Hey Big Thinkers,
On July 4, 1845, the American writer Henry David Thoreau moved into a cabin by Walden Pond and lived there — writing, thinking, gardening, and even spending a night in jail for refusing to pay his taxes — for two years, two months, and two days.
We’ve not done much gardening or any tax evasion at Big Think recently, but we have spent what feels like two years with our heads down, writing and thinking about how to make the best possible magazine about America in its 250th year.
The result is our third-ever print issue, The Opt-Out Nation — a collection of stories that traces an American instinct: opting out. Not only Thoreau ditching society and conformity or the Founding Fathers rejecting England, but also modern stories of the younger generation turning away from digital life for a more analog one; American voters rejecting the two-party system at record highs; and self-reliant citizens moving to a literal “Opt Out” community in the Arizona desert, where you can build whatever kind of home you want (out of whatever you want) with next to no regulations.
We’re lucky to spend our time creating rich, beautifully designed print magazines. I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as we enjoyed making it.
Orders close this week, so become a member today to get one! *Shipping to U.S. members only at the moment.
Here’s a quick look inside the issue.
Opting Out Around the USA by Frank Jacobs
The Toll of the Road by Jasna Hodžić
America Thinks for Itself by Jonny Thomson
In Defense of Wandering by Dan Kennedy
The New Homesteaders by Chandler Fritz
Goodbye, Player One by Jen Kirby
Escape From Humanity by Thomas Moynihan
Dan Carlin: The Two-Party System was Never the Plan by Kmele Foster
Gen Z Logs Off by Clay Routledge
How to Reinvent the Wheel by Eric Markowitz
America’s Perspective Shift by Ross Pomeroy
“I Would Prefer Not To” by Henry Eliot
Stephen Johnson is the Executive Editor at Big Think
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