1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: All Zone media. 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,719 Speaker 2: Welcome to it could happen here a podcast about a 3 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 2: world on fire and how to put it out. I'm 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:17,479 Speaker 2: your host, Na Wong. The world is fucked. It's the 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,319 Speaker 2: one thing everyone agrees on in the vacuum of a 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 2: defeated Democratic party and a hideously unpopular fascist takeover that 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 2: is nevertheless on the march ideologies VI for the mantle 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 2: of resistance to the fascist purge, Sir on mom Donnie's 9 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 2: victory in New York represents the resurch and social democracy 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 2: in the streets. Everyone from liberals to communists to anarchists 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 2: are fighting against ice and the National Guard occupations. To 12 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:50,199 Speaker 2: get our bearings in the swirling vortex of ideology, let 13 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 2: us check in slightly further to the right, but still 14 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 2: firmly in the grounds of liberalism, on a new movement 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 2: called Abundance. What is abundance? Brust into prominence by a 16 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 2: book in March twenty twenty five simply called Abundance by 17 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 2: liberal stalwart as Recline and Derek Thompson, who was well 18 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 2: known futures people like Matthew and Glycias. They argue that 19 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 2: growth is good. They argue we should make more things. 20 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 2: They argue we should have bold visions of the future 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 2: with to quote Malcolm Harris's description in The Baffler, desalinated 22 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 2: ocean water flowing from the taps, skyscraper farms, growing our 23 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 2: food indoors, and quote star pills manufactured in space, clean air, 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 2: and super fast planes. Think big, think fast, solve problems 25 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 2: by building more. They even have a new magazine run 26 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 2: off of Substack called The Argument, which is supposed to 27 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 2: be about bringing these new ideas to the left. It 28 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 2: includes Social Democratic stalwart Matt Prunek Isn't that nice? Semaphore? 29 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 2: And they, reporting on the launch of The Argument, wrote, 30 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: quote many of The Argument's writers have supported or, in 31 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 2: Thompson's case, authored The Ideas of Abundance, a recent book 32 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 2: advocating for reforms to improve government deficiency, lower the cost 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 2: of housing, and improve public transportation, among other initiatives. And 34 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 2: those sound like good things, don't they. Let's take a 35 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 2: look at who's funding The Argument. It's funded in part 36 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 2: by Emergent Ventures, which was created by the Coke Brothers 37 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 2: were Cantas Center with seed money from Peter Teel. Wait 38 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 2: what they have a conference every year? They had one 39 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,519 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four. The twenty twenty five conference was 40 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,839 Speaker 2: last week. Who was speaking the Apupondance Conference twenty twenty five. 41 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 2: Speakers include Charles Lehmann from the right wing Manhattan Institute, 42 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 2: an organization founded by Ronald Reagan's director of the CIA. Well, 43 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 2: let's hear him outs, Let's see what he thinks. Lehman 44 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 2: advocates what he calls deportation. Abundance witches his plan to 45 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 2: make a more efficient deportation machine that could actually deport 46 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 2: every undocumented person in the US. Wait what? This conference 47 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 2: is also sponsored by the Koch Families organizations Stand Together. 48 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 2: It includes speakers from the American Enterprise Institute. One of 49 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 2: the coast bosses of the event did another conference with 50 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 2: special guest Kevin Roberts, the guy who wrote Project twenty 51 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 2: twenty five. Isn't this supposed to be a liberal movement? 52 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: Oh no? 53 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 2: What's going on here? Could Abundance really be funded by 54 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 2: all these right wing billionaires and tech fascists? Oh no. 55 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 2: As you may have guessed from the title, most of 56 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 2: today's episode is going to be about what the people 57 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 2: behind Abundance actually want. And it's not what you or 58 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 2: I want. It is what Peter Teo wants, what Mark 59 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 2: Andreesen wants, what jd Vance wants. In a sense, it 60 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 2: is what Donald Trump wants. Because abundance as an ideology 61 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 2: is an attempt by the tech holgarchs to take over 62 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 2: the left the same way they took over the right, 63 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 2: and that makes the ideology extremely dangerous. As we are 64 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 2: going to unfailed. This project is directly tied to many 65 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 2: of the worst people in this country right now. It 66 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 2: is tied to Peter Teal. It is funded by Peter Teel. 67 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 2: It is funded by Mark Dreesen, who is another effectively 68 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 2: te Ali, who believes in most of the same, if 69 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 2: not all of the same things that Teal does. These 70 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 2: ideas are normally unacceptable on the liberal left, but because 71 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 2: abundance is wrapped in the ideology of liberalism, because it 72 