Send us a textJohn 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 COVIDMetaphysics, spirituality, and secularismWealth inequalityCorruption in the non-profit worldPsychedelics and simulation theoryNihilism, and spiritual versus the material worldLoneliness and the opioid epidemicCommunity, and extreme povertyDemocracy and revolutionThe declining health of western cultureHow technology may make or break our future Connect with John:Website: First-Things.orgInstagram: @firstthingsfoundationPodcast: Why Are We Talking About Rabbits? Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify