WEBVTT - What is an oligarch? 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.680 From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:09.080 riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.119 learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:13.920 production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.320 Hello, welcome back to the show. My name is Matt, 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:29.400 my name is Noela. 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:30.800 They called me Ben. 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.120 We're joined as always with our super producer Dylan the 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:37.800 Tennessee pal Fagan. Most importantly, you are you. 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:38.560 You are here. 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:42.519 That makes this the stuff they don't want you to know. 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.040 And Guys, I was thinking about this. We've talked a 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:48.800 little bit off air about it. What a time to 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:51.920 host a critical thinking conspiracy show. 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.120 Man, We're not wrong. 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.720 I mean, if we had known what we know now. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.200 Say something something we knew a little bit. I mean, 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.200 you know that ebbs and flows, but boy is it flowing. 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.160 We always knew that at the end of times there 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:13.520 would be folks someway or in their basements or a 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.760 room in their apartment going the end is coming. The 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.640 end is coming, and we weren't doing that for way 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:20.080 too long. 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:26.040 Well, the world is ending for someone somewhere every day, right. 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:27.640 And for all of us very soon. 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:35.320 I'm gonnasy to change it too, Buddy. 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:35.039 Flags on the way here. 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.920 It's so cool. Everybody look up Gulf of Tonkin. 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:44.000 In tonight's episode, we are going to explore a genre 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:48.160 of conspiracy that we have often referenced, but we've never 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:53.280 fully explained. We often speak about the nature power and corruption, 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:59.840 but how do we explain the tendency of powerful people 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:05.200 to compromise institutions. That's tonight's question. You know, what exactly 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.560 is an oligarch? Do you guys remember our earlier conversation 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.640 with Jake Hanrahan, the creator of sad Oligarch? 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:16.040 How could I forget? I also remember learning about it 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.920 in school, like in you know, Civics class, about what 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.120 an oligarch was, and I just remember it was like 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.960 it was not a good thing the way it was presented. 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.239 Well, it was a great thing for the folks who 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:32.640 were smart enough and had enough capital at the fall 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:33.799 of the Soviet Union, it. 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.120 Was great, for sure, I guess, I just mean the 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.120 way it was taught, it was like, this is an anomaly. 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.760 You do not want this, This is not something that. 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:45.960 We have, sure, right right, yeah, but I don't want this. 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:51.080 As we'll see the definitions of we versus them and 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:57.519 your mileage is going to vary sociosifly at best, right, 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:03.840 and often the oligarch is in the West associated with 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:10.280 post USSR Russia, to be quite clear. But tonight we 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:15.480 have to ask more importantly, is the United States itself 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:16.760 an oligarchy? 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:18.320 We'll be right back. 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:27.600 Here are the facts, all right, how would we define oligarchy? 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:29.520 I think we can do it pretty easily. 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.560 Right, tycoons who reaped enormous fortunes in the collapse of 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:37.080 the Soviet Union in nineteen ninety one. That's how Encyclopedia 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:38.480 Britannica puts it. 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.080 Yeah, and that's a genre of oligarchy for sure. 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:43.600 And I guess I would think of it as sort 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.880 of like non government forces that are able to influence 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.320 government through sheer wealth alone. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.240 Yeah, that's a great observation. 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.760 My forces, I mean individuals, But now that can also 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:58.280 include corporations, It can include powerful people within corporations, and 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.320 it can include a lot of different within the you know, 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:02.000 main flavor. 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:06.520 Yeah, I mean, at the basis, folks, an oligarchy is 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:10.440 a form of government in which all of the power, 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:15.120 or the majority of the power is vested in a small, 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:20.679 exclusive class for all our fellow etymology nerds. The word 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:26.719 goes back through the French from the Greek oligarchia, which 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:32.160 translates to government by the few. I think that makes sense, right, 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:38.200 Most most governments are in practice oligarchical. 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:39.159 Sure. 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:43.839 It's also an interesting thing to try and suss out 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:49.080 the difference between say a dictatorship or a more iron fisted, 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:54.520 you know, singular ruler situation and how oligarchs figure into that, 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:59.200 because oftentimes it's easier for oligarchs to flex that influence 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.479 if they're tid end with someone that can unilaterally affect 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:09.360 policy without you know, fear of pushback from lesser government 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.000 forces like Stalin's. 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.800 Stalin's Soviet Union was very much an oligarchy. 