I suspect, without any evidence, that Trump and Biden have struck a deal not to go after each others' families. Also Trump's DOJ will not target Obama, Clinton, Biden or Harris. That said, they probably will dive deep into Crossfire Hurricane, Burisma, 2020 Election and much more. I personally hope that they do indeed go deep but that the emphasis is more on presenting convincing evidence to the American people so that not only is widespread endemic corruption revealed definitively, but then substantive reforms can be effected. So the emphasis should be on revealing corruption and then repairing the systems as opposed to mass prosecutions and incarcerations. Some, yes, but not thousands even though thousands are warranted. A large component of this will involve dismantling the Administrative State which has no constitutional basis apart from the tacit consent of Congress which in theory oversees its spending and legislative basis. It will be interesting to see what comes out of DOGE.
For example, I doubt they will dismantle the entire IC sphere, nor the Federal Reserve system, both of which are a large part of the problem. But we'll soon see - IF there is a new inauguration on Jan 20th. Deals are being made, though, so probably to get his mandate for substantive reform through they are going to have to have an agreement of various things that will be off limits.
Any kind of deep dives will absolutely implicate Obama and the structures behind him. Harris and Biden were little more than sockpuppets for Obama, policy was set in Kalorama, not the WH. The only way most of the structures get affected in a serious way is in a Soviet Union-style collapse - and that will happen, apparently, in a day. That's the trouble with systems dependent on exponential growth - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZA9Hnp3aV4 - "Exponential Growth Arithmetic, Population and Energy", by Dr. Albert A. Bartlett
Well, I doubt they will go all the way with any of this. My current working hypothesis is that there will be certain level of cleaning up overmuch corporate-congressional boondoggling. I recall reading years ago that Ike’s notes read ‘military-industrial-congressional complex’ but he cut out the congressional; no idea if this is true but it could be since it’s accurate.
And a certain amount of exposure of some recent excesses, such as especially Crossfire Hurricane.
Meanwhile, am assuming that DOGE will chop the Administrative State parts birthed through EO’s down to size using EO’s. The savings could be in the trillions. But corporate US will still remain and the savings will go to building their Brave New AI-run world once they have spent hundreds of billions building up the electrical grid since apparently some of the AI centers need as much juice as small cities. The sectors of Big Tech involved with this sort of thing moved over to Team Trump in the past year or so, along with Bitcoin etc. which may or may not be a promise that won’t be kept, and this is probably why: in order to afford the next technological shift (to generate the perpetual growth the current materialist models depend upon) they have to trim much of the current bloat. There will be benefits to Main Street too in the form of more factories again (regulatory cuts, tariffs etc.) and easier time starting small businesses, so they won’t mind the Big Boys building out their AI complexes.
Am listening to yr youtube viz electricity need now. I suspect thorium reactors or some such will be the way to go. In Japan they have a big nuclear station using generated heat to power hydrogen generation by water electrolysis which can then be piped or stored in batteries for use, the batteries being for electric cars. (Edit: I think that's wrong; I think they are just putting hydrogen into tanks that can be swapped in and out of conventional combustion engine cars adapted to burn hydrogen instead of gasoline - not batteries.) They believe they can scale this to the whole nation at some point. Sounds pretty smart to me, but I know almost nothing of such matters.
I read decades ago that the big problem with electricity is the 80% or some such loss from the power stations to the light bulb. I suspect there are fixes for this but monopoly capitalism has no incentive to provide them. They charge for what they generate at the station and if the wiring or whatever system was made much more efficient, they would probably lose since presumably the fix would involve not just different transmission materials but more local-level production. Again and again we find most problems come down to corrupt command and control by for profit enterprise. Maybe China has circumvented it, but since 80% of the Princeling class are millionaires or billionaires in only three generations, I very much doubt it!
I'd seriously go back and watch the entire video - all 74 minutes of it - because from what you write about "perpetual growth", you've missed the point... the video is about exponential growth, not electricity generation.