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 2: wears the faces of liberal star warts like Ezra Kleine, 73 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 2: it can be smuggled in in a way way that 74 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,559 Speaker 2: leaves the left liberalism as a whole susceptible to broad 75 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 2: ideological capture by the very same tech fascists we are 76 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 2: all trying to oppose. Before we fully get into what 77 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 2: the funders of Abundance actually want, let's talk a little 78 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 2: bit about what the ideology of abundance is. The very 79 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 2: very basic ideology of abundance is that we need more things, 80 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 2: we need to build more, and that government regulations are 81 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 2: standing in the way of building things. Now, if this 82 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 2: sounds suspiciously Reaganite to you, that's because in a sense 83 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 2: it is. As re Client describes this as the progressive 84 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 2: supply side economics. Now, supply side economics famously is Reagan's thing. 85 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 2: You will note that basically everyone across the entire political spectrum, 86 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 2: at least sort of when pressed, will agree that supply 87 00:05:55,839 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 2: side economics simply does not work. But let's hear them out. 88 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 2: I think another way to understand what abundance is and 89 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 2: why it works the way that it does is to 90 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 2: look at it in the context not of American political 91 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 2: ideology and debates, but of Chinese political debates. Now, Chinese 92 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 2: political debates have for most of the last decade, really 93 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 2: decade and a half, taken the form of arguments about 94 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 2: either increasing the size of the pie or splitting the 95 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 2: pie more evenly. On the left, you have a case 96 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,600 Speaker 2: for redistribution, right, for higher taxation, for higher welfare benefits, 97 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,359 Speaker 2: for giving people things from the states and redistributing it 98 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 2: from rich people to the poor. On the rights, you 99 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 2: have growing the pie, which argues that instead of redistributing wealth, 100 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 2: we should simply grow more wealth and that wealth will 101 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 2: trickle down to everyone else. Wait, this is just Reaganism again, 102 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 2: It's all Reaganism. This is the very frustrating thing about 103 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 2: abundance is that when you actually go past the language 104 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 2: they're using and you look at what they think will happen, 105 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 2: it's just trickle down economics. Again. It's just trickled and 106 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 2: abundance is on the right wing side of it. Now, 107 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 2: you know, there are definitely arguments for places where we 108 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 2: do in fact need to build more things, right, and 109 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 2: this argument has become particularly prominent with the rise of Yimbiism, 110 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 2: and like, yeah, I don't know, building more houses is good. 111 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 2: I mean it was literally a demand of the Hungarian Revolution, right, Like, yeah, 112 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 2: we need more of it. But Comma, we need to 113 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 2: be very very careful here because the way that abundance 114 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 2: structures its arguments and the ways that for example, a 115 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 2: really really vulgar version of Yembiism has been deployed by 116 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 2: these people in order to just sort of wholesale opposed 117 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 2: government regulations. And we're not just talking about things here 118 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 2: like eliminating zoning requirements, right. We are talking about, as 119 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 2: we're getting to later, the people behind this movement wants 120 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 2: to create their own city states and special economic zones 121 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 2: where no government regulation supply. But the fundamental argument here 122 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 2: is that lifting government restrictions on production will increase the 123 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 2: size of the market, and because price is just supply 124 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 2: and demand, prices will fall because there's more supply. None 125 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 2: of this is how markets actually work. One of the 126 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 2: crucial insights of anthropology is that markets are not simply 127 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 2: neutral objective forces that function according to precise mathematical laws. 128 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 2: They are socially constructed. Even in neoclassical economics, by their 129 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 2: own logic. Price is not just supply and demand. That's 130 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 2: something that's only true in perfectly competitive markets, and perfectly 131 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 2: competitive markets do not exist. They probably cannot exist, but 132 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 2: they do not exist in the real world, and they 133 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 2: do not represent something like the housing markets. In the 134 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 2: real world, markets are defined by power. Neoclassical economists attempt 135 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 2: to explain the role of power in markets through monopoly. Right, 136 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 2: you know, you can look at monopoly Monopsany, there are 137 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 2: a bunch of very different things that they think are 138 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 2: sort of deviations of this perfect competitive market where people 139 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 2: band together to build power and thus are able to 140 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 2: distort what the perfect free market should be doing. And 141 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 2: this is a feature of basically every market that actually exists, right, 142 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 2: There aren't perfectly competitive markets. They all have power in them, 143 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 2: and they all have degrees of monopoly to use a 144 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 2: sort of Marxian term in them as well. Now do 145 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 2: you know what else has a degree of monopoly? That's right, 146 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 2: it is the products and services that support this podcast. 