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:18.480 Yeah, it's always a little bit murky there. And I 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.159 don't know that there's ever been a true, you know, 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:26.160 single person dictator ruling a thing, because there are always 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.360 folks around those people who are in their ear who 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:33.440 are the uh maybe they don't wield the power, but 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:37.160 they're certainly getting their way or having an idea, and 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:41.480 then it kind of transmits through whichever person is in 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:42.200 charge there. 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:42.960 Phenomenal. 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.520 Yeah, Yeah, Like a recent example would be North Korea, 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:52.280 an early example would be the Ottoman Empire. But I 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:55.600 love what you're pointing out, Matt, because there is always 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.560 a king of the hill, and we don't mean Texas. 0:05:59.200 --> 0:05:59.680 That's right. 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:05.320 Benjamin Nett Yahoo in the United States, all. 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:09.599 Right, I'll say it on Netflix, not my favorite Ben. 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:13.080 The people who are just starting to call him BB 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.960 all the time. I had never really clocked that, but boy, 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:17.919 am I hearing it a lot now. Maybe it's just 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:19.520 because he's more in the news, but I am hearing 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.760 people kind of diminutively referring to him as Bebe whispering 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.400 in Trump's ear. And I thought it was being cute, 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:26.600 But that's second nickname, I. 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:32.120 Guess, anything but him having to face the legal consequences 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.200 of corruption, to be quite. 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.000 Honest, right, we're at a point now where there are 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.160 folks in charge where the moment they are no longer 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.880 in charge, they're getting in big trouble. So you gotta 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:43.080 grasp the reins. 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:43.720 Baby. 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.160 But there's a great clip of Benjamin Nett Yahoo going 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:52.239 before the UN and before Congress here in the United 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.679 States and making the claim I think starting in gosh, 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.000 I think it was eighty five with the first piece 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:02.200 of the superclip and in nineteen eighty five saying Iran 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:04.240 is about to have a nuclear weapon. We're weeks away 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.480 from Ron having a nuclear weapon. And then it happens 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.880 every couple of years, and you can just see him 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.720 making the same statements until finally he got his way. 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:16.440 Yeah, and we were talking a little bit off air 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:20.760 about that one. We know that any nation in Western 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:25.600 Europe and Israel and the United States, we know that 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:32.680 any nation calling itself a democracy is often a theoretical democracy, 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.520 a place ruled by the public. But some people and 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.880 families still have a leg up. I was thinking about 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:45.520 this when recently here in the United States, someone with 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:51.440 a last name like Bush, Kennedy, Clinton, or Roosevelt gets 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:58.040 a certain unwritten boost, an unwritten buff to their character, 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:03.440 more so than say a Fagan of Frederick, A Brown 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.520 or whatever name I'm using now. 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.160 Well, yeah, it's also like those guys I think are 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:10.840 more associated to me with the idea of political dynasty, 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.120 which is another murky aspect of oligarchy, Like is that 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:17.120 the same thing, like does the Is their influence and 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:21.120 political power derived from their generational wealth or is it 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.520 just right time, right place? You know, their fathers were 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:26.440 in the same business that kind of situation. 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.520 What I'm seeing, guys, is is kind of that right time, 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.200 right place kind of thing in ingenuity and having an 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:39.760 awareness of the economic layout and what's happening, because it 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.559 does seem like the people were talking about who become 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.560 oligarchs throughout time are the ones who have a bunch 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.920 of capital already, and then they're watching what's happening with 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:51.320 let's say, the economy of a country that they're in, 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.440 as well as what's happening from a government perspective in 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.800 that in that country. And then when those two things 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.600 one kind of starts to get out bound balanced by 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.640 the other, they make these really smart moves and they 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.400 end up way on top. And that doesn't mean they 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.240 can see the future, right, it means they understand maybe 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:13.240 the way the market will change, in the way often 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.880 things like inflation are going to operate. It's creepy stuff 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:18.560 because it can happen anywhere. 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:20.720 Yeah, also a lot to be said about just like 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.520 you know, being first to market or like being in 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:27.480 on the ground floor of something early enough, especially when 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.480 family is concerned, and that kind of generational wealth and 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:31.880 the influence that goes along with it. