Elevate and Evolve: Introduction to the Elevolution Standards

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Christopher George's The Solution Series.
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Today's episode I call Elevate and Evolve, Introduction to the Elevolution Standards.
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I will break this exciting new vision down step by step, outlining each standard,
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clarifying and defining the responsibilities behind every piece,
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and showing how this bold new plan can begin to come to life in the real world.
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What you're seeing is more than a powerful image. It's the framework of something new.
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As promised, no speeches, no slogans, just the plan and the vision.
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To everyone tuning in for the first time, welcome and thank you for being here.
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Thank you for giving me a piece of your time, your attention,
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and your willingness to hear something different.
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That means a lot to me. And to my returning listeners, welcome back.
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By now, you already know you're more than an audience to me,
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your family, and I'm grateful you're still building together.
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The momentum is building.
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Before we get into today's discussion, I want to take a minute to set expectations.
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If you've heard this before, this is a good time to grab a cup of coffee.
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If you haven't, this is opening matters because it explains how I approach leadership
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solutions in this platform. Here's the standard.
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Leadership isn't just talking. Leadership isn't just pointing out what's wrong.
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Leadership comes prepared.
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With a plan and the courage to talk about it openly. The plan I bring isn't rigid.
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It's strong enough to move us forward and flexible enough to move us,
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flexible enough to improve through focused conversation, because the best plan
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will always be the one shaped by the most thoughtful input.
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You know, and that's the expectation here. This space is for discussion,
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but discussion with a purpose.
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If you engage, be direct, be respectful, focus your energy on the plan.
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If you see a flaw, bring a fix.
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If you have a what-if, bring a solution with it.
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Noise doesn't move us forward. Thoughtful contribution does.
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This podcast is about America, but it's not limited to America.
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We live in a connected world.
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Many of the solutions discussed here can be applied everywhere.
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People are working to build stability, dignity, and opportunity.
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My goal is to help America lead again, not by force, but by example,
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so others can adapt what works for their own communities.
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And let me be clear about something I strongly believe. I believe there's always
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a nugget of truth and experience and insight.
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In every person, there is something valuable, something learned,
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something earned, something seen from a perspective no one else has.
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That's why I welcome everyone to the table.
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Without you, there's no us.
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Without shared experience, there is no progress.
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But with that welcome comes responsibility. Those insights and experiences are
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meant to build, not tear down.
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To strengthen ideas, not sabotage them. To move us closer to solutions,
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not deeper into division.
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Our tools are more powerful than they've ever been. Our ability to build and our ability to destroy.
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That means we have a larger responsibility to do better, to think deeper,
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to lead smarter, and to work towards peace that works for everyone, not just a few.
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This is about evolution. Evolution as a country, evolution as a people, evolution as a world.
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That's the expectation and that's the standard.
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So if you're with me on that, let's get to work.
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So here we go. Elevate and evolve. Introduction to the evolution standards.
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You know, humankind is on the line. You know, that almost sounds like a rhyme.
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And maybe I'll laugh at that a little bit, but I mean it.
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Humankind is on the line. And people ask me all the time, Chris,
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what do you mean when you say Elevolution?
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Some people say it sounds funny. Some people say it's hard to say.
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Some people stumble over it. Elevolution. Elevate and evolve. Elevolution.
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But maybe that is part of the point. Maybe if it's hard to say,
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you actually have to think about what you're saying. Everything is not supposed to be easy.
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People. Sometimes the thing that makes you pause is the thing that makes you
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think. Sometimes the tongue twister is part of the solution.
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Sometimes we have to do something a little difficult in order to get ourselves where we need to be.
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So yes, L-Evolution. Get used to it.
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Because this is just not a word. This is just not a slogan. This is not just
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something I put on a shirt or on a song.
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This is a mindset. This is a standard. This is a way of looking at ourselves,
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our country, our families, our communities, and our future.
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To elevate means to rise above the lowest version of yourself.
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To evolve means to grow beyond the limits of what you were taught, what you inherited.
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What hurt you, what shaped you, and what you accepted as normal.
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So when I say elevate and evolve, I'm saying we have to become better than what
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we have been, not just America. People.
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Because America doesn't think by itself. America doesn't hate by itself.
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America doesn't vote by itself.
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America does not build by itself. America does not destroy by itself.
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America does not protect children by itself. America does not abandon elders by itself.
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America does not pollute water by itself. America does not create war by itself.
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America does not create peace by itself. People do.
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That is the part we keep trying to skip. We keep blaming systems,
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and yes, systems matter. We keep blaming politics, and yes, politics matters.
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We keep blaming corporations, religions, race, class, media, government, and money.
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And yes, all those things matter, mostly money.
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But none of those things operate without people. People build systems.
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People corrupt systems.
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People protect systems. People destroy systems. People improve systems.
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So if the problem starts and ends with people, then the solution has to start and end with people too.
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That is the L-Evolution. And today I want to lay out what I call the L-Evolution standards.
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These are not commandments. I'm not trying to start a religion.
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I'm not trying to tell everybody how to live every second of their life.
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I'm laying out standards for human growth, civic responsibility,
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self-examination, and solution-based living.
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Because I do not want to become one of those people on TV who just talks about,
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what is wrong and never brings a solution.
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That is not my lane. I've been in the military for 25 years,
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providing solutions, solving problems.
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And so that's what my platform is built on, solutions. If I talk about something,
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hold me accountable, and hey, hey, Chris, what's the solution to that problem?
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So if I'm going to tell people to elevate and evolve, I have to be able to tell them what that means.
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I have to be able to say, hey, here are some things you can actually do.
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Here are some areas where you need to look within. Here are some standards we
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need to start living by if we're going to be serious about building a better way.
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So here they are in all their glory. The Elevolution Standards.
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Elevolution Standards. And I have them ordered.
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And, you know, for me, they're ordered in the way that I feel that they need
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to be the most important. And so I'll go through each one of them.
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Vote and stay engaged. Number one, look within. Number two, meditate,
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reflect and control the mind.
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Humility over pride. Learn critical thinking and teach it forward.
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Before you speak, ask where you're speaking from. Choose integrity over team loyalty.
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Rationale over emotion.
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Protect the innocent. Respect, learn and understand culture.
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Protect the full life cycle. Children, elders, veterans.
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Get out of your bubble.
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Knowledge is a lifelong journey. Purpose over profit. Build systems that survive people.
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Accountability without excuses.
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Solutions over slogans. Get on the human team.
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Return to the source. Food, water, and self-reliance.
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And then last, elevate, evolve, and execute.
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So now let's walk through them. And I don't want you just listening to me as
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I walk through. I want you listening to yourself while I'm talking.
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Because every one of these standards asks you to look within.
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Not at the other side first. Not at your neighbor first.
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Not at the politician first. Not at the person you hate first.
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But asks you to look at you first.
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And that is where the evolution begins. Number one, vote and stay engaged.
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Guys, this has to be first. Because if we do not have a vote, we don't have anything.
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And you can quote me directly on that. If we do not have a vote,
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we do not have anything. We can't talk about freedom all day.
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We can talk about rights all day. We can talk about democracy all day.
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But if people are not voting, if people are not participating,
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if people are not paying attention to the decisions being made around them,
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then they are surrendering their own destiny.
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And then they wonder why somebody else is controlling it.
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You know, for me, voting is not optional anymore in the evolution mindset.
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If you do not love politics, you do not have to love politics.
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I don't love politics. You do not have to worship a party.
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You do not have to put your faith in red or blue or left or right or any of that.
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But if you live in a society where decisions are being made about your children,
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your schools, your roads, your water, your taxes, your health,
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your health care, your safety, your police, your courts, your housing,
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your rights, your future,
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then you have a responsibility to be engaged.
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That means you have to vote and not just vote blindly. You need to know what you're voting for.
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You need to know who you're voting for. You need to know what is on the ballot.
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You need to know what the decisions are being made locally, because sometimes
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the decisions closest to your house affect your life more directly than the
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ones everybody's yelling about nationally.
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Look within and ask yourself, why am I comfortable letting other people decide my future?
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Why do I complain about the condition of the country but refuse to participate in shaping it?
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Am I voting with understanding or am I voting based on fear?
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Am I voting because I research? Am I voting because somebody told me who my enemy was?
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Am I engaged or am I just entertained by outrage?
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This is a serious question.
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Because we have too many people who will argue politics all day online but will
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not take the time to understand what is actually happening in their own community. That's ass backwards.
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And this is where my Voting Corps idea comes in. Voting is a critical infrastructure.
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The process should be protected, professionalized, and made accessible.
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I believe states can run elections, but the integrity of the process must be guarded.
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The vote will always be political, but the process must not be.
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That is why I talk about Voting Corps, trained, disciplined,
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nonpartisan professionals who help protect access, audit the access process,
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support integrity, and make sure people can participate without chaos,
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confusion, intimidation, or manipulation.
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Because when the vote is weak, everything else is at risk. If you are serious
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about the L-Evolution, you vote.
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You stay engaged. You stop surrendering your power and then acting surprised
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when somebody else uses it.
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Number two, look within first. This is, you know, this is the foundation.
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Every part of the evolution starts here. Before we talk about changing America,
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changing the world, changing government, changing schools, changing culture,
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changing politics, or changing anybody else, we have to look inside ourselves first.
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And that is the part people do not want to do. Everybody wants to diagnose the
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world. Everybody wants to point out the other side.
