Front and Center with Steve and Michael

By: Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti
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  • Summary

  • Front and Center ... ‘From Political Battlefields to Cooperative Playing Fields’ ... Writing Our New Story Together

    We are facing and embracing the irony of our times. We seem more divided than ever, and yet there is a great desire to work together to face our evolutionary challenges. Our "beacon", is what Charles Eisenstein describes as "the more beautiful world our hearts know as possible."

    Steve and Mike will host conversations with leaders and inspirational ‘ordinary people.’ There will be: Visionaries, Heroes of the Heart, Illuminators, Solutionaries and Connectors. People who bring people from all sides together in purposeful dialogue so we can develop a shared vision of the world we want to live in.

    Through these conversations, Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti will work to deepen and expand our understandings to help us get off the battlefields and onto playing fields of collaboration and communion. There we can create the new story that our hearts know is possible.
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Episodes
  • The New Independents Movement - We the People vs. the Uniparty

    The New Independents Movement - We the People vs. the Uniparty
    Sep 25 2024
    A Front and Center Conversation with Steve Bhaerman and Michael Maxsenti“We have a two-faced one-party system – and we the people haven’t been invited to the party.” – Swami BeyondanandaWhen RFK, Jr. announced he was suspending his campaign to throw his support behind Donald Trump, I had mixed feelings. I had supported Bobby because he represented the “independent” movement, which I recognized as the politics of the future. As most Americans don’t know, 51% of American voters now identify as “independent.”While I could understand his move as a Hail Mary pass to get his agenda noticed by mainstream media, supporting Trump was for me a bridge too far. Re Trump, I could not un-remember conservative Jonah Goldman’s assessment in 2016: Character is destiny.Yes, we have a sociopathic system, but is the answer replacing it with a sociopathic individual, particularly one who seems accountable to no one?I noticed one thing immediately. When Bobby Jr. addressed a Trump rally the day after making his announcement, and when he presented the platform he asked Donald Trump to adopt – curbing governmental censorship, ending the forever wars and shifting funds to domestic needs, and “making America healthy again” by promoting clean food (including new regulations!) and clean soil -- he got a bigger ovation than Trump did. Regardless of whether Trump keeps his promises, Bobby’s message landed with the MAGA crowd. Then something else happened, seemingly insignificant, that flipped my switch.Kamala got endorsed by Dick Cheney.OK, so what? Obviously Donald Trump is such a clear and present danger, such an evil character, that parties from both parties are aligned against him. But then I asked a question. Since when is Dick Cheney such a great judge of character? And then, another. Who or what is Kamala accountable to?My take is she is a Wolfowitz in Sheepowitz’s clothing– a kinder, gentler, more “joyful” face promoting Dick Cheney’s neocon policies of forever wars, and the domestic repression that goes with it.And that brings us to the “uniparty” – a two-faced monster that uses culture wars issues to divide us, left and right. The result is that we the people have been unable to unite and hold our system accountable to the standards that the 90% of us who are not sociopaths would agree on.This two-faced monster has also betrayed us, left and right.Until now, each side has been mobilized against the evils of the other side. To progressives, corporations are the villains. To conservatives, it's the government.Actually the true “dark power” is the two of them intertwined, working together. Mussolini said the more accurate name for fascism is corporatism. That’s what we have now. We have an interlocking directorate – an Everything Industrial Complex if you will – where “regulatory” agencies are captured, and in bed with the industries they are supposedly regulating. This is not Democrat or Republican. It’s the system.There is no political savior or techno-fix that will move the dial – only an organized, coherent movement of independent voters. Regardless of who you plan to pull the lever for – or against – in November, I urge you to become part of this movement.Educate yourself. The people who’ve left the Democratic Party corral haven’t left because they know less. They have had the courage to learn more, and then look the heart of darkness in the face.Allow yourself to see beyond what you’ve been told and begin thinking for yourself. It’s the only way we can “overgrow” the system. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KViP4LNJpZUhttps://www.independentnationalcoalition.com/Here is a short list of recommended podcasts:A Call for Unity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf-0hMjxmlwRescue the Republic Rally and the rise of totalitarianism - https://www.mahanow.org/weinstein-podcastCensorship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF76Z6tqo1gNeed for deescalation of wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wVZ5Az3BvUHow RFK Jr. will fix agency capture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMshg5rguq4A vote for Trump is a vote for Kennedy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wl8T1pwSU8Understanding the UNITY approach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obQXMIpWDBkA Political Science Experiment: Navy Veteran, Mechanic, & Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzXp_yCRGwAnd a highly recommended article: https://thehill.com/opinion/4856451-trump-kennedy-alliance-unity/Watch this enlightening conversation with economist and sustainable development expert Jeffrey Sachs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0qFuH4UfKw&t=16sTo get a flavor of how it’s the Republican constituency who are the new peaceniks and environmentalists, watch this conversation with Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard as part of their Reclaim America tour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
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    53 mins
  • A Conversation with INC Convener Christopher Life

