20. YOU NEED A MANIFESTO

50 reasons to declare independence from whatever's holding you back

1. because the calvary is not coming

2. because you are the calvary

3. because you’re done letting this dysfunctional world tell you how to live

4. because the stories we tell are self-fulfilling prophecies that create the world we inhabit and therefore it’s your responsibility to start telling a better story right this instant

5. because if you don’t, the terrorists will win

6. because the terrorists have won, and now someone needs to terrorize them a lil bit, as a treat

7. because re-inventing yourself is the only sensible strategy in a world that’s changing faster than any of us can comprehend

8. because you’re done playing small

9. because you’re exhausted from pretending to be more impressive than you actually are

10. because steve jobs was right when he said “everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you.”

11. because it beats whatever the hell is on netflix these days

12. because what got you here, won’t get you there

13. because deep down you know you’re a mythical being awaiting your next quest

14. because when they said the Eternal Tao that can be named is not the Eternal Tao, you were like “challenge accepted”

15. because you’re on a mission from God

16. because there’s a 0.0027% chance it’ll go more viral than mr. beast’s nonsense

17. because even if no other human reads it, you will be better for having written it

18. because the tech bros can’t keep getting away with this

19. because we can’t let the communists win

20. because capitalism has gone too far

21. because capitalism hasn’t gone far enough

22. because real technofeudalcommunoanarchism has never been tried

23. because you were forced to grow up too soon

24. because it’s time for you to grow up now

25. because you’ve been inspired by a handsome bald guy on the internet

26. because the old world is dying as the new world struggles to be born

27. because the old you is dying as the new you struggles to be born

28. because people like us do things like this

29. because you’ve spent years Healing Your Trauma™ and now realize that it’s mostly been a way to hide from life and your deepest desire is to start living again

30. because it'll piss off exactly the right people

31. because it’ll break the spell of complacency and piss you off

32. because you’re mad as hell and not going to take this anymore

33. because that tantalizing vision of the future has been stuck in your head for years, and writing it down and hitting publish starts making it REAL

34. because you’re ready to live the question instead of merely asking it

35. because your granpappy fought for your freedoms in [insert war here] and you’ve finally realized what a gift that actually was

36. because the default way you rage against tyranny is turning you into a tyrant yourself, and you refuse to allow that to happen

37. because you’re determined to prove your mother/father/high school guidance counselor wrong

38. because blaming your parents hasn’t been getting you anywhere and it’s time to forgive them and move the fuck on

39. because the seeds of the next great revolution will begin in a google doc passed around between friends

40. because you’ve got nothing to lose

41. because you’ve got everything to lose, yet the cost of not writing it is still higher

42. because you’re haunted by the stories of the world you inherited, and writing a manifesto is kinda like performing an exorcism

43. because you’re profoundly, utterly bored

44. because it’ll stir up vital, ancient energies that have lain dormant for far too long

45. because it will summon your arch nemesis

46. because you believe in giving yourself second and third and fourth chances

47. because you want your kid(s) to grow up with a model of what courage looks like

48. because cynicism is cowardice in disguise

49. because your worst sin is that you have betrayed yourself for nothing

50. because you want to respect the person staring back at you in the mirror