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Everybody wants to say they are the problem.
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But the evolution asks a harder question. What part of the problems living inside of me.
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That is not easy. That is not comfortable, but it's necessary.
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Look within and ask yourself, why am I angry? Why do I hate?
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Why do I fear people I do not know? Why do I repeat things I never researched?
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Why do I defend people with integrity?
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Well, no, why do I defend people without integrity? Why do I excuse wrong when it comes from my side?
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Why do I want justice for myself but excuses for my team?
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Why do I care more about winning than truth. These are not soft questions.
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These are grown person questions.
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A person who never looks within will always need an enemy outside of themselves.
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That is how people get controlled. If someone can keep you angry,
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afraid, offended, distracted, and convinced that all your problems are because
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of those people, they keep you from ever asking the real question.
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What do I need to do to fix it myself?
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That is where the journey really begins.
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You know, religion really is within, not without. Faith is not just something you shout.
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Values are not just something you can post. Character is not something you claim.
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It has to live inside of you.
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If you say you love people, but you hate everybody, you disagree with, you look within.
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If you say you believe in truth, but defend lies from your team, look within.
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If you say you believe in freedom, but only for people who look,
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pray, vote, or think like you, look within.
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If you say you care about children, but ignore the harm when it's inconvenient, look within.
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L-Evolution is not about pretending to be perfect. It's about becoming honest enough to grow.
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Number three, mediate, reflect, and control the mind. Meditation belongs near
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the top because people are being controlled through noise.
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Noise on television, noise on social media, noise from politics,
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noise from fear, noise from trauma, noise from pride, noise from pain,
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noise from people who profit from keeping you upset.
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If you cannot sit with your own thoughts, somebody else will occupy them. That is the danger.
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Meditation does not have to be religious. It can be silence.
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It can be breathing. It can be prayer. It can be journaling. It can be walking.
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It can be sitting still before you react.
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It can be taking five minutes before you speak, before you post,
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before you call somebody, before you make a decision that you cannot take back.
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The point is not the style. The point is control.
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Look within and ask yourself, what am I feeling? Why am I feeling it?
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Is this feeling mine or did somebody put it in me?
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Is this emotion helping me think or is it making me easier to control?
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Do I know how to pause before I react?
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We need to teach this to children early, not in the same, not in some strange way, in a practical way.
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Teach children how to breathe. Teach them how to pause. Teach them how to recognize
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anger before anger becomes action.
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Teach them how to sit quietly. Teach them how to reflect. Teach them how to
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think about what they feel.
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Because a child who learns to pause becomes an adult who is harder to manipulate. That is power.
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Powerful. Think about that. A child who learns to pause becomes an adult who
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is harder to manipulate.
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And this connects to education. It connects to the kind of school I want to
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build. You know, it connects to a lot of things. A smart child without discipline
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can still be manipulated. A talented child with reflection can still be lost.
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So, yes, meditation matters. Reflection matters. Quiet matters.
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Because sometimes the world is not trying to inform you. It is trying to shake you.
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And if you're always shaking, you cannot build.
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The L-Evolution standard is simple. Pause, think, breathe, look within, then act.
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Number four, humility over pride. Pride is one of the biggest enemies of growth.
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A lot of people do not know something, but they are proud to admit it.
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So instead of learning, they argue. Instead of asking, they fake it.
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Instead of growing, they defend ignorance.
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That's how adults get stuck. And I'm talking to adults here because we have
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to stop pretending that age automatically equals wisdom. It does not.
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Just because somebody is older does not mean they are evolved.
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Just because somebody has lived
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a long time does not mean they've learned from the time they've lived.
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Look at all these racist old people right now. They still haven't figured it out.
00:16:43.324 --> 00:16:46.821
There's a difference between getting older and growing. There's a difference
00:16:46.821 --> 00:16:50.937
between experience and wisdom. There's a difference between pride and strength.
00:16:51.585 --> 00:16:56.003
The evolution requires people to be humble enough to say, I do not know.
00:16:56.415 --> 00:16:59.004
I need to learn. I may have been wrong.
00:16:59.556 --> 00:17:05.570
I was taught something incomplete. I repeated something I did not understand. I need to grow.
00:17:06.080 --> 00:17:08.693
That is not weakness. That is strength.
00:17:09.354 --> 00:17:13.149
The weakness, the weak person is not the person who admits they do not know.
00:17:13.648 --> 00:17:17.473
The weak person is the one who would rather stay wrong than be corrected.
00:17:18.188 --> 00:17:21.776
Look within and ask yourself, is my pride blocking my growth?
00:17:22.326 --> 00:17:24.915
Am I rejecting knowledge because it challenges me?
00:17:25.514 --> 00:17:28.034
Am I more interested in being right than becoming better?
00:17:28.677 --> 00:17:32.108
Do I attack information because I do not like how it makes me feel?
00:17:32.873 --> 00:17:37.254
This matters because pride is attached to almost every major problem we face.
00:17:37.890 --> 00:17:41.170
Pride keeps people from apologizing. Pride keeps people from learning.
00:17:41.507 --> 00:17:44.797
Pride keeps you from people loyal to bad leaders.
00:17:45.238 --> 00:17:47.357
Pride keeps people trapped in bad beliefs.
00:17:47.815 --> 00:17:51.861
Pride keeps people from admitting that maybe the world is bigger than what they were taught.
00:17:52.590 --> 00:17:55.400
And pride keeps grown people acting like children.
00:17:56.156 --> 00:18:00.520
So we have to get past that. We have to become humble enough to receive knowledge.
00:18:00.956 --> 00:18:03.504
Humble enough to learn from younger people.
00:18:04.157 --> 00:18:07.671
Humble enough to learn from people who do not look like us. Humble enough to
00:18:07.671 --> 00:18:09.758
learn from people who do not pray like us.
00:18:10.141 --> 00:18:12.498
Humble enough to learn from people who challenge us.
00:18:13.049 --> 00:18:15.673
Humble enough to say, I need to update my thinking.
00:18:16.409 --> 00:18:22.179
In the L of illusion, humility is not weakness. Humility is the door knowledge walks through.
00:18:23.129 --> 00:18:28.298
Number five, learn critical thinking and teach it forward. This one has levels
00:18:28.298 --> 00:18:31.636
because there are adults living right now who have never taught how to think critically.
00:18:32.084 --> 00:18:35.792
And I'm not saying that to insult anybody. I'm saying that because it's true.
00:18:36.410 --> 00:18:39.588
A lot of people were taught to memorize, repeat, pass the test,
00:18:39.588 --> 00:18:43.653
follow instructions, get through the school, get a job, keep moving.
00:18:44.287 --> 00:18:47.908
But then they were taught to how to analyze information. They were taught how
00:18:47.908 --> 00:18:50.778
to question sources. They were taught how to compare evidence.
00:18:50.778 --> 00:18:54.188
They were they were not they were not taught how to question sources.
00:18:54.188 --> 00:18:56.236
They were not taught how to compare evidence.
00:18:56.474 --> 00:18:58.796
They were not taught how to recognize manipulation.
00:18:59.249 --> 00:19:03.658
They were not taught how to think through consequences. And when that happens
00:19:03.658 --> 00:19:08.199
year after year, generation after generation, it creates a waterfall.
00:19:08.489 --> 00:19:12.578
Picture that at the top is a broken school system. Every year it pours out young
00:19:12.578 --> 00:19:15.054
people who were never taught how to think critically.
00:19:16.608 --> 00:19:19.558
Those young people become adults. They become voters, parents,
00:19:19.558 --> 00:19:21.730
workers, leaders, followers, and community members.
00:19:22.216 --> 00:19:25.711
Then many of them pass that same weakness down to the next generation.
00:19:26.285 --> 00:19:29.310
The waterfall keeps flowing year after year.
00:19:29.861 --> 00:19:33.217
And then we act surprised when people cannot separate fact from opinion.
00:19:33.727 --> 00:19:37.094
We act surprised when people believe anything they see online.
00:19:37.390 --> 00:19:40.252
We act surprised when people vote based on fear.
00:19:40.860 --> 00:19:44.028
We act surprised when people get manipulated by slogans, race,
00:19:44.028 --> 00:19:47.621
religion, money, media, and lies. Why are we surprised?
00:19:48.230 --> 00:19:51.748
If people were never taught how to think critically, then we should expect a
00:19:51.748 --> 00:19:54.151
society full of people who are easy to manipulate.
00:19:54.929 --> 00:19:58.895
But we can stop the waterfall. For adults, the first step is humility.
00:19:59.544 --> 00:20:04.478
If you do not know what critical thinking really means, do not get embarrassed. Learn it.
00:20:05.105 --> 00:20:09.140
Look it up. Take a class. Ask a question. Read, study, practice.
00:20:09.669 --> 00:20:14.666
Do not get mad because you were not taught. Get serious because you know you need to learn.
00:20:15.183 --> 00:20:19.844
Look within and ask yourself, do I actually know how to critically think or do I think I do?
00:20:20.471 --> 00:20:24.922
Do I know how to question information? Do I know how to separate fact from opinion?
00:20:24.922 --> 00:20:27.247
Do I know how to recognize when I'm being manipulated?
00:20:28.002 --> 00:20:31.840
Critical thinking means asking, where did this information come from?
00:20:32.152 --> 00:20:33.656
Who benefits if I believe it?
00:20:34.080 --> 00:20:37.992
What evidence supports it? What evidence challenges it? What am I missing?
00:20:38.549 --> 00:20:40.545
Am I thinking or am I reacting?
00:20:41.150 --> 00:20:45.362
Am I being informed or am I being played? And then we have to teach it forward.
00:20:45.646 --> 00:20:48.485
For children, critical thinking has to be built into school early.
00:20:49.109 --> 00:20:53.612
This is where clip and style teaching come in. situation-critical thinking exercises,
00:20:53.612 --> 00:20:57.733
real-world problem solving, an education that trains children to think, not just repeat.
00:20:58.262 --> 00:21:01.842
Not just what is the answer, but what is happening? What do you know?
00:21:02.822 --> 00:21:07.262
What do you not know? Who is affected? What could go wrong? What is the ethical
00:21:07.262 --> 00:21:11.334
decision? What are the second and third order effects? What solution actually helps?
00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:14.446
That is how you train thinkers. That is how you train leaders.
00:21:14.713 --> 00:21:17.860
That is how you train children to operate in the real world.
00:21:18.560 --> 00:21:21.387
We don't need more followers who can pass a test and fail a situation.
00:21:21.991 --> 00:21:26.872
We need thinkers, builders, problem solvers, children who can walk into complexity
00:21:26.872 --> 00:21:31.182
and not panic, children who can ask better questions, children who can solve
00:21:31.182 --> 00:21:32.980
problems instead of becoming part of them.
00:21:33.525 --> 00:21:37.009
That is the L-Evolution. Teach adults how to think better now.
00:21:37.281 --> 00:21:41.025
Teach children how to think better from the beginning. Stop the waterfall.
00:21:42.125 --> 00:21:45.648
Number six, before you speak, ask where you are speaking from.
00:21:46.351 --> 00:21:49.533
You know, before you speak, ask yourself one question. Where am I speaking from?
00:21:50.153 --> 00:21:53.010
You know, that's a powerful question. Are you speaking from knowledge?
00:21:53.010 --> 00:21:57.183
Are you speaking from research? Are you speaking from lived experience?
00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:01.240
Are you speaking from careful thought? Are you speaking from truth?
00:22:02.091 --> 00:22:05.687
Are you speaking from something you heard on TV? Something you saw online?
00:22:05.687 --> 00:22:06.689
Are you speaking out your ass?
00:22:07.367 --> 00:22:11.417
Something somebody got paid to say. Something that made you angry so you repeated
00:22:11.417 --> 00:22:12.621
it before you understood it.
00:22:13.251 --> 00:22:16.927
A lot of people are not speaking from knowledge. They are speaking from programming.
00:22:17.228 --> 00:22:23.247
They are borrowing opinions, renting outrage, renting outrage,
00:22:23.247 --> 00:22:27.087
repeating talking points, letting someone else chew the food and then opening
00:22:27.087 --> 00:22:28.402
their mouth like they cooked the meal.
00:22:29.066 --> 00:22:32.961
That is mental laziness. and we can't afford mental laziness anymore.
00:22:33.535 --> 00:22:36.287
If voting is mandatory because your decisions shape the future,
00:22:36.287 --> 00:22:37.774
then thinking is mandatory too.
00:22:38.411 --> 00:22:42.456
Speaking just to speak is lazy. Repeating without checking is lazy.
00:22:42.816 --> 00:22:48.134
Getting angry before understanding is lazy. Defending a position you never researched is lazy.
00:22:48.557 --> 00:22:52.497
And yes, grown people need to hear that because we are living in a time where
00:22:52.497 --> 00:22:54.680
people are getting paid to shape your emotions.
00:22:55.045 --> 00:22:56.833
They're getting paid to tell you who to hate.
00:22:57.257 --> 00:23:01.057
They're getting paid to keep you watching. They're getting paid to keep you
00:23:01.057 --> 00:23:04.815
scared. They're getting paid to keep you loyal to a team that may not even care about you.
00:23:05.456 --> 00:23:09.943
So before you speak, ask, did I earn this opinion? Did I research this?
00:23:10.176 --> 00:23:11.481
Did I think this through?
00:23:12.173 --> 00:23:15.662
Or am I just repeating what somebody else planted in me?
00:23:15.975 --> 00:23:21.327
Am I speaking from truth or from the team loyalty? Am I speaking from facts or from fear?
00:23:21.711 --> 00:23:23.911
Am I speaking from understanding or from ego?
00:23:24.585 --> 00:23:27.348
Am I speaking from wisdom or from somebody else's script?
00:23:28.108 --> 00:23:31.167
If the words coming out of your mouth were placed there by someone who needed
00:23:31.167 --> 00:23:35.839
your anger, your vote, your money, your loyalty, then those are not your thoughts.
00:23:36.467 --> 00:23:41.884
That is programming. Sheeple is a real word. I just heard that this week. Sheeple.
00:23:42.552 --> 00:23:44.439
Think about that. Are you a sheeple?
00:23:45.118 --> 00:23:49.889
Do you see yourself with fur all around your body waiting for somebody to tell you what the hell to do?
00:23:51.485 --> 00:23:55.065
Dell evolution means breaking that programming. Think before you speak.
00:23:55.065 --> 00:23:58.041
Research before you repeat. Question before you judge.
00:23:58.360 --> 00:24:01.809
Understand before you tag. And if you cannot answer where you're speaking from,
00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:03.875
maybe you need to be quiet until you can.
00:24:04.432 --> 00:24:06.360
That's just honest. That's just real talk, people.
00:24:07.029 --> 00:24:10.815
Number seven, choose integrity over team loyalty. This may be one of the biggest
00:24:10.815 --> 00:24:11.969
problems in America right now.
00:24:12.428 --> 00:24:15.585
People keep defending men and women without integrity simply because they are
00:24:15.585 --> 00:24:18.572
on the same team. Come on, people. That, that, that.
00:24:21.481 --> 00:24:23.825
Out of all the ones I don't, this is the person,
00:24:26.248 --> 00:24:30.529
this is mine right here. The number seven is mine right here. A liar is a liar, people.
00:24:30.982 --> 00:24:35.336
A corrupt person is corrupt. A predator is a predator. A manipulator is a manipulator.
00:24:35.892 --> 00:24:40.677
A person without character should never be trusted with power just because they wear your color.
00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:43.002
Say your slogan. Quote your religion.
00:24:43.612 --> 00:24:48.335
Represent your party or attack your enemy. If there's anything I can do in this
00:24:48.335 --> 00:24:52.505
evolution, This would be the number one I would promote right here is putting
00:24:52.505 --> 00:24:55.767
people in leadership positions that we feel have integrity.
00:24:56.017 --> 00:25:00.115
Because if we know they have integrity, they should be nowhere near the leadership position.
00:25:00.284 --> 00:25:02.728
They can be our friends or whatever friend you want them to be,
00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:04.759
but they cannot be in charge of nobody.
00:25:05.424 --> 00:25:09.140
Look within and ask yourself, why am I defending what I know is wrong?
00:25:09.441 --> 00:25:13.093
Why do I excuse behavior from my side that I would condemn from the other side?
00:25:13.703 --> 00:25:18.911
Why am I more loyal to team than troop? truth. Why do I trust people without integrity to lead me?
00:25:19.587 --> 00:25:23.785
That is the question. Why do we continue to trust men and women without integrity?
00:25:23.785 --> 00:25:27.865
Why do we keep and make excuses for them just so we can feel like our team is winning?
00:25:29.048 --> 00:25:33.265
That's not leadership. That's not citizenship. That's definitely not maturity.
00:25:33.878 --> 00:25:38.463
That is weakness wearing a damn jersey. As a soldier, I understand standards.
00:25:38.689 --> 00:25:40.854
A unit cannot function without integrity.
00:25:41.087 --> 00:25:45.324
A mission cannot exceed if people are lying, hide and manipulate it and make some excuses.
00:25:45.620 --> 00:25:50.613
If somebody cannot be trusted, they put everybody and everything at risk.
00:25:51.365 --> 00:25:54.790
America needs that standard yesterday again.
00:25:55.678 --> 00:26:01.031
Not red standards, not blue standards, human standards, character over slogans,
00:26:01.274 --> 00:26:04.270
integrity over identity, truth over team.
00:26:04.566 --> 00:26:06.603
That does not mean you always agree with everybody.
00:26:09.665 --> 00:26:14.030
It does not mean you will not have political views. It does not mean team,
00:26:14.350 --> 00:26:16.329
groups, parties, and movements cannot exist.
00:26:16.660 --> 00:26:20.532
It means none of them should have permission to make you abandon integrity.
00:26:21.078 --> 00:26:24.235
If your team requires you to defend lies, you need a new team.
00:26:24.945 --> 00:26:28.951
If your team requires you to hate people, you do not know you need a new team.
00:26:29.734 --> 00:26:33.478
If your team requires you to excuse corruption, you need a new team.
00:26:34.399 --> 00:26:39.223
If your team requires you to betray your own character, you need to look within.
00:26:39.734 --> 00:26:43.440
Because once you trade integrity for belonging, you are no longer standing on
00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:45.824
truth. You're just standing in line.
00:26:46.674 --> 00:26:51.631
Number eight, rationale over emotion. Emotion is human, but emotion cannot be king.