147 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 2: So what does this actually have to do with abundance? 148 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,679 Speaker 2: Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, I 149 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 2: explained rent on this show, and this is specif here 150 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,679 Speaker 2: rent in the context of what you pay to your landlords. 151 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 2: I promise this will circle back to this will circle 152 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 2: back to sort of abundance mbeism. In a second, I 153 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 2: attempted to explain rent by drawing on the work of 154 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 2: the legendary Venezuelan anthropologist Fernando Corneal to argue that the 155 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 2: rent that we pay to our landlords function similarly to 156 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 2: oil rent. Re price is not set by supply and demand, 157 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 2: but instead by the social power of oil producers. Now 158 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 2: people got very, very mad at me for this, but 159 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 2: the long deriae of history has vindicated me. In the 160 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 2: real world, it turns out I was right. The most 161 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 2: powerful example of this in the housing market is the 162 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 2: case of real Page, a service that allowed landlords to 163 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 2: get recommendations on their pricing based on information from all 164 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 2: the landlords who submitted their data, thus creating an algorithmic 165 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 2: machine for price fixing. This got bad enough that even 166 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 2: the Biden Just Department got involved. Here's from the Department 167 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:00,440 Speaker 2: of Justice has lawsuits against Real Page. Quote. Real Page 168 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,800 Speaker 2: acknowledge that its software is aimed at maximizing prices for landlords, 169 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 2: referring to its products as quote driving every possible opportunity 170 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 2: to increase price, avoiding the race to the bottom in 171 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 2: down markets, and quote a rising tide raises all ships. 172 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 2: A Real Page executive observed that its products help landlords 173 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 2: avoid competing on the merits, noting quote, there is a 174 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 2: greater good in everybody succeeding versus essentially trying to compete 175 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 2: against one another in a way that actually keeps the 176 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,839 Speaker 2: entire industry down. A Real Page executive explains to a 177 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 2: landlord that using competitor data can help identify situations where 178 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,719 Speaker 2: a landlord may have a fifty dollars increasestead of ten 179 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 2: dollars increase for the day. Another landlord commented about real 180 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,559 Speaker 2: Page's product, I always like this product because your augorithms 181 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 2: used proprietary data from other subscribers to suggest rents and terms. 182 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:57,079 Speaker 2: That's classical price fixing. Now. I was derided for arguing 183 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 2: that landlords would band together use in the social power 184 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 2: to prevent rents from falling, even with the units sit 185 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 2: un empty. And it turns out I was right the 186 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 2: whole time. They were doing exactly that. It turns out, 187 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 2: in the actual real world of the markets, all of 188 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 2: these companies on all of these landlords had found a 189 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 2: way to band together in order to use their social 190 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 2: power and use the information in their possession to fix 191 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:27,199 Speaker 2: the price of rent. Here is from Reuters, drawing from 192 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 2: yet another lawsuit, this time from the Attorney General of DC. 193 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 2: A monthly report from W. C. Smith in twenty twenty 194 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 2: two showed the company had increased revenues per unit by 195 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 2: four point six to four point seven percent despite decreased 196 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 2: occupancy levels. According to the lawsuit, so what is that saying. 197 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 2: That is saying that the actual number of people in 198 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 2: these apartments is decreasing, the number of apartments staying open 199 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 2: that have no one in them is increasing, But the 200 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 2: price is not going down, even though there's more supply. 201 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 2: The price is still going up. Why is the price 202 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 2: still going up? Well, well, well, the Justice Department caused 203 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 2: this price fixing, large scale collusion to disrupt the functioning 204 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 2: of the perfectly normal competitive market. The anthropologist for a 205 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 2: Nano Coronel, as I argued before, calls it absolute rent, 206 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 2: rent extracted by virtue of the social power of the landowner. 207 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 2: As I wrote in that episode, quote, absolute rent does 208 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 2: not obey the law of supply and demand. It is 209 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 2: the product of social power, of the power of landownership 210 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 2: itself and the organization of the landowning class. And they're 211 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 2: backing by the state and its militaries and police. And 212 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 2: this causes economists attempting to use supply and demand to 213 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 2: explain rent to get very very important events very wrong. 214 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 2: Morris Edelman, the famous Soil Economy is predicted in nineteen 215 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 2: seventy two that the price of oil was going to 216 00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 2: collapse based on oversupplying competition. Instead, it increased four one 217 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 2: hundred percent between nineteen seventy three and nineteen seventy four 218 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 2: because oil producers banned together to exercise their power, and 219 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 2: their organization, known as OPEK, became a genuine world power. 220 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 2: As Coroneal put it quote, the sharp increase of nineteen 221 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 2: seventy three and nineteen seventy four and oil prices did 222 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 2: not result from a world shortage of oil. It was 223 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 2: rather the outcome of a long historical process by which 224 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 2: OPEK nations, acting as landowners, developed a means to extract 225 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 2: a rent on the basis of their ownership of the 226 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 2: oil fields, and absolute rent in addition to the differential 227 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 2: rents to theay collected in the past. In nineteen seventy three, 228 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 2: a set of converging political and economic conditions helped establish 229 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 2: their collective ability to restrict the world's supply of oil. 230 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 2: With this power, OPECK felt entitled to set the market 231 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 2: price of oil, thus freeing the level of rent from 232 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 2: the previous constraints of market price. Now rent itself, absolute 233 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 2: and differential would determine the market price of oil. What 234 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 2: does that sound like, Oh, it sounds like real pages 235 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 2: price fixing. Algorithm. Why does it sound like real Page's 236 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 2: price fixing algorithm. It's because in the real world, markets 237 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 2: are not neutral institutions that operate according to neutral laws. 238 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 2: They are institutions created and enforced by the state. Landlords 239 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 2: can jack up your rent because they wield collective power 240 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 2: together and have the ability to use the state to 241 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 2: drag you out of your home at gunpoint. Abundance is, 242 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 2: to a large extent, an attempt to harness widespread discontent 243 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 2: over the price of goods, the price of rent, the 244 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 2: price of food, and argue that you can simply produce 245 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 2: more and this will make all of the prices go down. 246 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 2: But as we've seen here, as long as the social 247 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 2: power is held by the rent extractors, they can simply 248 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 2: set their own price. None of this is addressed in abundance, 249 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 2: and there's a simple reason for that. The people funding 250 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 2: the abundance agenda are the very same people profiting from 251 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 2: their social power. So let's talk about the money. I'm 252 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 2: going to be quoting here from a report from Prospect, 253 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 2: which is very good. The Institute for Progress IFP, which 254 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 2: co hosted Abundance twenty twenty four and is listed as 255 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 2: a key institutional partner by the Inclusive Abundance Initiative has 256 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 2: a bevy of corporate ties. In twenty twenty two, IFP 257 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 2: received one hundred and ten thousand dollars from FAI and 258 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 2: has fai's executive director on its board. Now, FAI is 259 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 2: the Foundation for American Innovation. I'm going to read this 260 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 2: is also an Abundance co host, which is very funny. 261 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 2: I am going to read a quote from Kate Willett, 262 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 2: who has also done some excellent reporting on this, and 263 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 2: she describes how the FAI hosted another conference in twenty 264 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 2: twenty four called Reboot. Quote the quote. Surprise guest of 265 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 2: the conference was Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation 266 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 2: in chief architect of twenty twenty five. Now back to 267 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 2: the Institute of Progress. Part of what's going on here, right, 268 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 2: is that this is an increadin, you know, And what 269 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 2: I'm trying to emphasize by how confusing this whole thing is, 270 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 2: is that Abundance is composed of a series of think 271 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 2: tanks and weird in institutes that are all tied into 272 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 2: a bunch of tech money. Right, Keeping the acronym straight 273 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,959 Speaker 2: is very difficult. You do not need to hold all 274 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 2: of them in your head. The other thing that you 275 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 2: need to understand about this right is if you look 276 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 2: at who is co hosting these conferences, and who is 277 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 2: behind these books, and who was behind these media outlets, 278 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 2: a very very clear picture starts to emerge. I'm gonna 279 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 2: go back to quoting from Prospect. One of the funders 280 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 2: of the Institute for Progress was Emergent Ventures, which is 281 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 2: a product of the Coke Back Mercantis Institute at George 282 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 2: Mason University. Emergent itself was launched by a grant from 283 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 2: Peter thel Peter Theal is a right wing billionaire with 284 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 2: a vast influence network at the intersection of technofuturism and 285 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,879 Speaker 2: anti democratic thought, who has called technology an alternative to 286 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,160 Speaker 2: democratic politics small d democratic by the way, he means 287 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 2: the concept of democracy to quote unilaterally change the world. 288 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 2: Vice Presidents Elect JD. Vance is a known scion of 289 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 2: Peter thel Let's Look at the Chamber of Progress. Another 290 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,760 Speaker 2: one of the groups that has had Lee involved in abundance. 291 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 2: Chamber of Progress, which self identifies its work as part 292 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 2: of a growing abundance policy movement, is a trade group 293 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 2: started with Google seed money by Google alum Adam Kovakovich. 294 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 2: Kovakovich proudly touts his college activism, leading an effort to 295 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 2: cross a United farm Workers picket line. The Chamber of 296 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 2: Progresses partners red funders include A sixteen Z Circle, Coinbase, Google, 297 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 2: Kraken Ripple, Waimo, and Dresen Horowitz or A sixteen z 298 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 2: is a venture capital firm heavily invested in AI and 299 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 2: crypto co founder Marc and Dreesen believes the technology is 300 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 2: a solution to every problem. He's also on Meta's board. 301 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,439 Speaker 2: He is also a theolite tech fascist. This is it, 302 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 2: in some sense, a very very interesting collusion of forces. Right, 303 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 2: we have the Koch Brothers, who are, you know, sort 304 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 2: of the ancient libertarian right side of Republican dark money. 305 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 2: They are, you know, the people who have traditionally funded 306 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 2: right wing movements in the past. They are the tea 307 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 2: party people. They are, you know, they are sort of 308 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 2: the boogeyman under the bed for anyone who has wanted 309 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 2: to make the world a better place for a very 310 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 2: very long time. And they and their organizations are working 311 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 2: with the emergent tech fascist right. You know, people like 312 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 2: people like Mark Andreson, people with Peter Tel and these 313 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 2: are the organizations that have gotten in bed together in 314 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,680 Speaker 2: order to do this. Now, these people have a bunch 315 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,160 Speaker 2: of absolutely hideous beliefs. We're not even going to get 316 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 2: in to the eugenics here, but like these the people 317 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 2: funding this thing are huge eugenesis. We literally do not 318 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,919 Speaker 2: have time to do all of the eugenic shit associated 319 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 2: with this, because if I were to actually do the 320 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 2: eugenic I mean, we talked about some of like Maddie 321 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 2: and Glesias's bullshit on this podcast earlier, but like if 322 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 2: I actually went through and did this, this episode would 323 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,040 Speaker 2: be like twelve hours long. I am going to to 324 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,639 Speaker 2: cover this sort of network state, Peter theolite eugenics circle 325 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 2: at some point later. That is a forthcoming episode, but yeah, 326 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 2: for now, here are these ads. Hopefully are not eugenics. 327 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,399 Speaker 1: Woo. 328 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 2: So let's get back to who I think are really 329 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 2: the two primary villains of this story, and that is 330 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 2: Peter Theal and Mark Andriesen, who are two of the 331 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 2: most dangerous people in the entire world. Teel and Andresen 332 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 2: are fascists who believe the state should be a corporation 333 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 2: run by the tech elite. They do not believe in democracy, 334 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 2: and particularly theol has said that democracy is the enemy 335 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 2: of freedom. Right, when these people talk about running the 336 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 2: state like a business, they mean that there should be 337 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:01,439 Speaker 2: an unaccountable fucking philosopher CEO king, that there shouldn't be democracy. 338 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 2: A common feature of this, and you know, the physical 339 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,639 Speaker 2: manifestation of this thing is an idea called the network state. 340 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 2: And a very common theme of the founders of Abundance 341 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,159 Speaker 2: is their support for the network state, both as a 342 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 2: concept and in terms of building them. So what is 343 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 2: the network state? The network state is, to a large extent, 344 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 2: the thing I've just been describing, Right, The version of 345 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 2: it that they pitch is that these are like they're 346 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 2: like opportunity zones, right, They're these like tech cities you know, 347 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 2: that will eventually become like real states that are that 348 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,479 Speaker 2: are based off of special economic zones where you know, 349 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 2: special economic zones are like the normal regulations of the 350 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 2: state do not apply, so you can, you know, do 351 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 2: whatever you want, right, you can. You can we can 352 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:47,120 Speaker 2: build prosperity by by having no government regulations and run 353 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 2: everything through corporations. These network states would be again actual 354 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,880 Speaker 2: straight up corporations that own and control territory and run 355 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 2: it as the state. These states are already coming into existence. 