Good Morning John-- is how we start these videos. You don't, like, through that in, a couple of sentences into the video and expect to not hear about it.

Anyway, there's a pretty big problem, that I think I have come up with a pretty good solution to. You know how, when you put your foot inside of a shoe, it doesn't feel great? It can be, like, bumpy in there and a little rough and, like, the foot sweat builds up. I have invented a product that goes between your foot and your shoe. It's like a kind of foot sleeve. It's stretchy and cotton and you pull it up on over your foot before you put your shoe on, and then boom! It cushions your foot, it absorbs the foot sweat, and you can even wear them without shoes, just to keep your feet warm around the house! 

Now this is a really new idea, but I think there's a chance that it could really catch on. Which brings up something that I've been wanting to talk about for a while. 

When you or I have an idea, like something we'd like to bring into the world, we're not entirely in control of what that idea needs to look like. No individual humans are in charge. What is in charge is a set of values and expectations that this community shares. When appealing ideas mesh with those values, amazing things can and have happened. And that's a really big part of, like, what we do here! Because I think that foot sleeves could be a really big deal, but you can't just do foot sleeves the normal way if it's going to be a project from this community. You have to do it in some way that is exceptional and finds ways to be in concert with the values. Let's say, for example, that it's a subscription, where you can sign up and get foot sleeves in your mail every month, each one designed by a different independent artist. And also, instead of being open all the time with all of the inventory problems and excess waste that that can create, it's only open during very limited windows. And also, because this community is much more interested in solving long-term problems than it is in short-term profit, you donate ALL of the profit to help build more robust healthcare systems in impoverished communities.

So now it is time for me to abandon the conceit that I invented socks, especially because this will be the second year of the Awesome Socks Club, a sock subscription for charity that this community has helped energize and activate with its values and its goals and its mission. So much so, that it has allowed it to grow outside of this community, and we project that we're going to donate over $900,000 to charity this year. And also because the yearly opening of the sock club starts today and it goes only for the next nine days. 

If you click on the link in the description, you can sign up to get a pair of socks designed by a different independent artist delivered to you every month. Shipping is free, and you can cancel anytime, and yes, every dollar of profit goes to support our communities work-- decreasing maternal and child mortality in Sierre Leone. 

There is one thing that has changed in our second year. Last year we set it up as a one-year subscription. Six months in, we discovered that the majority of people thought that it was a perpetual subscription. So if you are an early adopter to the sock club, you will need to renew if you want to keep getting your socks, starting on January of 2022. To do that, just go into your e-mail and search for an e-mail that I sent you. Just search "Hank Green" in your inbox. If you don't have that e-mail, you don't need to do anything. Moving forward, The Awesome Socks Club is perpetual, but you can still cancel anytime, just to avoid that confusion. BUT you can also get a gift subscription if you want a subscription that will automatically cancel after 12 months. 

Imagine how revolutionary an idea socks would be if they had not been invented yet. We would be so excited about them! But this community did not invent socks. What it did do is, with its values and with its activation and excitement, it invented, like, a new way to do socks. 

Instead of the way where you have to think too much about it and stand around awkwardly in the Target underwear section and then it being not that cool-looking anyway and all the profit goes to some stranger, you let the experts take care of it, with the delightful surprise delivered to you once a month in 100% compostable packaging, and yes, all of the profit goes to make the world a better place.

Just out here solving problems the Nerdfighter way. There's a link in the description. 

John, I'll see you on Tuesday.