00:26:52.229 --> 00:26:54.918
A lot of destruction in this world because of people being ruled by fear,
00:26:54.918 --> 00:26:58.318
pride, anger, jealousy, greed, insecurity, and ego.
00:26:58.944 --> 00:27:02.328
Our evolution has to put our emotions in place.
00:27:02.947 --> 00:27:06.068
Someone puts fear in front of them and they react. Someone mentions race and
00:27:06.068 --> 00:27:08.729
they react. Someone mentions religion and they react.
00:27:09.216 --> 00:27:13.648
Someone says their team is under attack and they react. Someone posts one clip,
00:27:13.648 --> 00:27:18.940
one headline, one image, one phrase, and suddenly people are ready to hate somebody they never met.
00:27:19.427 --> 00:27:21.168
That's not freedom. That's control.
00:27:21.934 --> 00:27:24.958
Look within and ask yourself, am I thinking or am I reacting?
00:27:25.394 --> 00:27:27.582
Is this emotion mine or was it placed in me?
00:27:27.901 --> 00:27:31.395
Who benefits from me being angry? Who benefits from me being afraid?
00:27:31.662 --> 00:27:33.409
Who benefits from me being divided?
00:27:33.874 --> 00:27:38.178
That is where rationale comes in. Rationale over emotion does not mean you stop
00:27:38.178 --> 00:27:42.088
feeling. It means your mind, your spirit, your discipline, and your responsibility
00:27:42.088 --> 00:27:43.939
are strong enough to guide what you feel.
00:27:44.529 --> 00:27:49.290
And this connects to something deeper, servanthood versus domination.
00:27:49.956 --> 00:27:52.857
If human beings are supposed to be the intelligent beings on this planet,
00:27:53.258 --> 00:27:54.796
then we need to start acting like it.
00:27:55.198 --> 00:27:58.838
We were given this beautiful, unique planet, land, water, air,
00:27:58.838 --> 00:28:03.488
animals, oceans, mountains, children, family, creativity, thought,
00:28:03.488 --> 00:28:07.179
reason, the ability to build, the ability to love,
00:28:07.569 --> 00:28:11.668
the ability to protect, the ability to imagine something that does not exist
00:28:11.668 --> 00:28:14.743
yet and then create it. That is amazing.
00:28:15.399 --> 00:28:18.935
The human body itself is one of the most complex things in the universe.
00:28:19.411 --> 00:28:23.568
We are biomechanics. We think, we reason, we feel, we build,
00:28:23.568 --> 00:28:30.027
we heal, we adapt, we create music, architecture, medicine, technology, language, art systems.
00:28:30.346 --> 00:28:32.488
And yet look at what we keep doing.
00:28:33.183 --> 00:28:43.527
Destroying, poisoning, dividing, dominating, taking, fighting, exploiting, abusing.
00:28:44.682 --> 00:28:48.097
That's not dominion. That is barbarism with technology.
00:28:48.741 --> 00:28:52.240
To me, dominion should mean stewardship. It should mean service.
00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:54.627
It should mean we were placed here to make this world better,
00:28:54.888 --> 00:29:00.786
to protect it, to enjoy it, to explore it, and to leave it better for the people who come in after us.
00:29:01.592 --> 00:29:04.480
We were not designed to just tear through the earth, poison the water,
00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:09.365
abuse the weak, exploit the poor, divide the people and call it success because somebody made money.
00:29:10.133 --> 00:29:11.753
That is not evolution.
00:29:12.814 --> 00:29:17.480
That is intelligence without wisdom. Domination asks, how can I control this?
00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:19.804
Servanthood asks, how can I deprove this?
00:29:20.104 --> 00:29:24.040
Domination asks, how can I take? Servanthood asks, how can I protect?
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.434
Domination asks, how can I win? Servanthood asks, how can we grow?
00:29:28.928 --> 00:29:33.720
That is why rationale matters, because emotion without discipline can turn intelligent
00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:35.203
beings into destroyers.
00:29:35.749 --> 00:29:39.400
If your anger controls you, somebody can aim you. If your fear controls you,
00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:43.388
somebody can own you. If your pride controls you, somebody can keep you ignorant.
00:29:43.643 --> 00:29:46.319
If your hate controls you, somebody can use you as a weapon.
00:29:46.563 --> 00:29:48.514
So before you act, pause.
00:29:49.210 --> 00:29:51.130
What I'm feeling? Why am I feeling
00:29:51.130 --> 00:29:55.613
it? Who benefits from me feeling this way? Is this good for my kids?
00:29:56.617 --> 00:29:59.578
Is this emotion leading me towards truth or towards destruction?
00:30:00.229 --> 00:30:04.583
Am I serving something good or am I trying to dominate something I do not understand?
00:30:05.175 --> 00:30:10.010
The evolution standard is feel deeply, but think clearly. Serve more than you
00:30:10.010 --> 00:30:12.530
dominate. Protect more than you consume.
00:30:12.762 --> 00:30:14.451
Build more than you destroy.
00:30:15.357 --> 00:30:16.750
Number nine, protect the innocent.
00:30:18.230 --> 00:30:21.336
I almost hate that I even have to say this one out loud. Protect the innocent.
00:30:21.992 --> 00:30:28.076
This should be non-controversial. This should not even need a political party.
00:30:29.289 --> 00:30:34.037
They should not need a law, a movement, a hashtag, a public scandal before people decide to care.
00:30:34.664 --> 00:30:37.824
If we are supposed to be civilized, then protecting children,
00:30:37.824 --> 00:30:41.073
the elderly, the disabled, the abused, the poor, the voiceless,
00:30:41.410 --> 00:30:45.746
and the vulnerable should be one of the highest standards we carry. But look around.
00:30:46.495 --> 00:30:49.746
The amount of harm being done to children right now is staggering.
00:30:50.317 --> 00:30:55.274
Abuse, neglect, exploitation, trafficking, violence, broken homes,
00:30:55.274 --> 00:30:58.973
broken schools, broken adults taken out of their damage on the innocent.
00:30:59.384 --> 00:31:03.614
And somehow somebody keeps finding a way to be shot after the fact instead of
00:31:03.994 --> 00:31:06.983
serious before the damage is done. No.
00:31:07.642 --> 00:31:12.174
As a soldier, as a man, as a father, as somebody who loves children because
00:31:12.174 --> 00:31:16.081
they are children, I have to ask, what are we doing?
00:31:16.992 --> 00:31:20.963
Children are not objects. Children are not outlets for broken adults.
00:31:21.195 --> 00:31:24.481
Children are not property. Children are not political tools.
00:31:24.736 --> 00:31:28.646
Children are not experiments for adult confusion, adult anger,
00:31:28.646 --> 00:31:33.734
adult lust, adult greed, or adult failure. They are children, period.
00:31:34.351 --> 00:31:37.906
And if society cannot protect its children, then what society needs to stop
00:31:37.906 --> 00:31:40.144
bragging about how advanced it is?
00:31:40.912 --> 00:31:45.097
Technology does not make you evolved. Wealth does not make you evolved.
00:31:45.370 --> 00:31:47.384
Power does not make you evolved.
00:31:48.265 --> 00:31:52.352
A flag, a title, a religion, or a political slogan does not make you evolved.
00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:55.411
How you treat the innocent tells the truth.
00:31:55.998 --> 00:32:00.020
Look within and ask yourself, do I protect innocent or do I look away?
00:32:00.206 --> 00:32:03.794
Do I defend vulnerable or do I only care when it affects my family?
00:32:04.067 --> 00:32:08.291
Do I protect children or do I protect the reputation of adults who are harmed?
00:32:08.634 --> 00:32:11.583
Do I care about abuse before it becomes a headline?
00:32:12.036 --> 00:32:15.159
This is where everybody has a role. mothers, fathers, families,
00:32:15.443 --> 00:32:19.336
teachers, coaches, churches, communities, men, women, neighbors,
00:32:19.336 --> 00:32:22.705
law enforcement, schools, courts, governments, all of us.
00:32:23.129 --> 00:32:28.510
Protection is not just anger after the fact. Protection is awareness before the damage.
00:32:28.835 --> 00:32:31.552
It is systems. It is reporting. It is accountability.
00:32:31.935 --> 00:32:35.866
It is teaching boys and girls their value. It is teaching men that strength
00:32:35.866 --> 00:32:38.013
means protection, not predation.
00:32:38.587 --> 00:32:42.471
It's teaching communities that silence protects abusers, not children.
00:32:42.703 --> 00:32:47.028
And yes, I have solutions for this. That is a whole other podcast.
00:32:47.533 --> 00:32:50.598
But before we get to those solutions, we have to get our moral compass right.
00:32:51.311 --> 00:32:57.542
If you see harm, you do not look away. If you know abuse is happening, you do not stay silent.
00:32:58.018 --> 00:33:01.426
If someone is preying on children, you do not protect their name,
00:33:01.426 --> 00:33:03.206
their title, their money, their
00:33:03.206 --> 00:33:07.617
status, or their position, you protect the child. That is the standard.
00:33:09.106 --> 00:33:12.367
Next to freedom, protecting the innocent may be one of the highest duties we carry.
00:33:13.026 --> 00:33:18.129
If we cannot agree on that, then we have not elevated. We have not evolved.
00:33:18.943 --> 00:33:21.340
We have failed the most basic test of humanity.