356 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,959 Speaker 2: Maybe the most important prospera a corporate city for profit 357 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 2: in hont Duras that is run by a corporation, again 358 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 2: in a special economic zone where the state does not apply. 359 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 2: It does not have a mayor, it has somewhat appointed 360 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 2: by the corporation who runs the city. This is happening 361 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 2: all over the world, particularly in developing countries, where it 362 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,639 Speaker 2: is being pushed by all of these just absolutely demonic 363 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 2: tech cools, and they're also being started in attempts at 364 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 2: being started to run them in the United States. I'm 365 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 2: going to quote here from Shanley's venture capital blog venture 366 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 2: Capital Status, which is a very very good resource on 367 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 2: the network state, which we'll be covering more fully later 368 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 2: because we don't have time to do much more than 369 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 2: a brief introduction to their ideas here. In Soleerro County, California, 370 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 2: a cartel of venture capitalists associated with Andreas and Horowitz, 371 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 2: which is again a Mark Rison's firm, bought up over 372 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:03,680 Speaker 2: sixty five thousand acres of rich fertile farmland and using 373 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 2: secretive and threatening methodologies, including suing local farmers. They plan 374 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 2: to build a city with weapons developments and manufacturing, aerospace 375 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 2: and robotics companies, shipbuilding, homes, and schools. This network state 376 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,439 Speaker 2: is called California Forever. Also in California, there has been 377 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,159 Speaker 2: a discussion by network state operatives of taking over Presidio 378 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 2: in San Francisco, and there is a network state planned 379 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 2: in Somona County. Its founder is a quote former promonist 380 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 2: venture capitalists. These are the same people funding Abundance. Here's 381 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 2: from Kate Willett again, one of the California Forever billionaires. 382 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 2: California Forever is again the name of the network state 383 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,679 Speaker 2: they want to set up by buying a bunch of 384 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 2: land in Solano County. One of the California Forever billionaires, 385 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 2: Patrick Collison, the CEO of Stripe, looms large in abundance world. 386 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 2: Along with Open Philanthropy, he donated to fund a one 387 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 2: hundred and twenty million dollar Abundance tied to Ezra Klein's 388 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 2: book release. Coulson is a key backer and inspiration for 389 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 2: the Institute for Progress, the think tank which works closely 390 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 2: with others in the Abundance network, including the Abundance twenty 391 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 2: twenty four conference. The goal of the network state movement 392 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 2: is to accelerate the destruction of the United States and 393 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 2: create these corporate network states in their wake. They want 394 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:28,439 Speaker 2: the world to be composed of these networks of venture 395 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 2: capital tech corporations run and ruled by them by the 396 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,880 Speaker 2: tech elite for profit. These are the people that are 397 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 2: funding all of these fucking movements. These are the people 398 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 2: funding the Argument. These are the people funding the Abundance Conference. 399 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 2: These are the people that people like Ezra Kline have 400 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 2: been brought in to run cover for. These are Trump people. 401 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 2: They are the forces behind jd Vance. They want to 402 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,400 Speaker 2: inflict their vision of tech fascism on the the world, 403 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 2: but they are hideously popular in power. In order to 404 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 2: achieve their regenda, they cannot simply rely on their incredible 405 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:13,160 Speaker 2: hegemony on the right. They need you, They need your 406 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,400 Speaker 2: buy in. They need the support of good and kind 407 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 2: hearted liberals who they can radicalize into Trumpian tech fascists. 408 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 2: This is their opening gambit, and they've played it well. 409 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 2: But there is still time for them to fail. And 410 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 2: there is still time for us to build a future 411 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 2: built by us and for us, by and for each other, 412 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 2: based on mutual aid and the benefit of all of 413 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:41,359 Speaker 2: worlds without death squads and ice, a world ruled not 414 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 2: by corporations but by us. The fight for that world 415 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 2: begins here and now. 416 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: It Could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media. 417 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 418 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: coolzonmedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 419 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can 420 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,399 Speaker 1: now find sources for it Could Happen Here, listed directly 421 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.