After managing to accomplish many things without relying on any monetary currency, what are your thoughts on money now? How would you advise our readers to add more activities to their lives that do not require any financial spending? I wouldn’t go as far as to say that there’s no financial involvement. I definitely have financial involvement, it’s just that I’ve drastically minimized it. That’s what it’s all about - you have to start somewhere, little by little. There are so many things that are freely available around us, it’s just about seeking them out. Nature, for example; it doesn’t have to be this beautiful river, lake, or mountain - it can simply be a park, right in your city. If you can start to appreciate the simple things around you, then you no longer need money so much. If you can just value your relationships with people - you know, relationships don’t need money. Humans and our relationships existed long before money ever did and they can continue to do so. It is all just about valuing the basics in life. The more that you can start to deeply appreciate those things, the more that you realize that you don’t need money to have a fulfilling, happy existence.
People really only change if they want to. They have to make a decision to want to change. If they’re completely satisfied and happy and feel deeply purposeful living that life, then I’m not really going to get in the way of that. However, it’s another thing if they can think about it and realize: “You know what, this doesn’t feel right; sure, at moments, it feels good, but I don’t feel complete; I feel like things are missing from my life; I feel like this is, in a way, somewhat of a shell and I’m just not feeling complete”. Then say: “Ok, what’s missing from my life? Is it a better connection to the people around me? Is it a better connection to the environment that I live in? Are these material possessions fulfilling me or not?” If the answer is “no”, then I would suggest that maybe you look at finding purpose in what surrounds you rather than trying to fill yourself with material possessions.
One of the most controversial side of environmental problems is the problem of overpopulation. I know that you speak openly about the fact that at the age of 25, you had a vasectomy performed and decided not to have children of your own but to help and support the existing children in the world. How did you In your own words, you went “from know it was the right decision for a drunk dude to the dude making a you at that relatively young age? difference” slowly, through education and observation. Are there any experiences or types of content that Very little of what I do is based on you believe would help shift the perfeelings in a specific moment. It’s all spective of even the most dead-on based on long-term feeling a certain consumerists, at least to some extent? 62 | februar