Greening Out Podcast

Caity and Dan welcome back Antony Sammeroff for a second time to the show. Antony begins by explaining the difference between 'libertarianism' and 'voluntaryism' and moral philosophies versus political philosophies. We talk about labels and how they are used in society. We get into terms like 'anarchist' and 'anarcho-capitalist' and the baggage that comes with them and the importance of living your values. We chat about political debates and how to conduct them with others, government cuts and the current anti-cuts movement in the UK, if Hitler was charismatic or not and being perceived to be a Tory. We go on to point out the problems with the Conservatives, Labour and the Scottish National Party, pro-state attitudes that are so common in Scotland, the expansion of libertarianism world-wide and the internet as a tool for political and philosophical debate and Caity tells us what anarchy means to her in a philosophical context. As we wrap up Antony tells us of his plans for the future, we talk about consequential and de-ontological libertarianism, the nonsense of lifeboat situations and Peter Hitchens and the drug war that he supports.

Caity and Dan are joined by Keir Martland for a second time for a very interesting look at the Crusades. Because we don't want the show to go on forever we narrow our focus from the first to the Third Crusade. We begin by asking what some of the reasons why the crusades got started in the first place are and what it was that motivated people to go. Keir goes on to explain why crusading was so successful originally and what effect this had on the Muslim world at the time. We talk about the Crusaders and why they lost Jerusalem in 1187, we talk about Saladin and ask if he was an aggressor, Keir also draws parallels between the Crusades and more modern times. We wrap up by looking at what lessons can be learned from the Crusades. Keir is Director of Youth Affairs for the Libertarian Alliance is an A-level student in the north west of England studying History, Philosophy, Economics, and Maths, who has been a member of the Committee since August 2014. He has been writing for various libertarian blogs since 2012 and his writings appear on sites including The Libertarian Enterprise, Mises Hispano, and Attack the System. Keir is a former Conservative Future Secretary and for much of 2013, he was an Editor of the webzine The Libertarian. He is a keen public speaker and debater and in 2014 he addressed the annual conference of the Traditional Britain Group. Keir is also the driving force behind the fortnightly Libertarian Question Time and other YouTube activities. He also has a book coming out later in 2015.

Caity and Dan welcome back James Burnette and Mike Geise from SurvivalPunk.com for a riotous show around the theme of conspiracy theories and with a heavy dose of sarcasm we take a fast paced ride through the world of conspiracy theory and have a good laugh while doing it. We talk about David Icke and how the reptile people have contacted Mike, Marilyn Monroe and if spying on the Russians contributed to her death and her interesting eating and exercising habits. We go from Marilyn to the JFK assassination and some of the weird points surrounding his death (including if a time traveller was around at the time). Mike tells us of his views on 9/11, we get into building seven and what was inside, the French documentary film makers who were following around a rookie fireman in New York at the time, the Patriot Act, Osama Bin Laden (how much involvement he had in 9/11 and when he actually died) and the hilarity of George W. Bush. We go into false flag attacks and mention the Gulf of Tonkin incident and Pearl Harbour in particular. Of course we get into the bizarre apocalyptic art in Denver airport, if the US military can control the weather and Project MKUltra. We also laugh at the modern 'flat-earth' conspiracy theory. Leave your libertarian purism at the door as we share our thoughts regarding violence and the NAP and how we don't care about following established rules or certain people blindly. We break down the YouTube broadcasting conspiracy before we move onto talking about the various conspiracy theories that involve the moon in some way and how mental some of them really are (and how James will punch you if you tell him the moons not real). Why it may be better that we don't have hover cars and the dangers of self-driving cars. We mention the Ancient Aliens TV show and the problems with the ancient aliens theory and then we somehow get onto interpretations of the Bible and how we're going to hell (it's on Mars by the way).

Caity and Dan welcome Daniel Updike from Northern Runes Radio back to the show for a chat around the subject of Runes. Daniel explains what the Runes are and some of the theories of their origins, Odin, Dan mentions his black metal purism. We get into to what extent early European history was deleted or perverted and the conversion period in Europe. We talk about the Viking age, Lindisfarne and the possible interpretations of what happened there and the Norsemen as traders and early engineers. The light and dark side to the Runes, the similarities between older versions of European languages, the Tarot and the Quabalah and Runes as divination tools as a modern invention. We talk about differences in Abrahamic and Northern European conceptions of god (or gods), Runes as a tool for self-transformation, how Tarot cards can trigger things in the mind, the subconscious and conscious mind, being connected to something within as opposed to without, what happens when we change our perceptions, losing connection with nature in the modern world and how a beginner can get started with the Runes. Towards the end we talk about Valhalla and how the concept differs from that of the concept of Christian heaven, what Easter really means and how Northern Runes Radio is expanding.

