Oz Veloshian

And if you start losing sight of the work that people are doing, the efforts that are being made, the change that has happened, the progress that is observable,

My fear is that individuals, groups, and societies that are convinced that everything is going wrong are much more likely to engage in behavior that enhance the likelihood that everything will go wrong.

This is like if there's a whole bunch of dog shit on the street and you're less likely to pick up the dog shit.

Right, because you're like, what's the point?

It's an endless task that will go nowhere.

It is the feeling of...

Why should I invest my time and energy in an improbable future?

Why start a business?

Why write?

Why have kids?

Why do anything other than try to get as much as you can as quickly as you can?

And I think we are in risk in the United States in particular of a degree of cynicism and pessimism that leads to apathy, disengagement.

Look, I think the angrier people are, the more engaged they are, the more present they are.

That's probably a healthy thing, even though it's unpleasant and difficult to live through.

It's when you disengage and retreat into, I'm going to get as much as I can while I can, because the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and there's no reason to think otherwise, that you then lose whatever local force you have.

So I'm trying to deal with issues in a constructive fashion, but really deal with issues.

As you'll see if you listen to it, the podcast is not...

a series of light, easy topics, like fun places to go in Europe this summer.

This is not a podcast about let's just pay attention to what's joyful and happy in our world.

It's let's look at what's really hard, but with a constructive eye.