And I strongly doubt that the system can be "repaired" or "reformed", the malignant parts will be put "off limits", and events will proceed apace until collapse. It's like eradicating black mold - you have to get it all. And in any case, the problem is with the centralized and consolidated nature of the government. We either decentralize deliberately, and disperse the malignant power centers which attract bad actors like pedophiles to children - or the system collapses, and the same result occurs, albeit in a more sudden and chaotic sense.
It’s a pickle, and no mistake. I was on the collapse bandwagon since the 70’s and still basically suspect that’s the only viable shakeout, but decade after decade it keeps chugging along, sometimes with considerable vigour. And what comes after collapse may not necessarily be better which is why tackling core problems at the root is the way to go. But doing this involves reconfiguring the entire civilization matrix including belief systems and everything, which is the most advanced art form in the human realm and one which our current materialist mindset is categorically incapable of effect since all its underlying premises are wrong.
Here the Chinese do have more experience civilizationally but the truth is that they have gone through many multi-century doldrums so clearly don’t have all the answers and might encounter their own collapse scenario too.
In any case, in theory it should be possible to clean out corruption every once in a while with a short-term, highly draconian reform period (which Xi is reported to have effected a few years back but I have no idea if this is accurate reporting). I think the US constitution has some fairly good bones but a lot of questionable and/or incomplete elements which is why it failed from the beginning to prevent the current situation from developing. It needs a rethink. We need American Dugins. And since his Dad was Russian Intelligence (as he probably is too), maybe not a good role model!
One simple thing they could do in the US is to shut down the capital city every 50 years or so and devolve everything back to the States for 25 years. Then re-centralize cautiously in a new capital city whose budget is limited by constitutional amendment to X% of gross national production or some such. That would help, but of course will never be done!
PS Was living in Boulder when this lecture was given, but was into other things at the time...
The real problem lies in highly centralized government - the sort of thing the Anti-Federalists so presciently warned us against - https://streamfortyseven.substack.com/p/just-for-the-record-antifederalist - and its exponential growth - anything which grows exponentially, against a finite resource base, will hit hard limits, with consequences...
I asked Grok 2 on X a few questions and got interesting answers about pardons, impeachments and so forth. Some grey areas involve the Nixon pardon which was broad but also never challenged. If it was challenged (pardoning for unspecified, uncharged, not adjudicated crimes etc.) it might not have held up. It would come down to judgment calls in either Senate or SCOTUS. One scenario is feasible, though unlikely:
Biden could be impeached after his Presidency is over for a variety of thing involving Burisma-China bribes, 2020 Election theft, border policies and funding of illegals with housing, transportation etc. Once impeached, his Presidential immunity is stripped and he can be criminally prosecuted especially where there is a clear case of personal action and benefit not directly connected with Presidential duties.
I doubt this will happen since such impeachments will not go through Congress as currently constituted (RINOs etc.) Again, I think the main thing is clarity/exposure followed by substantive reform. That said, hopefully some of the players like Brennan and Comey, possibly even a Pelosi or two, will be hauled up and tried. Gonna be interesting!
I'd suspect that the two sides have sufficient kompromat on each other to block any serious change or reform - that's how the Clintons worked. And depending on billionaires for real systemic change is insanity, where the only reason they were able to amass such wealth and power - and keep it - is the existence and continuation of highly centralized government. I very much doubt that Musk or Gates or the rest are as intelligent as their PR puts out, they're more like extremely effective con artists, working the government to get more money and power. Look at how Trump is enthralled by Musk - that's a good illustration. And Musk will get rid of those parts of the system that stop him from getting more wealth and power - and I think he and Trump are going to make a huge play on the cryptocurrency racket, a control fraud if I ever saw one. Biden was head of a mafia, a crime family, and he ended up being not too smart about it. We may get to see to what degree he wasn't smart. But the real problem lies in highly centralized government - the sort of thing the Anti-Federalists so presciently warned us against - https://streamfortyseven.substack.com/p/just-for-the-record-antifederalist
I suspect, without any evidence, that Trump and Biden have struck a deal not to go after each others' families. Also Trump's DOJ will not target Obama, Clinton, Biden or Harris. That said, they probably will dive deep into Crossfire Hurricane, Burisma, 2020 Election and much more. I personally hope that they do indeed go deep but that the emphasis is more on presenting convincing evidence to the American people so that not only is widespread endemic corruption revealed definitively, but then substantive reforms can be effected. So the emphasis should be on revealing corruption and then repairing the systems as opposed to mass prosecutions and incarcerations. Some, yes, but not thousands even though thousands are warranted. A large component of this will involve dismantling the Administrative State which has no constitutional basis apart from the tacit consent of Congress which in theory oversees its spending and legislative basis. It will be interesting to see what comes out of DOGE.
For example, I doubt they will dismantle the entire IC sphere, nor the Federal Reserve system, both of which are a large part of the problem. But we'll soon see - IF there is a new inauguration on Jan 20th. Deals are being made, though, so probably to get his mandate for substantive reform through they are going to have to have an agreement of various things that will be off limits.
Interesting times!
Any kind of deep dives will absolutely implicate Obama and the structures behind him. Harris and Biden were little more than sockpuppets for Obama, policy was set in Kalorama, not the WH. The only way most of the structures get affected in a serious way is in a Soviet Union-style collapse - and that will happen, apparently, in a day. That's the trouble with systems dependent on exponential growth - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZA9Hnp3aV4 - "Exponential Growth Arithmetic, Population and Energy", by Dr. Albert A. Bartlett
Well, I doubt they will go all the way with any of this. My current working hypothesis is that there will be certain level of cleaning up overmuch corporate-congressional boondoggling. I recall reading years ago that Ike’s notes read ‘military-industrial-congressional complex’ but he cut out the congressional; no idea if this is true but it could be since it’s accurate.
And a certain amount of exposure of some recent excesses, such as especially Crossfire Hurricane.
Meanwhile, am assuming that DOGE will chop the Administrative State parts birthed through EO’s down to size using EO’s. The savings could be in the trillions. But corporate US will still remain and the savings will go to building their Brave New AI-run world once they have spent hundreds of billions building up the electrical grid since apparently some of the AI centers need as much juice as small cities. The sectors of Big Tech involved with this sort of thing moved over to Team Trump in the past year or so, along with Bitcoin etc. which may or may not be a promise that won’t be kept, and this is probably why: in order to afford the next technological shift (to generate the perpetual growth the current materialist models depend upon) they have to trim much of the current bloat. There will be benefits to Main Street too in the form of more factories again (regulatory cuts, tariffs etc.) and easier time starting small businesses, so they won’t mind the Big Boys building out their AI complexes.
Am listening to yr youtube viz electricity need now. I suspect thorium reactors or some such will be the way to go. In Japan they have a big nuclear station using generated heat to power hydrogen generation by water electrolysis which can then be piped or stored in batteries for use, the batteries being for electric cars. (Edit: I think that's wrong; I think they are just putting hydrogen into tanks that can be swapped in and out of conventional combustion engine cars adapted to burn hydrogen instead of gasoline - not batteries.) They believe they can scale this to the whole nation at some point. Sounds pretty smart to me, but I know almost nothing of such matters.
I read decades ago that the big problem with electricity is the 80% or some such loss from the power stations to the light bulb. I suspect there are fixes for this but monopoly capitalism has no incentive to provide them. They charge for what they generate at the station and if the wiring or whatever system was made much more efficient, they would probably lose since presumably the fix would involve not just different transmission materials but more local-level production. Again and again we find most problems come down to corrupt command and control by for profit enterprise. Maybe China has circumvented it, but since 80% of the Princeling class are millionaires or billionaires in only three generations, I very much doubt it!
I'd seriously go back and watch the entire video - all 74 minutes of it - because from what you write about "perpetual growth", you've missed the point... the video is about exponential growth, not electricity generation.