Caity and Dan are back chatting about a new approach to politics (caring even less), we thank the Labour Party for being such a disaster and entertaining us, having fun and not being a downer about politicians, what we found funny and bizarre about the recent UK general election, laughing instead of ranting, why we don't argue online, still liking artists even if they are arseholes, if fame stops you from being a real person, Russell Brand and his endorsement of the Labour party. We discuss surreal podcasting, where we stand on the five dimensional political compass, why Dan isn't fancy, if Scotland will creep to independence slowly, not being part of politics, our refusal to get into petty arguments anymore and personality politics. We wonder why some people assume that politicians are paragons of virtue, why we're going to have more fun than complain and Nicola Sturgeons similarity to teachers. We finish with talking about political personality cults and how we hope to expand the website in the future.

Caity and Dan are joined by writer and co-creator of the Speech In The Silence podcast IAO131 for an interesting chat around the topic of scientific illuminism. We talk about what scientific illuminism is, Thelema and how it differs from other spiritual traditions, Aleister Crowley, mysticism, the reason for drama in ritual, meditation, the importance of keeping a diary for spiritual work, increasing control of the mind, developing ourselves and our view on the 'self-help' industry and the modern culture of quick fixes. We talk about how religion and science can co-exist, looking inside yourself for spiritual illumination as opposed to some external force, winding up Jehovah's Witnesses and the difficulty of relating experiential knowledge to someone who hasn't has the same experiences. We finish by asking the question of if you should undergo psychotherapy before or while you're embarking on spiritual work and what the benefits are.

Dan is joined by fellow Scot Antony Sammeroff for an interesting (and uplifting) chat based around Antony's work with others concerning personal development and life coaching. We chat about embracing life in the current moment and how that can change thought patterns, the importance of communication skills and empathising with others and the difference between understanding concepts on an experiential level as opposed to an intellectual level. We bring up the hard-faced Scottish attitudes to life problems and the 'just getting on with it' philosophy as opposed to self-examination, Eastern and Western traditions of philosophy and spirituality as a subjective thing. We explore the ease of turning down the mental volume with drugs and alcohol and the pitfalls of such a strategy. We also bring in the usefulness of certain entheogenic drugs used in the right setting for the right reason and finish the show by suggesting how to start your journey.

Caity and Dan welcome MK Lords to the show and Caity gets so excited she forgets our website address at the end. We begin by chatting about Tumblr (and how scary it can be) and the crazy feminists that Caity and MK found there, feminism, anarcha-feminists, Emma Goldman, prostitution, South Park, female quotas and how to get women in the military so they can kill people with drones too! We talk about 'white guilt' and the nonsense of why people should have to bear the sins of their ancestors. MK tells us what 'micro aggressions' and 'man spreading' are and putting women's rights in the west in context in regards to some other countries. Caity tells us about her time working with women in Sri Lanka, how the media tells us of what they have "done for women" in countries like Afghanistan but women's rights in other places such as Saudi Arabia are ignored. Dan can't help himself and brings in strong women characters in old European folk and fairy tales and theories of matriarchal society in ancient Egypt and what matriarchal societies may have existed. The conversation moves on to the idea of rape culture and the dangers of applying the term to countries where no such culture exists. The awfulness that is Germaine Greer, if some feminists have mental issues and the nonsense of middle aged men telling young women what to do with their bodies. We talk about the rape cultures in the police and military that are real, slut walks and the people who are standing up to rapists in places like India. The Rotherham sex scandal in England then comes up, the men's rights movement and the dangers of spending all your time in an echo chamber. At the end we talk about solutions to the madness we find ourselves embroiled in in the modern western world.

Caity and Dan shift their gaze towards the Scottish National Party (SNP) and their scary authoritarian policies. We chat about the Named Person legislation and the dangers of the state getting involved in family life, the rise in armed police and stop-and-search powers in Scotland. We move on to the mainstream media scaring the shit out of people, all the 'free' shit that politicians try to peddle, how podcasting is not therapy, the infuriating vagueness of manifesto pledges and the complete nonsense of having nuclear weapons in Scotland. Don't worry, we also mention the sinking ship that is the Scottish Labour party and their negative campaigning tactics (which have left them in the state they now find themselves) plus a look at their ten pledges, cheap boob jobs in Prague and zero hour contracts. We figure out the best and most artistic way to spoil a ballot paper, how social media desensitises people to government surveillance, getting finger printed at Disneyworld, why nothing is free and we finish on the liberating feeling when you realise that all political parties are the same and voting is bullshit.

