I listened to the whole thing (on and off, over the course of days) and enjoyed it thoroughly. James’s perspective very much resonates with me and Brian was a great interlocutor. To my mind, this is the sort of conversation that politically interested people should be having across the political spectrum . . . But, of course, alas, that’s absolutely not happening. Still, I found it very refreshing to find it here. Thanks for taking the time and putting your work out there.
I think most politically interested people do not have the same motivations as you or I. Signaling often matters more than actually figuring out what other people believe. That being said, what I appreciate is that those of us who wish to have these conversations are able to find other people to engage and listen.
on the frontier - the idea of self-reinvention is spot on. that is what has gone away. the inability to remake yourself. we have ended up stuck with who we are. and tech is the villain.
I should get a badge for listening to the whole thing—some thoughts.
I wish people, you and James included, were more specific when discussing American decline. In my personal life, people who say this often can't even give a single example of decline save for failures while meddling in other countries. The most noticeable loss I see is the media - the internet has led to a near-total collapse of broadcast journalism and a significant decline in print journalism.
In terms of "seeing the matrix code," the idea behind that expression is something I have heard nearly my whole life from friends and family. They've always seen a disconnect between authentic American culture and the way talking heads behave in an attempt to sway public opinion. Nothing new here!
Related to both of the above paragraphs and the discussions of the reverend's wife on the Simpsons, you should watch Parks and Recreation with an eye on how it portrays broadcast journalism and women's grievances (and anyone's grievances, for that matter). Twitter is one big town hall meeting from Parks and Rec (but with different topics, even though that show isn't that old). Before we had the woke, we had the prudes and satanophobic.
Brian, I want to hear you talk more about Trump's mastering of Twitter helping him rise. Hitler and the Nazis mastered the pamphlet and, to some degree, radio broadcasting. No doubt that radio broadcasting helped FDR. JFK benefited from the rise of television, and so did Regan. Obama leveraged Facebook fundraising and speeches posted to YouTube. But Trump was the first to use Twitter while campaigning and governing, and it was a massive change in how the president interacted with the public.
And related to the supposed decline of America, I put together a show list of things that have improved in America since the 1990s:
Significant improvement:
-Traffic fatalities
-Infant mortality rate
-Tap to pay CC
-Safety of plastics (although there's a long way to go)
-No more lead gas (this one is huge!)
x2 better value or improvement
-Garbage bags
-Light switches
-Violent crime rate
-Fresh beef at McDonald's and Wendy's
-Domino's Pizza (still not great
-Foods now widely available:
--Organic milk
--Cage free eggs
--Grass fed beef
x10 better value
-Availaibility of calorie information for food
-Book buying and selling
-Online banking
-Craft beer
-Coffee
-Ice cream at the grocery store
-Frozen pizza (we went from Tombstone -> Digiorno -> dozens of amazing options)
-Cruise control in cars
-Safety features in cars
-Commercial-free televeision (e.g., Netflix)
-Affordable DVR and streaming for on-demand programming
-Reduction of lead in water (not everywhere, of course)
x100 better value
-Internet speed and reliability
-Large reduction of trans fats in foods
-Fast and affordable computers
-Cell phones
-Digital cameras
-Large flat-screen TVs
-Too much tech to list
I admit appliances and shower heads are not as good. But at least they make removable shower heads now, so the lower pressure isn't so bad. :)
My point is that life in America is so much better in so many ways. I reject the narrative that we've declined in a broad sense. James's schtick on frontier living is utter nonsense - people don't live that way because it sucks just as bad now as it did 200 years ago, while life on the grid has improved x100. His take on food is also bad - see my list above - things are better now than anytime in my life (I know my list contains some junk food, but the part on organic/grass feed/cage free is what I'm referencing).