    A Conversation with INC Convener Christopher Life
    Jul 24 2024
    The Second Great Independence Movement is the Politics of the Future – If We Are to Have OneA Conversation with INC Convener Christopher Life“Independents of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your Cheneys …and Bidens …and Trumps.” – Swami BeyondanandaThere’s a Buckminster Fuller quote that is perhaps more pertinent today than ever before:“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”So, while the mainstream conversation is focused strictly on the horse race (or is it hearse race?) between Donald Trump and whoever replaces Joe Biden, there is a significant conversation brewing that has the potential to change American politics forever and for better.Polls show that more than 50% of Americans have given up on the two major parties, and now identify as “independents.” The question is, is there anything that can organize these diverse threads and interests into a unified force?This week’s guest on Front and Center, Christopher Life, founder of – oxymoron alert – United Independents, and convener of the upcoming Independent National Conference (https://www.inc24.us/) thinks so, and we think he is on to something. Here is the stated mission of the organization and conference:At the core of our mission is a commitment to catalyze a transformative shift in American politics—away from the divisiveness of party lines and towards a future where governance is truly of, by, and for the people.United Independents envisions a political landscape liberated from partisan constraints, echoing the founding fathers' warnings against factionalism. We aim to foster a United Independent Movement that champions transparency, accountability, and citizen participation, ensuring government effectiveness and authentic public service for the benefit of all.For nearly two decades, Christopher has been involved in bringing forth a “third wave” so that we can grow beyond the two tired and contradictory narratives that have kept Americans from uniting around the virtues and values the 90% of us who are not sociopaths share. After several years he realized that just about every “third party” had some ideological ax to grind that would limit its appeal and ability to unite the American people. “And as soon as I got that,” he says, “I realized what we need right now is not another third party. What we need is a coordination system for these existing political parties.”“And this is the moment for coalition building. This is the moment for a United Independent movement. This is a moment to break the mold and form alliances between the far right and the far left, because we all have the common interest of ending the two party duopoly controlling this country.”Far right and far left?Well, Michael and I attended the 2023 INC event in Austin, where we were heartened to meet Angela McArdle, chairman of the American Libertarian Party and Nick Brana, head of the progressive People’s Party – who had already collaborated to create a peace march to end the war in Ukraine.At this September’s convention, the keynote speaker will be Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – whom Christopher believes is the current space-holder for that which can unify independents. Kennedy’s platform is non-ideological, and instead promises to be radically-inclusive of political viewpoints across the spectrum. As you will hear, Christopher and his team have already initiated a conversation to bring independents from all sides – from Greens to Libertarians – together to support RFK, Jr.“The two major parties run primaries to determine the best candidate,” Christopher reasons. “And … if there were an ‘independent party’ primary, Bobby Kennedy wins that hands-down. While people may or may not like him personally, I think it will become apparent that he is the standard-bearer for the independents movement we call for in our mission statement.”So …regardless of which candidate or party you plan to vote against this November, here is an opportunity to find out about a movement that is gaining traction, particularly in the under-40 crowd – those who want to make sure they and their children still have access to the REAL American Dream – individual freedom in the context of collective wellbeing, where we bring all perspectives into conversation, and find our way together.As Swami Beyondananda tells us, “There are no sides, only angles. And when we see it from the right angle, we’re all on the same side.”Prepare yourself for a heartening, if provocative conversation.Will we continue to be divided and conquered? Or will we unite and thrive?We have a choice.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zggUMCTIfWMIndependent National Convention - https://www.inc24.us/Independents Win - https://www.independents.win/Robert F. Kennedy for President - https://www.kennedy24.com/American Independent Party of ...
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • The America That Almost Was …And May Yet Be - Charles Eisenstein Speaks Out About Healing America and Why He Has Joined the RFK, Jr. Campaign

