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John Heers is the Co-Founder and Director of the First Things Foundation, and the host of the podcast, Why Are We Talking About Rabbits?

The First Things Foundation is a non-profit organization that takes young people from the “new world” of the West to the “old world” of developing countries where they immerse, learn the language, and connect with local entrepreneurs and helps empower them to spur organic, ground-up development in their communities. They have active projects in Guatemala, Sierra Leone, the Georgia Republic, Ethiopia, and Appalachia near and dear to me here in the Rust Belt of the United States.

John has a Master's Degree in History from Columbia University. Previous to First Things Foundation, John worked overseas serving the Peace Corps as a water resource manager in Mali, oversaw emergency relief in the Georgian Republic, and taught history for 9 years in South Bronx and Harlem in New York City and Haiti.

In our conversation we dive into:

The global response to COVID
Metaphysics, spirituality, and secularism
Wealth inequality
Corruption in the non-profit world
Psychedelics and simulation theory
Nihilism, and spiritual versus the material world
Loneliness and the opioid epidemic
Community, and extreme poverty
Democracy and revolution
The declining health of western culture
How technology may make or break our future

Connect with John:

Website: First-Things.org
Instagram: @firstthingsfoundation
Podcast: Why Are We Talking About Rabbits?

Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify

What Does Deep Watering Even Mean?