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:37.760 Yeah, well, said guys. And it's always been so strange that, Look, 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:41.520 when you hear about oligarchs, now you're going to hear 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:46.280 them portrayed as Russians, right, due to the fall of 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:50.080 the uss Or. But it's so strange to realize that 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:58.640 for the majority of human history, most civilizations were essentially oligarchies. 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.920 You would have your tribe leaders, you have your despots, 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:07.439 your emperors, your monarchs, your god kings, your religious authorities, 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:11.240 of course, let's not forget about them. And people did 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:15.200 not get to vote. Mainly, they were lucky if they 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:19.400 were able to eat or drink clean water that didn't 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.400 give them a bunch of really nasty parasites. 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:24.679 Hey, and we're heading right back there, are we. 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:25.800 What a time? 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:28.720 We also just say, speaking of what a time, Matt, 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:31.960 I'm really glad you got out of Cotter when you did. 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.080 Just putting that out there, that was a timing situation. 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:40.160 I hesitate to repeat myself, but I know that I 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:43.280 spoke to several people there who basically said, yeah, it's coming, 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.080 but it's not going to happen now because there's this 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:50.480 big oil conference happening in Qatar, and there's also this 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.160 huge tech conference. So all those the people that we're 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.440 talking about today that play in those circles, they're not 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.840 going to be immediately targets on unless, let's say, especially 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:06.640 as somebody who's like European or American hanging out over there. 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.320 The US isn't gonna isn't gonna fire missiles like that, 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.120 and then because they know that Tehran would fire back. 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:18.800 And as we're recording on Friday, March sixth, the airport 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:23.320 in Doha remains closed. I don't know if you guys, yeah, 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:27.600 checked in with any of our contacts on the ground there. 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:32.440 But there's this crazy rush right now for people who 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.960 can afford private jets to figure out whether they bunk 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:42.160 or down, or whether they get a ride to Dubai 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:46.880 or maybe take land routes to Oman and get a 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:52.000 plane out of the country. I mean, this is this 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:59.800 is a result of oligarchical reasoning. Most wars actually are 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.760 in the modern era. I mean, scholars spend so much 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:08.600 time figuring out this historic tendency. Like we could admit, 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:13.240 we are humble enough to admit that the human being 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:17.480 is one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:24.000 So it's kind of odd and counterintuitive that the inherently 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:32.000 inefficient social dynamic of oligarchy would be so incredibly common. 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:34.559 You know, if you think about it, and if you're 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:38.600 a smart human, then you want to preserve your civilization, 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:43.200 You want members of your civilization to succeed, and you 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:49.120 want to expand the future opportunities of your overall civilization 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:54.800 or species. I mean, logically from that, and I know 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:58.920 this is a hot take, theoretical communism would be the 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:03.480 best choice, right, Theoretical communism well. 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.440 And a lot of this oligarchy stuff seems, or at 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:08.760 least the way it's sort of filtering into this country 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:12.800 and our system, it seems to have resulted from things 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:16.840 like Citizens United, and you know, the increased ability for 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:21.040 very wealthy individuals and corporations to wield political power. But 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:25.640 there's this sense that it's good for these very wealthy 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.600 people to have power because money makes more money, and 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.640 it's this trickle down thing that I think has historically 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.679 proven to be not true, and that these folks look 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.040 out for their own and their own class, and that 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:42.319 there is no trickle down. It's just about consolidating all 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.200 that power and wealth in these top top top tiers 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.680 and leaving everybody else out in the cold because you 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.920 can't have you can't amass more if you don't take 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:51.040 it from somewhere. 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.719 A snowball effect. Yeah, the idea, Now we know it's 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:59.040 a hot take, but the idea of theoretical communism has 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:05.199 never really resulted in the practice of the things that 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:08.960 people like Karl Marx wrote about. The concept would be 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:13.600 each member of a society provides as much as they 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:18.080 can according to their ability, and each member also receives 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.840 all kinds of support commensurate with their needs. 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:23.600 This is not the case. 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.080 I mean, think about it. Let's think about it this way. Guys, 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:31.480 say we have ten people in a society. We're in 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:35.680 a tribe. There's ten of us, and every month we 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:41.800 generate a collective one hundred dollars. All other things being equal, 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:47.400 every member of that tribe would receive every month ten dollars, 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.360 your little piece of the pie. But to your point, 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.000 there noel. If of those ten people, one or two 0:14:54.480 --> 0:15:00.360 is a warlord, then that minority of the civilization one 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:05.080 to two of the ten will accumulate the lion's share 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.360 of a tribe's production. So it's like eighty bucks for 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.440 me what is left maybe doled out to the rest 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.680 of you, you peasants, deal down and pray. 