And I strongly doubt that the system can be "repaired" or "reformed", the malignant parts will be put "off limits", and events will proceed apace until collapse. It's like eradicating black mold - you have to get it all. And in any case, the problem is with the centralized and consolidated nature of the government. We either decentralize deliberately, and disperse the malignant power centers which attract bad actors like pedophiles to children - or the system collapses, and the same result occurs, albeit in a more sudden and chaotic sense.
It’s a pickle, and no mistake. I was on the collapse bandwagon since the 70’s and still basically suspect that’s the only viable shakeout, but decade after decade it keeps chugging along, sometimes with considerable vigour. And what comes after collapse may not necessarily be better which is why tackling core problems at the root is the way to go. But doing this involves reconfiguring the entire civilization matrix including belief systems and everything, which is the most advanced art form in the human realm and one which our current materialist mindset is categorically incapable of effect since all its underlying premises are wrong.
Here the Chinese do have more experience civilizationally but the truth is that they have gone through many multi-century doldrums so clearly don’t have all the answers and might encounter their own collapse scenario too.
In any case, in theory it should be possible to clean out corruption every once in a while with a short-term, highly draconian reform period (which Xi is reported to have effected a few years back but I have no idea if this is accurate reporting). I think the US constitution has some fairly good bones but a lot of questionable and/or incomplete elements which is why it failed from the beginning to prevent the current situation from developing. It needs a rethink. We need American Dugins. And since his Dad was Russian Intelligence (as he probably is too), maybe not a good role model!
One simple thing they could do in the US is to shut down the capital city every 50 years or so and devolve everything back to the States for 25 years. Then re-centralize cautiously in a new capital city whose budget is limited by constitutional amendment to X% of gross national production or some such. That would help, but of course will never be done!
PS Was living in Boulder when this lecture was given, but was into other things at the time...
The real problem lies in highly centralized government - the sort of thing the Anti-Federalists so presciently warned us against - https://streamfortyseven.substack.com/p/just-for-the-record-antifederalist - and its exponential growth - anything which grows exponentially, against a finite resource base, will hit hard limits, with consequences...
I asked Grok 2 on X a few questions and got interesting answers about pardons, impeachments and so forth. Some grey areas involve the Nixon pardon which was broad but also never challenged. If it was challenged (pardoning for unspecified, uncharged, not adjudicated crimes etc.) it might not have held up. It would come down to judgment calls in either Senate or SCOTUS. One scenario is feasible, though unlikely:
Biden could be impeached after his Presidency is over for a variety of thing involving Burisma-China bribes, 2020 Election theft, border policies and funding of illegals with housing, transportation etc. Once impeached, his Presidential immunity is stripped and he can be criminally prosecuted especially where there is a clear case of personal action and benefit not directly connected with Presidential duties.
I doubt this will happen since such impeachments will not go through Congress as currently constituted (RINOs etc.) Again, I think the main thing is clarity/exposure followed by substantive reform. That said, hopefully some of the players like Brennan and Comey, possibly even a Pelosi or two, will be hauled up and tried. Gonna be interesting!
I'd suspect that the two sides have sufficient kompromat on each other to block any serious change or reform - that's how the Clintons worked. And depending on billionaires for real systemic change is insanity, where the only reason they were able to amass such wealth and power - and keep it - is the existence and continuation of highly centralized government. I very much doubt that Musk or Gates or the rest are as intelligent as their PR puts out, they're more like extremely effective con artists, working the government to get more money and power. Look at how Trump is enthralled by Musk - that's a good illustration. And Musk will get rid of those parts of the system that stop him from getting more wealth and power - and I think he and Trump are going to make a huge play on the cryptocurrency racket, a control fraud if I ever saw one. Biden was head of a mafia, a crime family, and he ended up being not too smart about it. We may get to see to what degree he wasn't smart. But the real problem lies in highly centralized government - the sort of thing the Anti-Federalists so presciently warned us against - https://streamfortyseven.substack.com/p/just-for-the-record-antifederalist