00:33:22.460 --> 00:33:26.519
Number 10, respect, learn, and understand culture. Respect is only the first
00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:27.842
step. Learning is the next one.
00:33:28.196 --> 00:33:32.179
If you feel hatred toward race, religion, culture, country, immigration,
00:33:32.179 --> 00:33:36.631
group, or community, the evolution asks you to look within first. Why do you feel this way?
00:33:37.459 --> 00:33:41.389
What did they actually do to me? Did someone from that group hurt me?
00:33:41.389 --> 00:33:43.901
Did someone from that group hurt somebody in my family?
00:33:44.197 --> 00:33:47.059
And I'm judging millions of people based on the actions of one person,
00:33:47.059 --> 00:33:49.920
one group, one story, one headline, or one radical.
00:33:50.656 --> 00:33:54.916
Did I learn this or was I taught to fear this? That is where we have to be honest.
00:33:55.026 --> 00:33:58.236
Every race has bad characters. Every religion has bad characters.
00:33:58.525 --> 00:34:02.368
Every country has bad characters. Every political group has bad characters.
00:34:02.763 --> 00:34:05.160
Every culture has people who do wrong.
00:34:05.753 --> 00:34:09.584
So hold people accountable for what they do. Hold individuals accountable.
00:34:09.822 --> 00:34:12.788
Hold bad actors accountable. Hold criminals accountable.
00:34:13.038 --> 00:34:16.596
Hold corrupt leaders accountable. Hold abusers accountable.
00:34:17.148 --> 00:34:21.287
We do not turn individual wrongdoing into permission to hate a whole people.
00:34:21.834 --> 00:34:23.744
That is lazy. That's dangerous.
00:34:24.429 --> 00:34:27.179
And quite frankly, you don't even deserve to be a person if you're that damn
00:34:27.179 --> 00:34:30.879
lazy. Just run in the jungle butt naked with the monkeys and stuff.
00:34:30.879 --> 00:34:32.074
That's where you really need to be.
00:34:34.674 --> 00:34:38.384
And that is how people get manipulated. If someone tells you a religion is evil,
00:34:38.384 --> 00:34:42.667
learn about it before you repeat that. If someone tells you a culture is dangerous, study it.
00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:47.075
If someone tells you the book is bad, read it enough to understand why.
00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:51.754
If someone tells you a group of people is your enemy, ask who benefits from you believing that.
00:34:52.580 --> 00:34:55.111
Or is that just a small portion of people in that community?
00:34:55.749 --> 00:34:57.599
This connects directly to immigration, too.
00:34:58.263 --> 00:35:01.444
We can talk about borders. We can talk about laws. We can talk about order.
00:35:01.444 --> 00:35:02.722
We can talk about process.
00:35:03.403 --> 00:35:07.674
But we cannot talk about people like they are not human. Before you decide what
00:35:07.674 --> 00:35:11.953
you believe about immigrants, ask yourself, do I understand where they come from?
00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:15.895
Do I understand what they escaped? Do I understand what they are seeking?
00:35:16.441 --> 00:35:19.099
Do I understand the system or am I just reacting to fear?
00:35:19.651 --> 00:35:22.960
Do I understand the difference between lawful order and hateful languages?
00:35:23.453 --> 00:35:26.048
And at no point did I mention, do you, do you damn care?
00:35:26.645 --> 00:35:29.977
Do you understand? Care and understand are two different mindsets, all right?
00:35:30.838 --> 00:35:34.002
Care comes from people who care about people and want to do right for people.
00:35:34.287 --> 00:35:36.626
To understand something means you're knowledgeable back then.
00:35:36.800 --> 00:35:39.923
And that's all I'm asking you to do right, brother.
00:35:42.038 --> 00:35:45.394
That means rules should not erase humanity.
00:35:45.626 --> 00:35:50.160
And this matters because the less you know about people, the easier it is to hate them.
00:35:51.139 --> 00:35:54.532
A person who understands becomes harder to reduce to a slogan.
00:35:54.997 --> 00:35:57.551
A culture you study becomes harder to dismiss.
00:35:58.068 --> 00:36:00.738
A family story you hear becomes harder to ignore.
00:36:01.317 --> 00:36:05.149
The hell evolution standard is learn before you hate, understand before you
00:36:05.149 --> 00:36:10.222
judge, hold people accountable as individuals, not excuses to condemn entire cultures.
00:36:10.959 --> 00:36:13.269
All right, people, we halfway there. Come on, stay with me now.
00:36:13.269 --> 00:36:16.579
This is important. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be talking to you because nobody
00:36:16.579 --> 00:36:18.088
else is talking about this. Trust me.
00:36:18.720 --> 00:36:22.197
Number 11, protect the full cycle. children, elders, and veterans.
00:36:22.929 --> 00:36:26.058
If we're going to talk about caring for people, then we have to care about the full life cycle.
00:36:26.523 --> 00:36:30.418
Children at the beginning, elders near the end, veterans who served in between,
00:36:30.598 --> 00:36:32.438
and everybody vulnerable along the way.
00:36:33.070 --> 00:36:36.292
We cannot say protect children, then abandon people when they get too old.
00:36:36.918 --> 00:36:40.240
We cannot salute veterans, then make their lives hard when the uniform comes off.
00:36:40.863 --> 00:36:44.229
We cannot talk about family values while elderly people are being pushed out,
00:36:44.229 --> 00:36:47.904
forgotten, priced out, medically neglected, and left alone without support.
00:36:48.564 --> 00:36:52.488
That's not family. That's not community. That's not evolution.
00:36:53.257 --> 00:36:57.222
Look within and ask yourself, do I only respect people when they are useful?
00:36:58.859 --> 00:37:03.789
Do I value elders or do I treat aging like a burden? Do I honor veterans with
00:37:03.789 --> 00:37:05.876
words but fail them with systems?
00:37:06.536 --> 00:37:09.502
Do I understand that if I live long enough, I will be old too?
00:37:10.322 --> 00:37:13.889
That is the part that amazes me. Everybody is headed toward age,
00:37:13.889 --> 00:37:17.319
and if they're blessed to live long enough, So why do we act like elder care
00:37:17.319 --> 00:37:18.565
is somebody else's problem?
00:37:20.606 --> 00:37:23.539
We see older people struggling with housing, struggling with medication,
00:37:23.539 --> 00:37:26.599
struggling with health care, struggling with loneliness, struggling without
00:37:26.599 --> 00:37:28.924
family, struggling to survive in a world they can help build.
00:37:29.342 --> 00:37:32.944
Come on. We're going to take the time to care about other people.
00:37:33.691 --> 00:37:37.929
We're going to take time to take care of kids. It only stands to reason that
00:37:37.929 --> 00:37:42.445
we complete the full spectrum of the life cycle and care for our elderly better than we are.
00:37:43.380 --> 00:37:46.900
And we need to care for our veterans better, too. Not just thank you for your
00:37:46.900 --> 00:37:51.139
service. Systems, comfort, purpose, medical care, community, respect.
00:37:51.803 --> 00:37:54.820
Opportunities to give back without turning them into cheap labor and making
00:37:54.820 --> 00:37:57.930
slaves out of them. Veterans will still have knowledge, discipline,
00:37:57.930 --> 00:38:00.493
structure, experience, leadership, mentorship.
00:38:00.870 --> 00:38:04.510
They can help build, train, guide, teach, and protect communities if we create
00:38:04.510 --> 00:38:05.810
the right systems around them.
00:38:06.438 --> 00:38:10.350
This is where my lit transformation idea matters. Low-income transformation
00:38:10.350 --> 00:38:12.225
cannot just be about jobs and housing.
00:38:12.810 --> 00:38:16.260
It should be including dignity across the life cycle, elder comfort,
00:38:16.260 --> 00:38:19.900
veteran comfort, community-based support, food access, transportation,
00:38:19.900 --> 00:38:22.603
medical care, safety, mentorship, and purpose.
00:38:23.247 --> 00:38:27.610
Older people should not be treated like expired workers. Veterans should not
00:38:27.610 --> 00:38:31.037
be paraded around, then convenient, and forgotten when the speech is over.
00:38:31.647 --> 00:38:35.652
Children's, elders, and veterans tell us whether our society has a soul.
00:38:36.235 --> 00:38:40.912
The Elevolution standard is protect children, honor elders, support veterans,
00:38:41.336 --> 00:38:44.366
build communities where people are valued from the beginning to the end.
00:38:45.666 --> 00:38:49.326
Number 12, get out of your bubble. A bubble is not just a small town.
00:38:49.326 --> 00:38:52.206
A bubble can be your neighborhood, your church, your political party,
00:38:52.206 --> 00:38:55.863
your race, your income level, your media channel, your family,
00:38:56.199 --> 00:38:58.126
your social circle, your algorithm.
00:38:59.786 --> 00:39:04.086
The less you experience, the narrower your view can become. And that's not an
00:39:04.086 --> 00:39:05.652
insult. That is reality.
00:39:05.942 --> 00:39:09.166
If you grew up in one place, heard one kind of story, knew one kind of people,
00:39:09.166 --> 00:39:13.506
watched one kind of news, and never went anywhere else, You may think your world
00:39:13.506 --> 00:39:17.628
is the real world, but it's not. It is your corner of the world.
00:39:18.244 --> 00:39:23.046
Look within and ask yourself, is my world too small? Do I think I understand
00:39:23.046 --> 00:39:25.744
people I've never met? Do I hate places I've never been?