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.600 Well, do you think it's because this idea of communism 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.000 never working out in practice the way it should in theory. 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:21.720 Is it just the. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.920 Inherent corruptibility of people or the types of people that 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:29.080 seek that those types of positions that it really just 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:32.880 requires like a well meaning individual to ascend to that 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:35.360 level of power, and it just doesn't typically happen. 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.600 You also have to have policies in place or rules 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:42.160 right in place that make sense to those benevolent goals, 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:44.440 and they have to kind of fit along with that stuff. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.400 Then everybody has to agree, and then nobody can get 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:49.320 greedy because you get greedy. But that's the thing, You're 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.800 playing a game where nobody get greedy. 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:54.320 It's the corruptibility factor. I think. 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:55.680 I think it's just really hard to get to that 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:57.840 level and not want to take a little more for you. 0:15:57.600 --> 0:15:58.440 You know, you. 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.480 Also have to have timeline right. You have to be 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:09.280 able to see perceivable significant results as a member of 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:13.440 a tribe of society, a civilization right. You have to 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:18.720 be if someone says, hey, give me ten dollars, then 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:23.520 the person giving the ten dollars will naturally ask where 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.240 does the money go? How does it benefit me? Qui bono? 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.160 Right, I don't know, it's crazy. 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:36.640 Because it's so normalized. We read a lot, folks, and 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:42.280 most history books are written in the milieu of oligarchy. 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:48.960 Most history books are coming from a perspective that acknowledges 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:55.280 and inherently supports this a logical, bizarre beat me here, Dylan, Carie. 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:57.600 And that's why, from fiction. 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.840 To film, from policy to profit, we have normalized a 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:08.959 very sad and cartoonishly stupid state of affairs. Like to 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:14.520 your earlier point there, every communist country on planet Earth 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:20.560 so far has ultimately done exactly the opposite of what 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.440 communism is supposed to do. They have generated a de 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:30.879 facto in practice upper class of corrupt rulers. I still 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:35.320 you guys, remember when we talked about Dunbar's number. 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.480 The number of people that are truly human to you? 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:38.200 Right? 0:17:38.520 --> 0:17:46.320 Yeah, I know it's a controversial idea, but maybe maybe 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:52.400 human tribes reach a diminishing return of efficiency after they 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.800 get past Dunbar's number. Maybe after like what was it, 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.920 two hundred and fifty people, maybe you should close the group? 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:04.359 Uh, can we talk a little bit just about specifically 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.240 how the Russian oligarchs came into power, because there's there's 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.520 two things that I think we need to be aware 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.600 of before we even have our conversation about how does 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.040 you know how could America get here? Just to set 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:19.240 us up from a historical perspective, because I didn't realize 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:23.160 there were two major factors. The first one was that 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.320 hyperinflation was occurring in the Soviet Union, like as it 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:30.120 was about to collapse, and then immediately after the collapse, 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.760 like the Russian ruble was just in crazy hyperinflation every 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.399 month it was losing like twenty five percent of its value. 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.919 But people who already had a bunch of money and 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.399 a bunch of capital had already transferred their rubles into 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:47.160 other you know, things like US dollars, let's say, or 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.240 something British perhaps, or just whatever. They're changing their money, 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:54.880 their currencies from rubles as they're watching it happen into 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:59.080 other currencies. Then they can buy things or make promises 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:02.040 to pay for things in rubles. Let's say, sign a contract. 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:05.679 There's a great example. Britannica gives of a contract that 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:09.600 one oligarch signed to pay the equivalent of around three 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:14.560 thousand dollars US for thirty five thousand cars. But he 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.840 knew that hyperinflation is in effect and as continuing to go. 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:21.720 So that amount of money that's he that he's contractually 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.959 obligated to pay is actually going to become by the 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.440 at the end of the term, three hundred and sixty 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:31.280 dollars per car, So from three thousand to three hundred 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:32.960 and sixty, and he ends up making one hundred and 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.480 sixty million dollars on that. So just the people that 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.600 have the money already understand the system and know how 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:41.679 to kind of wiggle around it to end up continuing 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.800 to make money. Then this is the second part that 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.160 I did not understand. You guys, when the Soviet Union 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.520 falls in nineteen ninety one, they privatize as or they 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:54.960 begin to privatize, and they're like heading towards full privatization 0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:59.840 of all things like oil companies, nickel, deposit mining, con 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:04.840 everything you can imagine as like natural resources, right, and 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:09.320 even media things like that. Nineteen ninety four. Oh sorry, 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:11.000 go ahead, no, I'm sorry. 