In part two of our two-part of our all-over-the-place show with James Burnette and Mike Geise from SurvivalPunk.com (with a little bit of Andrea Geise too). We talk about the concept of interviewing people as opposed to having a conversation, bad interview guests and why Caity fucking loves old people. How historical figures are depicted now and how some figures may be depicted in the future, World War two, government surveillance, false flag attacks and the nonsense of government wars and somehow random singing in public. We then play some games like the body-part-band-game and what one item (non human or animal) you save in the event of the apocalypse, foraging for food, lessons in 80's cartoons and why we don't like boring podcasts. Somehow we start to finish up by talking about Zen Buddhism, if Jesus may have been a Buddhist, similarities between Christians and zombies, government control of drugs and the silk road

Caity and Dan welcome James Burnette and Mike Geise from SurvivalPunk.com for part one of a show that was originally meant to be about apocalyptic movies but ended up being about that and much more and so fun that we just kept going and had to cut it up into two parts in the end. We begin by talking about the show "Doomsday Preppers" and how the show makes survivalists look, Silence of the Lambs, onomatopoeia and Dr Seuss being performed by Shakespearian actors. As things get progressively more crazy Mike recites the entire Jabberwocky poem from memory we bring in the Titanic and strap-ons, the sex museum in Amsterdam and the penis museum in Iceland. Dan shares some stories of what being an undertaker was like then we move to zombie culture, Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead & World War Z - the movie versus the book. We chat about the common sense behind being prepared for the worst, the US & UK versions of "The Office", zombies that run, the Terminator films and some film studios who just can't let some franchises go. James tells us about the TV show Jericho, we then somehow move on to the inconsistencies in the Toy Story movies, the 'Celine Dion defence', the mysterious decline of Jeff Goldblum, fast food, air gun licensing in Scotland, and the fun-hating bastards who want to enforce such laws. We ponder whether you need god or government to have ethics, reasons why the rich need the poor, the TV show oddities and interesting home décor, US gun culture & UK knife culture, Jeremy Clarkson and our explicitly-named Daft Punk cover band.

Caity and Dan finally acknowledge that there is a general election looming in the UK and start to attempt some political analysis (which inevitably goes off on strange tangents). Caity starts by explaining why she feels like a voyeur when she looks at sociopathic politicians screwing the people and each other. We bash the Green Party heavily, largely because of their crazy policies and the fact that they are a fast-growing party but no-one within the party seems to have cracked open a serious book on economics. We also wonder why so much effort is made to demonize UKIP (who we don't support) but not the Green Party despite their larger membership and more 'radical' policies. We get into Natalie Bennett's terrible interviews, the decline of the Scottish Labour Party, how many 'shat it' at the Scottish independence referendum and the unpopularity of being someone with a basic understanding of economics. We also express our alarm at so many so-called 'Scottish secessionists' drifting towards the Greens, the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Socialist party. Towards the end we get onto chatting about hypochondriacs and how the NHS panders to them and the grim reality that very few people in the UK will vote for a party unless they endorse the NHS. Then (as is common in the Greene household) Dan tries to get Caity to apologize for Celine Dion, but as usual Caity stands by her fellow Canadian.

Caity and Dan welcome Darrell Becker from VoluntaryVisions.com back to the show. We start by talking about how to spread the ideas of libertarianism in the social and economic climate we find ourselves in throughout the world. We talk about stepping back and looking at how to connect with people on a personal level and the importance of bringing empathy into our conversations. We get into state infantilization, deserve-oriented language, living consciously, actually listening to people as opposed to waiting for your turn to talk. We chat about the movie High Fidelity and the very different communication tactics in the movie, Dan also shares a new understanding about his life purpose, Shunryu Suzuki and Zen Buddhism, sphere of control, expressing your true nature and the importance of reading to children, The conversation moves on to travel and how Dan can't handle the sun, the importance of choice, logical fallacy's and we round of with Darrell telling us about the book that he is writing and what a smart goal is. Darrell Becker, MSOM, L.Ac. is a licensed acupuncturist living on the Big Island of Hawaii. He has been a professor of western and eastern medical classes at the Hawaii College of Oriental Medicine (www.hicom.edu) since 2012. Darrell has appeared on numerous podcasts and radio shows where he is often discussing the issues of parenting, communication skills and tactics that can be used to create intellectual and empathetic equilibrium, or balance within and between individuals. He is presently working to refine these concepts into his upcoming book, covering the subjects of his research, using the working title of “The Language of Choice”, a compendium internal and interpersonal communication methods aimed at generating greater degrees and quantities of cognitive and empathetic freedom.