00:39:26.040 --> 00:39:28.002
Do I fear cultures I've never studied?
00:39:28.613 --> 00:39:31.706
Do I understand that most places don't have the infrastructure that America
00:39:31.706 --> 00:39:33.994
has, so lifestyles and cultures are different?
00:39:34.667 --> 00:39:37.139
Have I mistaken my experience for universal truth?
00:39:37.882 --> 00:39:41.806
Exposure expands people. Museums matter. Science fairs matter.
00:39:41.806 --> 00:39:44.146
Travels matter. Culture exchanges matter.
00:39:44.465 --> 00:39:46.601
Service programs matter. Field trips matter.
00:39:46.984 --> 00:39:50.450
Talking to different peoples matters. Trying different things matter.
00:39:51.061 --> 00:39:54.676
That stuff shaped me. I went to museums. I went to science fairs.
00:39:54.676 --> 00:40:00.122
I went to Carolyn. I experienced things that helped make me more rounded individual. Those things matter.
00:40:00.436 --> 00:40:03.025
Just because something is different does not mean it's wrong.
00:40:03.448 --> 00:40:07.918
Difference can expand you. Difference can teach you. Difference can make you better.
00:40:08.565 --> 00:40:13.206
And this connects to my national spine idea. A lot of people may fear infrastructure
00:40:13.206 --> 00:40:16.489
and think it's just concrete, rail, water, and power.
00:40:17.261 --> 00:40:21.197
But infrastructure can also expand the mind. If people can move more easily,
00:40:21.541 --> 00:40:24.966
access more places, stay in more places, work in more places,
00:40:24.966 --> 00:40:29.336
and experience more of the country, they can grow beyond the limits of their original bubble.
00:40:29.789 --> 00:40:36.335
Transportation is just not movement. It is exposure. Access is just not convenience. It is education.
00:40:36.794 --> 00:40:40.406
A country that wants smarter people has to give people more opportunities to
00:40:40.406 --> 00:40:43.429
see, experience and understand more of the world.
00:40:44.091 --> 00:40:49.542
The evolution standard is get out of your bubble, expand your world so your mind can expand with it.
00:40:50.645 --> 00:40:54.574
Number 13, knowledge is a lifelong journey. Graduation is not the end of learning.
00:40:55.120 --> 00:40:58.485
It's supposed to be the beginning of responsible learning. Too many people leave
00:40:58.485 --> 00:41:01.686
school, get a job, and stop growing everywhere except the job they work.
00:41:02.190 --> 00:41:05.645
They stop studying history. They stop studying government. They stop learning
00:41:05.645 --> 00:41:08.785
about health. They stop learning about money. They stop learning about cultures.
00:41:09.092 --> 00:41:13.429
They stop questioning old beliefs. They stop updating their understanding of the world.
00:41:13.993 --> 00:41:18.091
Then they speak with the confidence from outdated information. That is dangerous.
00:41:18.718 --> 00:41:22.505
Look within and ask yourself, When did I stop learning? What have I refused
00:41:22.505 --> 00:41:25.034
to update? Am I still growing? Am I just getting older?
00:41:25.521 --> 00:41:28.180
Do I keep learning or did I graduate into stagnation?
00:41:28.820 --> 00:41:33.330
Knowledge is not only books. It is travel, conversation, failure,
00:41:33.503 --> 00:41:37.526
service, parenting, building, listening, watching, trying, reflecting.
00:41:38.182 --> 00:41:42.576
The world keeps changing. Technology keeps changing. History keeps getting corrected.
00:41:42.867 --> 00:41:45.630
Science keeps discovering.
00:41:45.996 --> 00:41:48.677
Children are growing into a world different from the one we knew.
00:41:49.061 --> 00:41:52.080
So how can we stop learning and still think we are prepared to lead?
00:41:52.834 --> 00:41:56.515
That does not make no damn sense. If the last time you seriously studied history
00:41:56.515 --> 00:41:58.105
was in school, you may not know enough.
00:41:58.613 --> 00:42:02.038
If the last time you studied government was for a test, you really don't know enough.
00:42:02.624 --> 00:42:05.492
If the last time you learned about another culture was from a stereotype,
00:42:06.013 --> 00:42:07.714
you're just sitting in the dark looking stupid.
00:42:08.237 --> 00:42:12.172
If the last time you questioned your own beliefs was never, then you definitely don't know enough.
00:42:12.789 --> 00:42:14.780
And that is not meant to shame anybody.
00:42:15.448 --> 00:42:19.146
It's meant to wake us up. The L-Evolution requires continuous growth.
00:42:19.616 --> 00:42:22.519
Learn about your country. Learn about the world.
00:42:23.144 --> 00:42:27.795
Learn about your children's world. Learn about technology. Learn about money.
00:42:27.795 --> 00:42:30.282
Learn about health. Learn about history.
00:42:31.407 --> 00:42:33.967
Learn about the people who don't look like you, pray like you,
00:42:33.967 --> 00:42:38.634
vote like you, or live like you. Because the less you know, the easier you are to control.
00:42:39.075 --> 00:42:43.157
And the less you grow, the smaller your world becomes. The evolution standard
00:42:43.157 --> 00:42:45.624
is never stop growing just because school ended.
00:42:46.363 --> 00:42:49.852
Purpose over profit. Money is a tool, people. It's not the mission.
00:42:50.450 --> 00:42:53.597
A lot of the world has been designed around profit first and people second.
00:42:53.597 --> 00:42:57.827
That is why we have systems that can make a few people rich while leaving communities
00:42:57.827 --> 00:43:02.087
broken, children, undereducated, elders unsupported, veterans struggling,
00:43:02.087 --> 00:43:04.533
water poisoned, land destroyed, and families trapped.
00:43:05.106 --> 00:43:08.728
I understand business. I understand profit. I understand innovation.
00:43:09.352 --> 00:43:14.310
I understand that money helps move things. But profit without responsibility is dangerous.
00:43:14.576 --> 00:43:19.179
Look within yourself and ask yourself, am I building for purpose or am I just chasing money?
00:43:19.558 --> 00:43:22.901
Am I willing to damage people, land, water, and children for profit?
00:43:23.365 --> 00:43:27.329
What am I leaving behind? Am I creating value? Am I just extracting it?
00:43:28.035 --> 00:43:31.747
This does not mean business is bad. It does not mean success is bad.
00:43:31.747 --> 00:43:34.850
It means profit can be the highest God.
00:43:35.624 --> 00:43:39.357
Because when profit becomes the highest God, everything else becomes sacrifice.
00:43:39.740 --> 00:43:44.239
Children get sacrificed. Workers get sacrificed. Water gets sacrificed.
00:43:44.517 --> 00:43:49.539
Land gets sacrificed. Truth gets sacrificed. Communities get sacrificed.
00:43:49.788 --> 00:43:56.296
Health gets sacrificed, and then finally, funeral generations get sacrificed. And for what?
00:43:56.892 --> 00:44:00.607
A couple of dollars you may not live long enough to enjoy? Come on now.
00:44:01.382 --> 00:44:07.038
We can build better than that. This is why my initiatives are designed around purpose. You know?
00:44:08.199 --> 00:44:11.849
Goal is not to strip communities for profit. The goal is to solve problems and
00:44:11.849 --> 00:44:13.684
create systems where people can grow.
00:44:14.015 --> 00:44:19.280
The evolution standard is build wealth if you can, but do not destroy humanity to get at it.
00:44:19.899 --> 00:44:24.409
15. Build systems that survive people. This is the process engineering me.
00:44:24.409 --> 00:44:28.729
A good system should not depend on one perfect person because people change,
00:44:28.729 --> 00:44:32.839
leaders change, good people leave, bad people enter, greed shows up,
00:44:32.839 --> 00:44:36.431
laziness shows up, corruption shows up, ego shows up.
00:44:36.855 --> 00:44:40.083
So systems have to be designed strong enough to survive human weakness.
00:44:40.518 --> 00:44:44.024
That is what I mean when I talk about building systems that survive people.
00:44:44.645 --> 00:44:48.209
Look within and ask yourself, am I only talking about change or am I designing
00:44:48.209 --> 00:44:49.510
something that can actually work?
00:44:49.975 --> 00:44:54.532
Does this solution survive bad leadership? Does this solution protect the mission when people change?
00:44:55.054 --> 00:44:59.008
Does this system depend on everybody being honest or does it have guardrails?
00:44:59.610 --> 00:45:02.704
This is why I do not just want to complain. Complaining is easy.
00:45:03.203 --> 00:45:06.256
Design is harder. Building is harder. Sustaining is harder.
00:45:06.977 --> 00:45:10.658
That is where the work is. Voting Corps protects voting infrastructure.
00:45:11.800 --> 00:45:16.780
Lit protects low-income families. The spine protects water, power, travel, and access.
00:45:17.268 --> 00:45:20.611
Veteran-led models protect service structure and continued purpose.
00:45:20.942 --> 00:45:25.200
Indoor farming protects food access and survival. These are not random ideas
00:45:25.200 --> 00:45:27.199
floating around by themselves. They are connected.
00:45:27.980 --> 00:45:31.580
They are systems. They are designed to make life better, to make opportunity
00:45:31.580 --> 00:45:36.949
easier, to make survival stronger, and to make people less dependent on broken structures.