I listened to the whole thing (on and off, over the course of days) and enjoyed it thoroughly. James’s perspective very much resonates with me and Brian was a great interlocutor. To my mind, this is the sort of conversation that politically interested people should be having across the political spectrum . . . But, of course, alas, that’s absolutely not happening. Still, I found it very refreshing to find it here. Thanks for taking the time and putting your work out there.
Thank you!
I think most politically interested people do not have the same motivations as you or I. Signaling often matters more than actually figuring out what other people believe. That being said, what I appreciate is that those of us who wish to have these conversations are able to find other people to engage and listen.
You're very good at this, Brian. I came to it bc I'm friends w James, but I'll be listening to many more now.
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the 5 and a half hours with James :>
I actually did listen to about 2.5 hrs ftr
Great stuff....was just looking for a recent interview with James yesterday and couldn't find one- pleasant surprise this morning!
Thank you for the timestamps!
on the frontier - the idea of self-reinvention is spot on. that is what has gone away. the inability to remake yourself. we have ended up stuck with who we are. and tech is the villain.
I should get a badge for listening to the whole thing—some thoughts.
I wish people, you and James included, were more specific when discussing American decline. In my personal life, people who say this often can't even give a single example of decline save for failures while meddling in other countries. The most noticeable loss I see is the media - the internet has led to a near-total collapse of broadcast journalism and a significant decline in print journalism.
In terms of "seeing the matrix code," the idea behind that expression is something I have heard nearly my whole life from friends and family. They've always seen a disconnect between authentic American culture and the way talking heads behave in an attempt to sway public opinion. Nothing new here!
Related to both of the above paragraphs and the discussions of the reverend's wife on the Simpsons, you should watch Parks and Recreation with an eye on how it portrays broadcast journalism and women's grievances (and anyone's grievances, for that matter). Twitter is one big town hall meeting from Parks and Rec (but with different topics, even though that show isn't that old). Before we had the woke, we had the prudes and satanophobic.
Brian, I want to hear you talk more about Trump's mastering of Twitter helping him rise. Hitler and the Nazis mastered the pamphlet and, to some degree, radio broadcasting. No doubt that radio broadcasting helped FDR. JFK benefited from the rise of television, and so did Regan. Obama leveraged Facebook fundraising and speeches posted to YouTube. But Trump was the first to use Twitter while campaigning and governing, and it was a massive change in how the president interacted with the public.
And related to the supposed decline of America, I put together a show list of things that have improved in America since the 1990s:
Significant improvement:
-Traffic fatalities
-Infant mortality rate
-Tap to pay CC
-Safety of plastics (although there's a long way to go)
-No more lead gas (this one is huge!)
x2 better value or improvement
-Garbage bags
-Light switches
-Violent crime rate
-Fresh beef at McDonald's and Wendy's
-Domino's Pizza (still not great
-Foods now widely available:
--Organic milk
--Cage free eggs
--Grass fed beef
x10 better value
-Availaibility of calorie information for food
-Book buying and selling
-Online banking
-Craft beer
-Coffee
-Ice cream at the grocery store
-Frozen pizza (we went from Tombstone -> Digiorno -> dozens of amazing options)
-Cruise control in cars
-Safety features in cars
-Commercial-free televeision (e.g., Netflix)
-Affordable DVR and streaming for on-demand programming
-Reduction of lead in water (not everywhere, of course)
x100 better value
-Internet speed and reliability
-Large reduction of trans fats in foods
-Fast and affordable computers
-Cell phones
-Digital cameras
-Large flat-screen TVs
-Too much tech to list
I admit appliances and shower heads are not as good. But at least they make removable shower heads now, so the lower pressure isn't so bad. :)
My point is that life in America is so much better in so many ways. I reject the narrative that we've declined in a broad sense. James's schtick on frontier living is utter nonsense - people don't live that way because it sucks just as bad now as it did 200 years ago, while life on the grid has improved x100. His take on food is also bad - see my list above - things are better now than anytime in my life (I know my list contains some junk food, but the part on organic/grass feed/cage free is what I'm referencing).