Western governments once pursued what was known as "industrial policy". But that came to be considered a quaint and obsolete anachronism from bygone age, old-fashioned thinking. Oops.
I have big chuckle at comments that Biden or the USA can use Marxist policies, they won't no matter the issue, the fact that so called Duran people use such wording only makes them even less respectful in my eyes.... but to each their own.
USA has no plan to ever re- industrialize given the mediocrities of oligarchs there are. They'd rather sit in the nostalgie de la boue than do anything for the class they despise, even though it may lengthen their own lives.....
Anyway..... these are my modest thoughts on the issue. A revolution will come, it will vary from country to country, but things cannot continue as they are, even though for now it seems to be so, forever.
So true, the zero sum game of our feckless oligarchs is ultimately hugely self-defeating. They are not in this sense true conservatives, vandals is probably the better term. Revolution will indeed come, but we are still in a pre-revolutionary phase at this point, meaning the need for change is increasingly apparent, but not yet the way forward. Thanks for the kind words!
Agree, and actually I don't consider it in general a bad thing. Sometimes hearing contrary opinions to those of one own helps clarify and strengthen one's own ideas. Certainly happened to me this time. Thanks for commenting!
Hi Colin, yes you’re right but sometimes Alexander’s otherwise forensic analysis is clearly not always called upon and he occasionally seems in awe of a guest (often puzzlingly to me).
Honestly, I am in awe myself of Alexander.. and Alex; they have made a big difference to the way I (can?) see the world. I even worry about them..
I know what you mean. I've listened to many, many of these discussions, and Alexander does not normally challenge his guests. He basically just asks questions (usually very good ones) and then simply listens. Such an approach definitely has its limitations. That aside, I share your admiration for Alexander. First started reading him about ten years ago and been following him closely ever since. He has what seems like an encyclopedic knowledge of history and geopolitics. Really no one else like him.
He uses a lawyerly approach, the same kind he'd use for a friendly witness or deposing someone who can bolster a case. On balance, I think it works out better for his style of discussion than any other approach. No one is going to walk away feeling aggrieved. Potential future guests have no reason to worry about gotchas.
Yes! AM has a legal background but his style is indeed more lawyerly than prosecutorial. I don't believe he should aggressively challenge his guests, but why then invite a libertarian in the first place? Probably the choice of his Cypriot colleague, who appears to have a rather different ideological orientation. I generally prefer the podcasts Alexander does with Glenn Diesen, outstanding three-way discussions with guests of the very highest caliber.
Thank goodness! I also started to listen to that episode and couldn't sit through to the end. Very disappointed by Martensen who seems to live in a cloud cuckoo land. I can't say it often enough, read and listen to what Michael Hudson has to say about all this https://michael-hudson.com/
Martenson is part of that generational cohort that has completely imbibed the anti-communism of the Cold War (Tom Luongo another) and blame the shortcomings of modern Western capitalism on the wholly imagined malign influence of "commies", rather than pathologies of actually existing modern capitalism! Completely agree, there's no better guide to all of this than Michael Hudson, who constantly hammers on the importance of public banking and true mixed economies. He understands the Chinese system far better than any other economist in the West, IMO.
It is also the case that Martenson, Luongo et al are promoting their services in finance so they are not going to begin driving any major criticism of the industry that pays them though Luongo is sometimes worth listening to and especially in conversation with Alex Krainer..
Awhile back I listened to various podcasts with Luongo and Krainer and found that I can only handle Luongo in very small doses. Where Krainer has been really shining of late is on the Dialogue Works podcast. The one last week where he discussed the last-minute decision by the Biden administration NOT to approve (and enable) deep-strikes by Ukraine on Russia was absolutely brilliant. Nima's channel has become one of my favorites on YouTube.
Great Write up Colin!
I have big chuckle at comments that Biden or the USA can use Marxist policies, they won't no matter the issue, the fact that so called Duran people use such wording only makes them even less respectful in my eyes.... but to each their own.