00:45:37.471 --> 00:45:42.200
L-Evolution is not just philosophy. It is design. The evolution standard is
00:45:42.200 --> 00:45:45.551
do not just inspire people, build systems that protect the mission.
00:45:46.172 --> 00:45:47.873
All right, guys, four more and I'm almost done.
00:45:48.797 --> 00:45:52.690
Accountability without excuses. Accountability matters. And let me say this
00:45:52.690 --> 00:45:53.630
clearly because there's a
00:45:53.630 --> 00:45:57.197
whole other level to this conversation that belongs in a separate podcast.
00:45:57.800 --> 00:46:00.420
There's another conversation to be had about justice, punishment,
00:46:00.420 --> 00:46:03.030
protection and how society deals with people who harm others.
00:46:03.453 --> 00:46:07.180
That is a deeper, darker issue and it has to be addressed. But this episode
00:46:07.180 --> 00:46:09.234
is about the standards we need to live by first.
00:46:09.565 --> 00:46:13.453
So for now, let's stay focused. Accountability means people are responsible for what they do,
00:46:13.837 --> 00:46:17.340
not their race, not their religion, not their culture, not their whole community,
00:46:17.660 --> 00:46:21.050
the individual, the bad actor, the person who caused the harm,
00:46:21.050 --> 00:46:24.080
the person who abused the power, the person who prayed on the weak,
00:46:24.080 --> 00:46:27.803
the person who lied, the person who stole, the person who betrayed trust.
00:46:28.350 --> 00:46:31.913
Look within and ask yourself, do I want justice or do I want revenge?
00:46:32.523 --> 00:46:37.103
Do I hold my own side accountable? Do I protect bad people because they're useful to me?
00:46:37.742 --> 00:46:41.330
Do I blame entire groups because I'm lazy to identify the actual wrongdoer?
00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:44.832
This connects back to culture, integrity, and protecting the innocent.
00:46:45.483 --> 00:46:47.723
If a person does wrong, hold that person accountable.
00:46:48.096 --> 00:46:50.010
If a leader lies, hold that leader accountable.
00:46:50.429 --> 00:46:53.349
If a person abuses the weak, hold that powerful person accountable.
00:46:53.930 --> 00:46:57.140
If someone harms a child, stop protecting their name and protect the child.
00:46:57.668 --> 00:47:01.760
But do not use one bad person as an excuse to hate millions of people who did nothing to you.
00:47:02.351 --> 00:47:05.220
That is not accountability. That is prejudice looking for permission.
00:47:05.843 --> 00:47:09.401
The L-Evolution standard is stop making excuses for bad characters.
00:47:09.660 --> 00:47:12.280
Hold people accountable for what they actually do.
00:47:13.412 --> 00:47:16.542
17, solutions over slogans. This
00:47:16.542 --> 00:47:20.154
is one of those things that separate my platform from the talking crowd.
00:47:20.578 --> 00:47:23.832
Everybody can complain. Everybody can pose. Everybody can yell.
00:47:23.832 --> 00:47:25.593
Everybody can say the system is broken.
00:47:26.023 --> 00:47:29.361
Everybody can sit on TV and talk about the problem. But then what?
00:47:30.122 --> 00:47:33.042
What's the first step in the solution? What are we building?
00:47:33.530 --> 00:47:36.862
What are we going to change? What are we designing? What are we implementing?
00:47:37.402 --> 00:47:40.479
Look within and ask yourself, am I just talking? Am I building?
00:47:40.810 --> 00:47:44.914
Am I offering a solution or am I addicted to outrage?
00:47:45.396 --> 00:47:48.350
Am I helping fix the problem or am I using the problem to get attention?
00:47:48.978 --> 00:47:52.280
This is why the L-Evolution has to stay solution-based.
00:47:52.932 --> 00:47:56.512
If voting is broken, build voting cores. If schools are weak,
00:47:56.512 --> 00:47:57.936
build a critical thinking education.
00:47:58.424 --> 00:48:02.102
If kids are overlooked, build push. If communities are trapped,
00:48:02.102 --> 00:48:06.034
build lit. If water, power, and travel and access are broken, build the spine.
00:48:07.755 --> 00:48:11.802
If veterans are underused, build veteran-led systems. If elders are abounding,
00:48:11.802 --> 00:48:13.025
build lifecycle support.
00:48:13.351 --> 00:48:16.543
If food systems are fragile, build indoor farming and local food security.
00:48:16.950 --> 00:48:19.544
If people are stuck in bubbles, build access and exposure.
00:48:20.112 --> 00:48:22.288
That is how you move from talk to action.
00:48:22.857 --> 00:48:26.056
Slogans can inspire people, but slogans cannot replace systems.
00:48:26.398 --> 00:48:29.475
Outrage can wake people, but outrage cannot build infrastructure.
00:48:29.858 --> 00:48:32.946
Anger can identify a problem, but anger cannot design a solution.
00:48:33.318 --> 00:48:35.280
At some point, somebody has to build.
00:48:36.023 --> 00:48:40.462
That is the L-Evolution. The L-Evolution standard is. Do not just name the problem.
00:48:40.462 --> 00:48:41.815
Build towards the answer.
00:48:42.590 --> 00:48:46.772
Eighteen, get on the human team. At some point, people have to get off the teams
00:48:46.772 --> 00:48:47.612
that taught them to hate.
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Red team, blue team, MAGA team, Antifa team, socialist team,
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capitalist team, religious team, racial team, cultural team, class team.
00:48:56.612 --> 00:49:00.732
If your team requires you to hate another human being, excuse wrong,
00:49:00.732 --> 00:49:05.478
defend corruption, ignore suffering, or abandon truth, then your team is part of the problem.
00:49:06.445 --> 00:49:09.951
Look within and ask yourself, what team has control over my humanity?
00:49:10.363 --> 00:49:13.069
What label matters more to me than truth?
00:49:13.562 --> 00:49:15.548
Who taught me to hate and why do I accept it?
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Before any of those labels, we are human. That does not erase differences.
00:49:20.915 --> 00:49:22.301
It puts them in proper order.
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A fox knows a fox as a fox. A dog knows a dog as a dog. A horse knows a horse as a horse.
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They do not need to be the same color to recognize their own kind.
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So what is wrong with us? Human beings are human beings, different colors,
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different cultures, different languages, different hoistries,
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different religions, different wombs, different stories, but still human.
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And if after 250 years of America, we still cannot understand that,
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then the problem is deeper than politics.
00:49:53.606 --> 00:49:55.313
The problem is inside us.
00:49:55.911 --> 00:50:00.495
The evolution standard is humanity first, everything else second.
00:50:02.012 --> 00:50:06.382
Return to the source, food, water, and self-reliance. We become disconnected
00:50:06.382 --> 00:50:11.387
from the basics of survival. Food shows up on shelves and too many people never ask how it got there.
00:50:11.818 --> 00:50:15.442
Water comes in bottles and too many people never ask where it came from,
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who controls it, or what happens if it stops coming.
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Big business has made life easier in many ways and I understand that.
00:50:22.082 --> 00:50:24.085
Convenience is not the enemy by itself.
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But dependence without understanding is dangerous.
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L-Evolution means we have to start taking more responsibility for our own survival again.
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Not in some extreme way, not by re-ejecting modern life, but by reconnecting
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people to the source of life itself.
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Food, water, land, growth, and responsibility.
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Look within and ask yourself, do I know how to provide for myself if the system slows down?
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Do my children know where food really comes from?
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Have I become so dependent on communities that I have lost basic survival knowledge?
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Do I understand the value of water, soil, plants, nutrition, and food security?
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This is where we have to think differently. We used to have more natural connection
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to food, gardens, farms, 4-H, agricultural programs, family growing vegetables,
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children understanding animals, plants, season work, harvest.
00:51:11.792 --> 00:51:16.813
Not everybody was a farmer, but more people understood that food did not just magically appear.
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Many people are separated from that knowledge. That has to change.
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Imagine if every elementary school, middle school, and high school in America
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had some form of indoor farming, hydroponics, aquaponics, greenhouse growing,
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and school-based food production.
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Not just a little garden off to the side that looks like good pictures,
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a real learning system built into the education.
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Students would learn the life cycle of plants like it. They would plant it,
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track it, measure it, study the water, study the nutrients, harvest it,
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eat it, share it, understand it.
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Now you're not just teaching science. You're teaching responsibility,
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nutrition, patience, work, health, sustainability, entrepreneurship,
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community survival, respect for life.
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That is education with purpose.
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This connects directly to my low-income transformation. Indoor farming should
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not be rare. It should be become the normal inside low-income communities,
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schools, veteran communities, elder communities, and community transformation zones.
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Food production should not only belong to corporations and distant supply chains.
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Communities should have the ability to grow some of what they need where they
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live. That does not mean every person has to become a farmer.
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It means every person should understand that survival is not somebody else's job.
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A country that cannot feed its people locally is vulnerable.
00:52:31.402 --> 00:52:34.293
A community that cannot access clean water is vulnerable.
00:52:34.647 --> 00:52:39.483
A child who has never grown anything is missing a basic connection to life.
00:52:39.985 --> 00:52:45.534
An adult who cannot survive without a store shelf is more dependent than they might want to admit.
00:52:46.323 --> 00:52:49.722
Elevolution is not about going backwards. It's about bringing the wisdom of
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the past into the technology of the future.
