Regular readers of my blog know how important Robert Carter III has become to me as a role model. He inspires me. I believe this episode will inspire many of you.

If you don't know who he is, you're in luck. Here is a post of mine with links to many resources on him: Resources on Robert Carter III. Probably the top thing to know about him is that he is the American who freed the most number of slaves before the thirteenth amendment.

Actually, you're in better luck because the first two resources in that post are by today's guest, Andrew Levy. In this episode we talk about Carter, slavery, slave culture, changing culture, his relevance to today, his relevance to my work, and more. It was a pleasure to speak with the person most knowledgeable about him.

Andrew shares more than knowledge. For example, he's thought about Carter and today. He asks why we don't remember him more and what that burying says about us.

• The Anti-Jefferson: Why Robert Carter III Freed His Slaves (And Why We Couldn’t Care Less), by Andrew Levy: This piece was a journal article in the spring 2001 issue of The American Scholar.
• The First Emancipator: Slavery, Religion, and the Quiet Revolution of Robert Carter, Andrew Levy’s book

I can't recommend these works enough for two reasons: First, Carter exhibits values and actions we can learn from. Second, Andrew covers the man from many angles, all useful. Plus his writing is engaging and readable.

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A mutual friend introduced Cara and me. He knew we both were doing our best to live by our values in avoiding hurting others through pollution and depletion.

On the face of it, our living situations look different. Her family converted a bus into a home. I disconnected my apartment from the electric grid. We share plenty more in the conversation.

Our motivations are similar, which it didn't take us long to bond over. We also face similar misunderstanding and friction from society, especially people who purport to share our values of not hurting people (or wildlife) without consent. Also, people confuse themselves into thinking that because we do what we do, we don't do anything else.

More importantly, we also discovered similar joys, rewards, and ways to keep acting.

In this conversation, we talk about the joys and challenges of living by our values in a culture that claims to share those values but often rewards behavior that violates them. I don't get to talk to many people with similar situations so it was very refreshing. Feeling understood feels great. I hope you pick up on it.

I hope you'll join us too.

• Cara's homepage
• Her intersectional nonprofit: Radical Art in Action
• Her family's eco-art converted school bus home, using 100% reclaimed materials: The Love Bus: Beauty & Waste In the Face of Climate Crisis (youtube.com), creative, affordable housing
• S.O.U.L. (Shared Opportunity Used Local) Commons that supports mutual aid economies and gift economies through the local free store she and her partner created for their community
• Her book, mentioned in our conversation: Zazu Dreams: Between the Scarab and the Dung Beetle, A Cautionary Fable for the Anthropocene Era: Her cross-cultural, climate justice-through-alternative economies (includes a traveling exhibition and animated film adaptation)

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The predominant responses to the idea of polluting and depleting less include fears of reverting to the Stone Age, losing civilization, being invaded by aggressive opponents, dying at 30, dying from small cuts, and reverting to a past viewed as worse than today.

My upcoming book describes why we feel those fears and why what we fear losing is exactly what we can expect to get more of. A key part of that pattern is that all those fears are false, based on misunderstanding humanity's past.

Christopher Ryan's latest book, Civilized to Death, is the clearest, most comprehensive single work describing the past accurately. I spent years researching, learning from countless sources. The results were conclusive, but difficult to communicate. What could I say, "Read these dozens of academic papers and books and watch all these documentaries"?

Chris researched more and compiled it more clearly, concisely, and readably than I could have dreamed to. Now I can say, "Read Civilized to Death."

I mean it: Read Civilized to Death.

Our conversation covers the highlights. It will help you see why you believe legitimizing myths fear changes that when you do them you will only wish you had done them earlier. Things about yourself, humanity, culture, and life will make sense that never did before.

• Chris's home page
• His books, including Civilized to Death

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