USA has no plan to ever re- industrialize given the mediocrities of oligarchs there are. They'd rather sit in the nostalgie de la boue than do anything for the class they despise, even though it may lengthen their own lives.....
Anyway..... these are my modest thoughts on the issue. A revolution will come, it will vary from country to country, but things cannot continue as they are, even though for now it seems to be so, forever.
So true, the zero sum game of our feckless oligarchs is ultimately hugely self-defeating. They are not in this sense true conservatives, vandals is probably the better term. Revolution will indeed come, but we are still in a pre-revolutionary phase at this point, meaning the need for change is increasingly apparent, but not yet the way forward. Thanks for the kind words!
Nice one! Whilst I like and regularly watch The Duran I also notice these “blind spots” with regard to some of the guests they have..
Agree, and actually I don't consider it in general a bad thing. Sometimes hearing contrary opinions to those of one own helps clarify and strengthen one's own ideas. Certainly happened to me this time. Thanks for commenting!
After government honesty and integrity, competence is the critical skill.
Since Roman times, Western governments have focused on rhetoric and politics and, for just as long, China's focused on governance.
Our system has become obsolete for this reason. We're uncompetitive because we're being out-managed.
So true! We have systems of governance which value conformity over competence and breed corruption.
Hi Colin, yes you’re right but sometimes Alexander’s otherwise forensic analysis is clearly not always called upon and he occasionally seems in awe of a guest (often puzzlingly to me).
Honestly, I am in awe myself of Alexander.. and Alex; they have made a big difference to the way I (can?) see the world. I even worry about them..
I know what you mean. I've listened to many, many of these discussions, and Alexander does not normally challenge his guests. He basically just asks questions (usually very good ones) and then simply listens. Such an approach definitely has its limitations. That aside, I share your admiration for Alexander. First started reading him about ten years ago and been following him closely ever since. He has what seems like an encyclopedic knowledge of history and geopolitics. Really no one else like him.
He uses a lawyerly approach, the same kind he'd use for a friendly witness or deposing someone who can bolster a case. On balance, I think it works out better for his style of discussion than any other approach. No one is going to walk away feeling aggrieved. Potential future guests have no reason to worry about gotchas.
Yes! AM has a legal background but his style is indeed more lawyerly than prosecutorial. I don't believe he should aggressively challenge his guests, but why then invite a libertarian in the first place? Probably the choice of his Cypriot colleague, who appears to have a rather different ideological orientation. I generally prefer the podcasts Alexander does with Glenn Diesen, outstanding three-way discussions with guests of the very highest caliber.
Thank goodness! I also started to listen to that episode and couldn't sit through to the end. Very disappointed by Martensen who seems to live in a cloud cuckoo land. I can't say it often enough, read and listen to what Michael Hudson has to say about all this https://michael-hudson.com/
Martenson is part of that generational cohort that has completely imbibed the anti-communism of the Cold War (Tom Luongo another) and blame the shortcomings of modern Western capitalism on the wholly imagined malign influence of "commies", rather than pathologies of actually existing modern capitalism! Completely agree, there's no better guide to all of this than Michael Hudson, who constantly hammers on the importance of public banking and true mixed economies. He understands the Chinese system far better than any other economist in the West, IMO.
It is also the case that Martenson, Luongo et al are promoting their services in finance so they are not going to begin driving any major criticism of the industry that pays them though Luongo is sometimes worth listening to and especially in conversation with Alex Krainer..
Awhile back I listened to various podcasts with Luongo and Krainer and found that I can only handle Luongo in very small doses. Where Krainer has been really shining of late is on the Dialogue Works podcast. The one last week where he discussed the last-minute decision by the Biden administration NOT to approve (and enable) deep-strikes by Ukraine on Russia was absolutely brilliant. Nima's channel has become one of my favorites on YouTube.