Caity and Dan finally get round to doing a show based around Lewis Carroll's classic 1865 kids book "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland". We start by explaining why Caity is so excited about this show and her slight obsession with collecting copies of said book. We talk about the weird and surreal scenes in the book and probably read way to much into it. We bring up themes of logic, Buddhism, reincarnation, good vs. bad self-help, child abuse, morality, leaving people alone and wanting to be left alone in life. We talk about time and a couple of different theories about it found in religion, Caity's view of time, saying what you mean and thinking before you speak. The movie Labyrinth, David Bowie and why the powerful pro-Labyrinth lobby will get Dan one day. We get into Alice's identity issues and why she is obsessed with he concept of who she is. Caity's theories about how the be-headings ordered by the Red Queen may mean something else and other people's theories about Lewis Carroll's sexuality in regards to young girls. We come to the conclusion that despite her issues Alice is a bad-ass who constantly questions authority figures in the book and we salute her for it.

Caity and Dan go all mental this week and Dan starts by explaining the days rage and a list of things you should NEVER say to your postman, two artists Dan respects that worked for their respective postal services, why postmen hate junk mail more than you do (trust me), bad marketing, why you shouldn't be rude to people who prepare your food and the consequences of not being confident and polite. We also talk about politicians and how most of them have never had a real job in their lives but claim to be able to relate to ordinary people, how there is no difference between the major political parties, why Caity's Dad is our favourite leftie, corporatism and free market capitalism. The NHS and their links with drug companies, anti-smoking campaigns and the possible banning of electronic cigarettes and vape pens in the future. Dan can't help but go on one of his usual rants about why drugs should be decriminalized and why that would be preferable. Dan's use of shunning in the work place and the difference between male and female dominated workplaces. The TV show The Office and the differences between the UK and US versions. We go on to talk a little about our recent interview with Sean Gabb, we mention classical liberalism and the differences between classical and social liberalism. We go into how classical liberal ideas can be seen in some ancient Greek writings and in Western European folk and fairy tales. We expand on European fairy tales and how creepy some of them are and why we like the dark side of stories and music. The podcast then descends into madness as Dan proceeds to tell one of said creepy stories "Munachar and Manachar" all the way through and then speculates about some of the concepts embedded within the story. That somehow gets us on to talking about Buddhist sutras, the little matchstick girl, oral traditions of storytelling and much more.

Sean Gabb joins Caity and Dan for a third time for a fascinating conversation around the topic of classical liberalism. Sean is the author of 20 books and about 300 essays. Under the name Richard Blake, he has written six historical novels for Hodder & Stoughton. These have been translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, Slovak, Hungarian, Chinese and Indonesian. Under his own name, he has written four novels. His other books are mainly about libertarian politics. He has been Director of the Libertarian Alliance since 2006, and his involvement with the organisation stretches back to the last Monday in December 1979. He lives in Kent with his wife and daughter. We begin by discussing classical liberal ideas going back to ancient Greece and being hard-wired into western European thought and how this can be shown in fairy and folk tales that are quite unique to western Europe. We chat about John Locke, the social contract and theories about how governments emerged. How the Victorian age seems like a golden age for libertarians until you look closer, the Whigs, the Liberal Party of the 19th century: how it was formed and how they may have laid the groundwork for the political system we now find ourselves in in the UK. We also chat about the dangers of governments turning our vices into crimes, the mental deficiency act and other eugenics legislation. We get into social liberalism vs. classical liberalism, socialism in the UK, the NHS and how doctors see themselves in the UK. We go on to discuss whether the Liberal Party of the 19th century was moved more by utilitarianism or desire for control. If the conservatives were more libertarian in the 19th century than the Liberal Party and why politicians want to control what we do.

