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Alex Adams: Welcome back to the American Evolution. In the last video, I talked about why this evolution is necessary, that a government exists to set the conditions for our safety and happiness, and that it's currently failing. I also outlined what needs to change, that the social contract needs to move from extraction to flourishing. People with power no longer resemble us. Our voices have gotten lost, barred from their echo chambers. And that has really resulted in those with power enacting their agendas under the illusion of the benevolent shepherd. They're protecting us from dangers that we don't understand. But This country actually gets better when it listens first. And that is the first antidote to this sickness. So this video is about your experience. Think about how politics, the social contract, government is impacting your daily life, especially right now. Ads, polls. Fundraising emails, about how they need a dollar here or a dollar there. And then you have the talking heads who are constantly issuing world-ending proclamations in every poll, every comment. It's exhausting. all these people want your vote, they want your business, but no one stops to ask you about what you want, what you need. And when they do ask, it's in the form of a poll. It's in the form of some way to get their position across. Moderated town halls. they have scripted answers or caged answers. They're not really asking to interact with you. They want to hear your question and then have you sit down and listen to their answer. I want to start before the answers with your stories. here are the three ways that I'm asking you to be part of this evolution. That first part is to tell me your story. What does safety look like for your life right now? What would make you happier? What's harder than it should be? Groceries, rent, childcare. Healthcare, maybe finding your community. This could be a sentence, it could be a page, there's a Discord option or an email option. And the second one is to come chat with me. Same ways to get me as the Discord or the email. But I'm starting in person conversations here in Minnesota for now, but hoping to have online events in the future. And one-on-one conversations as well. If you're willing to sit down and share what your life actually looks like, I want to hear it. And I think others do too. So if you're willing, I'll host those conversations on this channel. Third, this is a little bit of an ask for you and an ask of myself, which is to talk about this channel, this American evolution, with somebody. You don't even have to direct them to the channel or share the video. That's not what I'm asking. Although it would be great. It's to talk to somebody about the ideas here, not to argue. But to listen. And that's where the truth usually is, I found that it's in the part of the story that we haven't heard yet. It's where I've had my best understanding from people who take a different position than me. And typically I'd get frustrated
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or get mad. And sometimes during those conversations, I can even feel the irritation or sense of injustice rising. But Importantly digging down to understand why they see the world that way and letting it be okay to disagree but understand their position a little bit more is so important. Now, here's what I promise if you do engage with the community or myself this way is that the story that you tell is yours. nothing is going to get published that you don't feel comfortable with. You can stay anonymous if you want, you can change your mind at any time, and I'll listen to understand. But I'll also ask some questions. And some of them might be tough because they're the ones I need to ask. To understand. Because I think typically that's where other people are on the other side of the screen. They're thinking through, well, what about this? Or what about that? And we need to dig down to understand why someone else has a different opposing view. Because oftentimes what we say is, I don't understand how anyone could see what I'm seeing. And not react the same way. I think we've all experienced that. But there is a reason. There's a reason that typically the other half of the population doesn't react that way. So it's not a debate to see who's more eloquent, who's bending words to fit an agenda, or to get the answer they want. It's assuming the best intention and getting to a point of understanding. even if at the end of the conversation we disagree because at least we've learned where that disagreement is coming. I wanna listen to anyone and everyone because when we hear each other's stories, we can still come to different positions. So the idea of this channel is to better understand where there is truth. and a countervoice worth remembering when we advocate for something else. Just because somebody disagrees with you in absolutes doesn't mean you can't still consider them when you are enacting a change. And that kind of goes for this channel. If you think that this is naive, tell me. If you think I'm going about this the wrong way, or there's something I could do better, or not at all, let me know. I'm seeking the change because I'm not seeing a peaceful solution coming from anywhere else. And I am constantly feeling and hearing from others, both personally as well as through the national media and local media, we're dissatisfied with the current conditions and our choices in this country. And if we're dissatisfied, then we have the right to make a change, to reform what exists. through this evolution. And when this country has evolved, it is usually started the same way. Ordinary people telling the truth about their lives, their lived experiences, the narratives of their lives, until the people in power couldn't ignore it anymore. Or they became the people in power. So I do want to stop and take this moment to thank Barry's economics. I'm gonna link his video here. He inspired me with his video to start this channel. And Barry was inspired by Gary's economics. what he did is he encouraged people to share their stories. and he encouraged me to share mine. And this is the cascade That breaks into the echo chambers we live in is we are constantly inundated with the same voices, the same types of voices with the same types of incentives. And we have an opportunity to change that. To bring in different voices. And that's exactly what this channel wants to do, not just by bringing my voice to the table, but actually bringing people who don't want to set up a studio to. record themselves, Like I'm willing to do that But you may have a narrative and a and a story, in fact, I know you do, And that's why I want to invite you to do it here. Because your voice matters and it should be factored in to the conversation. In the next videos, I'm going to share my story. How I got to seeking the systematic social contract reform that I've been advocating for, what tactical things need to happen for that reform to take place, and where I see things going if we don't get that change. As I said in the last video, I know why I'm doing this. I see that broken social contract with. unhappy, unsafe people, including myself. And I see my purpose as designing the conditions for happiness to enable people to be their best selves. How we unlock that changes through seeking uncomfortable truths, building humanity back as a community we value and holding grace for people's failings while seeking absolution. Well, I also have strong ideas for what we can do to achieve all this, but they're incomplete. They're untested, they're unvetted, and would be empty really without your story, your input, your narrative. I know there's so much I don't know, and so much I would be ill equipped, even with all the information in the world, to form an opinion. But That's the beauty of this movement is I alone cannot fix it. I don't purport to be able to. But we together, and whatever form that ends up looking like, united, and we can do anything. And if that isn't the lesson of this country, then I'm not really sure what is. That when we pool together diverse backgrounds, ideology, races, religions, creeds, you name it, when we stand united in that. diverse perspective of the world, we are truly great because we leverage each other's strengths, knowledge, abilities, and use that to overcome any obstacle. So I'll start with one question to you that I would love to hear your response to in any form that feels comfortable. And that may Not even be reaching out in the channel, but just internally to yourself. If you could make one thing change in this social contract to make you happier or safer, what would it be? I'd love you to tell me, because I'm listening.