00:52:52.347 --> 00:52:56.092
Indoor farming, aquaponics, hydroponics, community food hubs,
00:52:56.472 --> 00:53:00.701
school farms, veteran-led agriculture training, elder garden programs,
00:53:00.962 --> 00:53:05.095
youth nutrition education, local food production, clean water systems.
00:53:05.513 --> 00:53:09.379
These are not side ideas. These are survival systems.
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When a child grows food, watches it, lives, cares for it, and then eats,
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what they help produce, something changes in that child. They begin to understand
00:53:18.252 --> 00:53:20.594
patience. They understand effort. They understand nature.
00:53:20.879 --> 00:53:23.932
They understand value. They understand that life requires care.
00:53:24.507 --> 00:53:29.771
That is L-Evolution. The L-Evolution standard is learn how life is sustained.
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Teach children how to grow, preserve, and respect food and water.
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Build communities that can provide more for themselves.
00:53:37.614 --> 00:53:41.230
Convenience is good, but dependency without knowledge is dangerous.
00:53:41.872 --> 00:53:45.128
And lastly, number 20, elevate, evolve, and execute.
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This is the close. Elevate, evolve, execute. Those are not just words.
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Elevate means rise above the lowest version of yourself.
00:53:54.023 --> 00:53:57.399
Evolve means keep growing beyond your limits, wounds, pride,
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ignorance, and conditioning.
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Execute means do the work, not just talk, not just post, not just complain,
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not just dream. Do the work.
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Look within and ask yourself, what am I actually doing? Where am I growing?
00:54:10.899 --> 00:54:12.686
What am I building? Who am I helping?
00:54:13.057 --> 00:54:17.509
What problem am I solving? What standard am I living by? Vela Evolution is not
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asking people to become perfect.
00:54:19.234 --> 00:54:22.508
I'm asking people to become responsible, responsible for thought,
00:54:22.856 --> 00:54:25.451
responsible for action, responsible for speech,
00:54:25.921 --> 00:54:29.579
responsible for voting, responsible for children, elders, veterans,
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cultures, systems, food, responsible for water, responsible for the future.
00:54:35.073 --> 00:54:38.091
And that is the part people need to understand. This is not soft.
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This is discipline. This is not weakness. This is responsibility.
00:54:41.975 --> 00:54:43.420
This is not just peace talk.
00:54:43.937 --> 00:54:49.224
This is building talk. This is not just love everybody and pretend problems don't exist. No.
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This is look within, grow up, think clearly, protect the innocent,
00:54:53.429 --> 00:54:58.529
hold bad actors accountable, build systems, and stop letting other people control
00:54:58.529 --> 00:55:01.031
your destiny. That is the L-Evolution.
00:55:02.817 --> 00:55:06.497
Closing, people. So when people ask me, Chris, Christopher George,
00:55:06.837 --> 00:55:09.492
what does the evolution mean? This is what I mean.
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I mean voting like your future depends on it because it does.
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I mean looking within before blaming everybody else.
00:55:16.220 --> 00:55:19.697
I mean learning how to think. I mean teaching children how to think.
00:55:20.016 --> 00:55:21.554
I mean controlling emotion.
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I mean choosing integrity over team loyalty.
00:55:24.979 --> 00:55:27.317
I mean protecting the innocent. I mean.
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Respecting and learning culture instead of judging whole people by radicals.
00:55:33.600 --> 00:55:37.337
I mean caring for children, elders, and veterans. I mean getting out of your
00:55:37.337 --> 00:55:40.722
bubble. I mean treating knowledge like a lifelong journey.
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I mean putting purpose over profit.
00:55:43.722 --> 00:55:49.005
I mean building systems that survive people. I mean accountability without excuses.
00:55:49.307 --> 00:55:51.124
I mean solutions over slogans.
00:55:51.548 --> 00:55:53.585
I mean getting on the human team.
00:55:54.125 --> 00:55:57.591
I mean returning to the source, food, water, and self-reliance.
00:55:58.386 --> 00:56:02.612
And then I mean executing. Because again, humankind is on the line.
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And whether you laugh at that rhyme or not, I need you to understand the truth behind it.
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We cannot keep doing what we've been doing and expect the same better to magically appear.
00:56:12.968 --> 00:56:16.701
The world has been the same for far too long. Power over the weak.
00:56:17.235 --> 00:56:21.734
This religion over that religion. This race over that race. This party over that party.
00:56:22.053 --> 00:56:26.378
This country over that country. This class over that class. Enough.
00:56:27.718 --> 00:56:31.376
Enough. And let me say something else that just dawned on me.
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I went through all these evolution standards and I did not make racism its own standard.
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Not because racism is not real. Not because racism is not dangerous.
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Not because racism is not destroying too much of this world.
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But because if you are truly living these standards, racism should already be dying inside of you.
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Racism is not born in the body. It's learned. It's taught. It's repeated.
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It is inherited through fear, ignorance, pride, pain, lies, and lazy thinking.
00:57:01.275 --> 00:57:04.241
Nobody comes into this world hating another baby because of color.
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That hate gets placed there. It gets taught at dinner tables.
00:57:07.718 --> 00:57:11.181
It gets passed through jokes. It gets whispered through family stories.
00:57:11.733 --> 00:57:15.570
It gets dressed up in politics. It gets justified through bad history.
00:57:15.831 --> 00:57:18.548
It gets reinforced by people who profit from division.
00:57:19.099 --> 00:57:24.108
And I'm tired of people trying to justify it. I'm not asking people to try not
00:57:24.108 --> 00:57:26.452
to be racist. I'm asking people to be better.
00:57:27.107 --> 00:57:31.138
Because if you truly become a better human being, racism should not even be
00:57:31.138 --> 00:57:32.692
able to live comfortably within you.
00:57:33.396 --> 00:57:37.488
If you're looking within, racism has to answer questions.
00:57:37.883 --> 00:57:41.938
If you're thinking critically, racism has to face evidence. If you're learning
00:57:41.938 --> 00:57:44.390
culture, racism loses its ignorance.
00:57:44.756 --> 00:57:47.960
If you're choosing integrity, racism loses excuses.
00:57:48.581 --> 00:57:52.732
If you're getting out of your bubble, racism loses its walls.
00:57:53.179 --> 00:57:57.289
If you're getting on the human team, racism loses its team.
00:57:58.007 --> 00:58:02.331
So if a person goes through all this, all 20 standards and still chooses racism,
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then at some point we have to be honest.
00:58:04.857 --> 00:58:08.943
Some people are not confused. Some people are committed to not growing.
00:58:09.902 --> 00:58:13.285
And I'm not building the L-Evolution around people who refuse to evolve,
00:58:13.721 --> 00:58:15.898
I'm building it for the people ready to become better.
00:58:16.275 --> 00:58:18.121
Because the L-Evolution is about people.
00:58:18.693 --> 00:58:22.774
None of this happens without people. Bad things do not happen by themselves.
00:58:23.076 --> 00:58:27.685
Wars do not happen by themselves. Broken schools do not happen by themselves.
00:58:27.993 --> 00:58:30.141
Poisoned water does not happen by itself.
00:58:30.639 --> 00:58:32.995
Abused children do not protect themselves.
00:58:33.547 --> 00:58:37.906
Elders do not abandon themselves. Veterans do not fail themselves alone.
00:58:38.547 --> 00:58:40.858
Communities do not collapse without decisions.
00:58:41.651 --> 00:58:45.042
Systems do not break without people breaking them, ignoring them,
00:58:45.042 --> 00:58:47.131
exploiting them, or failing to improve them.
00:58:47.698 --> 00:58:51.303
So if people are the problem, people have to become the solution.
00:58:51.733 --> 00:58:55.922
That starts within. That starts with asking hard questions. That starts with
00:58:55.922 --> 00:58:58.374
voting. That starts with thinking. That starts with humility.
00:58:58.600 --> 00:59:01.061
That starts with discipline. That starts with responsibility.
00:59:01.352 --> 00:59:02.391
That starts with building.
00:59:02.756 --> 00:59:06.372
And starts with each of us deciding that we are not going to stay the same just
00:59:06.372 --> 00:59:08.544
because staying the same is easier.
00:59:09.235 --> 00:59:14.233
Elevolution may be hard to say. Good. Think about it. Let it slow you down.
00:59:15.022 --> 00:59:18.682
Let it make you ask what it means. Let it make you look within because life
00:59:18.682 --> 00:59:21.240
is not supposed to be lived on autopilot.
00:59:21.878 --> 00:59:27.392
We are too complex, too capable, too gifted, too powerful, too responsible to
00:59:27.392 --> 00:59:28.971
keep acting like we are helpless.
00:59:29.657 --> 00:59:33.687
We can be better. America can be better. The world can be better.
00:59:33.972 --> 00:59:37.983
But only if people by themselves become better.
00:59:38.424 --> 00:59:44.256
So elevate, evolve, execute, build a better way. This is the Elevolution.
00:59:45.058 --> 00:59:49.792
I thank you all for listening if you've gotten this far. I'm putting together
00:59:49.792 --> 00:59:55.492
a group to start the offshore water, to start the research on the offshore water
00:59:55.492 --> 00:59:57.404
facility. It all starts at water.
00:59:57.770 --> 00:59:59.772
So please follow me.
01:00:00.498 --> 01:00:03.487
And look ahead, people. And look within. Thank you.