Caity and Dan chat about the propaganda 'docudrama' UKIP - The First 100 Days and what an absurd vision it promotes. We talk about UKIP generally and their policies and why we're not UKIP supporters, the EU, the Scottish independence referendum and how the UK mainstream media try to shut down any form of radicalism with unfounded fearmongering. We go on to talk about secession as a left-wing phenomenon in Scotland, how the media like to throw left and right terms about, the errors of conflating UKIP with the EDL or the BNP, how the mainstream media loves to shut down debate about immigration and how movement of people would be different in a stateless world. We also chat about how propaganda pieces like this one can give the general public the wrong impression of what libertarianism is, how a lot of the dystopian elements in the show are actually happening now, monarchy worship, the surreal news and how the free market gives people more choice. We then move on to talking about the 2012 documentary "Please Subscribe" about people who make their money from YouTube, drunken cookery shows (and why Caity doesn't want Dan to start one), the culture of instant gratification, the great Massive Attack song/video "Live With Me", the coming One Direction breakup, who really owns Channel 4 and why they may be hostile to UKIP, Chris Atkins, why mainstream TV stations sometimes surprise us, what the Labour party are actually for anymore (nobody knows). We end by talking about how the mainstream media will crush any form of radicalism, how conservatism is very different in the UK compared with the US and how when things are getting on top of you you should "have a wee word with yerself."

Caity and Dan have a very interesting conversation with Keir Martland. Kier, is Director of Youth Affairs for the Libertarian Alliance is an A-level student in the north west of England studying History, Philosophy, Economics, and Maths, who has been a member of the Committee since August 2014. He has been writing for various libertarian blogs since 2012 and his writings appear on sites including The Libertarian Enterprise, Mises Hispano, and Attack the System. Keir is a former Conservative Future Secretary and for much of 2013, he was an Editor of the webzine The Libertarian. He is a keen public speaker and debater and in 2014 he addressed the annual conference of the Traditional Britain Group. Keir is also the driving force behind the fortnightly Libertarian Question Time and other YouTube activities. He is to be contacted at keir@libertarian.co.uk. . We chat about the current state of libertarianism in the UK, if individualism is making a comeback with younger people, the illusion of living under capitalism, the differences between libertarianism in the UK and the US, Milton Friedman, the misconceptions of the state, libertarian infighting and if it is organic or otherwise, establishment libertarianism vs. radical libertarianism, cultural marxism, the notion of left-wing bias in the media and how the mainstream media lives on fear. We go on to talk about UKIP and when they used to be libertarian and the current state of the party, how they are trying to appeal to dissolusioned socialists and where Keir thinks the party may go in the future. We also talk about the NHS and why parties in the UK have to endorse it, mass-immigration, PEGIDA, the documentary "Angry, White and Proud", the internet and much more.

Join Caity and Dan for one of our more hardcore libertarian/anarchist podcasts, we start by complaining about their internet going down for a few days in the Greening Out household then get on to how bad customer service can be very frustrating and can lead to some people thinking that certain industries would work better if they were nationalized. We talk about why nationalisation doesn't work, how the government has no incentive to give any kind of customer service, people talking romantically about the 1970's in the UK, some modern examples of political parties who are pushing for certain industries to be nationalised, government taking 'payment holidays' from pension funds and why government departments and industries don't care how much you complain. We go on to chat about how government can't even finish painting a bridge in Glasgow, why local councils do so-called public works that are unnecessary just to obtain the same budget the year after, we then go on the do a little 'ancapistan' private road theorizing and Caity tells us about government roads that stink of urine. We theorize further about why private parks could also be preferable to government parks, why some people get the wrong idea about the free market, 'satanic' messages in music, Caity's 'Hixian' views. The Scottish Socialist Party and their crazy economic ideas, the problems with socialism in general, Austrian economics and the subjective theory of value, tax evasion in all it's forms and why it is not a bad thing because you owe the state nothing. We go on to talk about feeling like a libertarian instinctively, Dan's journey from socialism to libertarianism, Penn & Teller and card magic and Walter Block. We get into anarchism it's relation to belief in god and finish by mentioning (again) Libertarians Against Humanity.

We welcome Brett Veinotte from the School Sucks Project to the show or a very fun and interesting conversation about history in academia, public school and movies. We begin by talking about historical research and the great man theory and the problems with it, we also discuss the trends and forces theory, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, World War Two and how it is taught in schools, historical context, Adam Curtis and his great three-part documentary "The Power of Nightmares" and his new film "Bitter Lake", US and UK support for Saudi Arabia, Norwegian black metal and what we're 'allowed' to know about history. We go on to talk about George Orwell and how history is taught in public schools, Emma Goldman and how she features very little in feminist literature, why Braveheart and the Patriot are wildly inaccurate. We talk about history in movies in general and if there is a certain narrative being pushed by the filmmakers intentionally or if they simply sacrifice fact for a more interesting story. We speculate about how history may be examined in the future given the technological age that we are living in and how, despite more sources than ever could still be misunderstood.Brett begins to wrap up by talking about how it is getting easier (and cheaper) to make movies, the horror the YouTube comments section and we reveal the surprising number one most historically inaccurate film of all time.