all; just like so many others, we cannot afford to avoid it any longer. We hope you enjoy it or at least find it thought-provoking. Absolution, social media, and community, oh my!
- MVP mentioned the Humanize Me podcast hosted by Bart Campolo; specifically referencing episode 604 on Constructive disagreements featuring David C. Smalley.
- Check out the Humanist Manifesto! If you're not familiar or if it sounds scary to you, please choose to be curious!
- "Good Without A God" represents the American Humanist Association's mission of Advocating progressive values and equality for humanists, atheists, and freethinkers. MVP swears by only reading the insightful stuff, but there are many local chapters for folks who prefer to interact with humans.
- We forgot to mention our other most interesting relative, the Densinovans! MVP is Neanderthal-centric as he carries some of their DNA, so it makes sense he may not have noticed his bias.
- "Homo sapiens lived alongside an estimated eight now-extinct species of human about 300,000 years ago. As recently as 15,000 years ago, we were sharing caves with another human species known as the Denisovans." - Livescience.com.
Learn more and reach out
- Head to Citizens Prerogative for additional information and log in or sign up to leave a comment.
- Don't forget to join our free newsletter and get 10% off at our shop! Go the extra mile by supporting us through Patreon.
- Please contact us with any questions or suggestions.
Special thanks
- Our ongoing supporters, thank you!
- Our sponsor CitizenDoGood.com.
- Graphic design by SergeShop.com.
- Intro music sampled from “Okay Class” by Ozzy Jock under creative commons license through freemusicarchive.org.
- Other music provided royalty-free through Fesliyan Studios Inc.