    The America That Almost Was …And May Yet Be - Charles Eisenstein Speaks Out About Healing America and Why He Has Joined the RFK, Jr. Campaign
    Apr 30 2024
    “The two-potty shit-show has been detrimental to us all, and now we have a chance to bring it down in one swell poop.”– Swami Beyondanandahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_qrlIb7pCQHere is the paradox of our current “bi-polar insanity” and “two-potty” political system.The two political sides seem more intractably polarized than ever, and yet there is a political movement emerging from what Charles Eisenstein calls “the Transcendent Center”, a great “upwising” if you will, that seeks to bring us together around “the common moral agreements, and basic human impulses that actually could unite our country.”You may know Charles as the spiritual-political philosopher whose books The Ascent of Humanity, Sacred Economics, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible, and Climate—A New Story are about transforming our civilization’s obsolete and “obsolethal” (i.e., both obsolete and deadly) story of separation, into a unifying “story of interbeing.”We’re calling our in-depth Front and Center conversation with Charles “The America That Almost Was …And May Yet Be”, after an essay he wrote calling on us to collectively heal the trauma of John F. Kennedy’s “interrupted dream” https://bohemian.com/a-dream-interrupted-1/, acknowledge we were lied to, and then pick up where JFK left off to bring about that “more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.”Charles calls the JFK assassination a “mythic event”, where the official narrative is based on a lie, and that has over the past sixty years, “normalized deception.”“If you pretend to believe a lie, and you act as if it’s true,” says Charles, “then everything begins to disintegrate, and you will accept one lie after another after another.”That’s the “shituation” we find ourselves in.His mission is “healing America” so we can metabolize this trauma and begin to restore trust in our institutions by making them trustworthy. At the forefront of this mission, he says, is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s presidential campaign, which he has joined as Communications Director and speech writer. This has been a risky and controversial move, so you’ll want to find out why Charles made it.Until now, Charles contends, we have passively allowed our political choices to be dictated to us – dividing us into “opinion tribes” that serve the current power structure.We have been diverted by “identity issues” based on our differences, so that we fail to focus on the “identical issues” that unite us – for example, the chronic illness epidemic that of all the candidates, only RFK, Jr. is willing to address.“We don't have to accept the way the politics has been,” Charles says. “We don't have to accept the choices that are being offered to us. We don't have to accept the menu that we are given, we can write a new item on the menu, or we can discard the menu entirely – and offer a new set of choices.”Regardless of who you plan to vote for – or not vote for – in November, find out why it’s ESSENTIAL for Robert Kennedy Jr. to be on the ballot in every state, and to have his voice heard on the debate stage as well.As for the question, “Can he win?” Charles substitutes a more pertinent question: “Are we the people READY for him to win?”Are we ready to disrupt politics as usual, and take command of our own political destiny?We can give Swami Beyondananda the final word: “Now is the time because it is too late to do it sooner.”LINKSKENNEDY Featured Videos covering his policy positions and much more;https://www.kennedy24.com/news-videosRobert F. Kennedy for President https://www.kennedy24.com/___________________________California voters, please click on this link for instructions on how to update your voter registration to help us get Bobby on the ballot: We the People Party https://www.kennedy24.com/ca-ballotWe The People: California Party Registration FAQhttps://www.kennedy24.com/we-the-people-faq ______________________________“Can RFK Jr. Really Change the World?”The Future Of The World Depends On Us with Charles Eisensteinhttps://youtu.be/k8hmvkMtwDg?si=HtdDxIMcoJ10j6SZRFK Jr. Advisor Charles Eisenstein on PeaceThe term "American interests" doesn't mean what the elites think it does. They cast it in terms of a global struggle for supremacy. But our real interest lies in peace, health, and broad prosperity.https://youtu.be/FVOSN9-aFN4?si=35hPoBqS3KiSKai8Charles Eisensteinhttps://charleseisenstein.org/Charles Eisenstein on Substackhttps://charleseisenstein.substack.com/_________________________________RFK Jr.’s ‘How I See The State of Our Union’ (9 min)https://youtu.be/A0yvc2Qhn5E?si=RsKheyH3NTwe3_ZwMeet the REAL RFK, Jr. Documentary FREE linkhttps://www.youtube.com/live/hfJR4DF_MYU?si=dFXYIf6tyO8XXvelRFK JR PodcastIRS: Pro-Pharma Anti-HealthHow the government, particularly the IRS, looks at exercise and diet versus weight loss drugs and other ...
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    1 hr and 24 mins
Politics & Government Social Sciences Spirituality
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