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.159 I just you're describing something very close to home and familiar, 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:15.320 as I please continue. 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.119 History has never been original. 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:20.800 Yeah, here's where it gets a little weird, guys, and 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:22.720 we're gonna connect it back up towards the end. Here 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:27.600 in nineteen ninety four, Russia isn't making enough money enough 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.439 gross domestic product to pay off its debts and to 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:33.360 continue to function as a country, so it needs a 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:37.360 cash input. It goes to these folks who are already 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:41.400 very very rich, who are who are controlling a lot 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:44.960 of these companies, and ends up borrowing a whole bunch 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:47.280 of money from them around one point eight billion. 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:49.640 Yeah, it could go. 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:50.800 Wrong, right. 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:58.160 Think about the somewhat obscure writing of famous amateur wrestler 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:03.240 Abraham Lincoln about debts during the Civil War and paying 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.440 the power behind the throne. Or think about the movement 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:11.320 of tangible assets like gold in the lead up to 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.879 the current stage of the Middle Eastern conflict. 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:17.040 Right, Oh, do a lot. 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:20.199 But the whole point of they borrow that money from 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:24.240 these individuals, right, who are already so wealthy, and the 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:27.480 way those individuals get paid back is through these these 0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:32.080 weird rigged auctions for control of certain things again, things 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:33.800 like oil companies, gas companies, a. 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:38.680 Small number of well connected members of business class, former government, 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:41.520 and we have to say it the intelligence community. 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.240 Oh sure, give those bids to the best you know 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.440 candidate though, right, there's processes for these things. 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:52.600 Yeah, I'm sure there was a good faith process. 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:55.919 Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot. 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:59.399 We're on video and everybody can see how cynical and 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:00.640 sarcas I. 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:04.399 Think we three hundred and sixty degrees, you know, and 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:06.119 back around at the same time. 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:08.359 The thing I've forgotten there, guys, that was ninety six 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:11.159 when the at one point eight trillion was brow The 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:14.320 crazy thing that happened in ninety four, which is when 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:18.639 the government issued vouchers, which is really interesting because as 0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:21.280 things are going down, things aren't looking great. All of 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:25.880 these state controlled things are beginning to privatize. The country 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:29.600 offers vouchers and these things. It's kind of like money, 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:32.399 but not really money. You could take these and you 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:35.720 can trade them. You can sell them. You can just 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.879 exchange them for other things. You could trade them for 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:41.919 an employee's share of a company, like the shares that 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:44.960 they own of a company. You can take these vouchers instead, 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:47.520 and like I said, you can trade them, so people 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:51.240 who already had a bunch of money could individually buy 0:22:51.359 --> 0:22:54.480 up let's say a controlling share of a nickel conglomerate 0:22:54.840 --> 0:22:57.080 by just going to all of these employees and saying, well, 0:22:57.119 --> 0:22:58.960 I'll pay you more for these shares than what they're 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:02.720 worth right now, and now I will have a controlling 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:05.520 share of that giant thing that is going to be 0:23:05.560 --> 0:23:09.320 massively important for the existence of the country. It's like 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:11.720 playing the long game, I guess for people who already 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:12.360 have the money. 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:16.600 The rubyl version of pennies on the dollar right, this 0:23:16.640 --> 0:23:20.760 is what we call regulatory capture. Please check out our 0:23:21.040 --> 0:23:25.840 earlier interview segment with friend of the show, legendary conflict 0:23:25.920 --> 0:23:31.480 journalist Jake Hanrahan. He has a series called sad Oligarch 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:39.280 which examines in depth the stories the rise fall, sometimes 0:23:39.280 --> 0:23:44.040 from a third story window, of specific Russian oligarchs. We're 0:23:44.080 --> 0:23:47.560 not blowing rainbows here, folks. Jake is one of the 0:23:47.600 --> 0:23:51.800 best in the game. Sad Oligarch is a phenomenal show. 0:23:52.240 --> 0:23:58.800 And the privatization, the massive privatization of a post Soviet 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:04.000 economy in Russia is still one of the biggest provable conspiracies, 0:24:04.080 --> 0:24:07.119 and it's definitely the reason that here in the West, 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:12.440 when you hear Oligarch, you think Russia but that's as 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:15.679 we're going to see. That's not quite the entirety of 0:24:15.800 --> 0:24:16.760 the conspiracy. 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:17.920 I mean, we all. 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:23.720 Remember the United States from earlier, founded in the late 0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:28.760 seventeen hundreds to escape the trappings of things like oligarchy 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:34.840 and things like monarchy. Our founding fathers far from perfect. 0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:38.240 They had a weird thing with wigs and stockings, for instance. 0:24:39.000 --> 0:24:44.040