rant · moment 20 of 23
Trump as the Monster at the End of the Horror Movie
from America's Election Headquarters · #121
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minTim argues Trump is the product of decades of institutional failure and economic despair rather than a sudden aberration, discussing public ignorance of economics and the coming crisis of Social Security and the national debt.
- 50:18Tim on the NSA bugging people in 2005—people knew it was happening for 20 years but only care once they have proof.
- 50:37The moral panic is partly people realizing their indifference to surveillance may have led to Trump becoming president.
- 50:53Trump is the monster at the end of a horror movie, but there's been a whole horror movie before he arrives.
- 51:23Both parties have a built-in tendency not to look at the worst things or most pressing issues in democracy.
- 51:42People don't understand how the economy works, so they can't engage meaningfully with economic despair and confusion.
- 52:13No one's dealing with outstanding liabilities like Social Security and Medicare—they could hit 60 trillion and there's no solution.
- 52:29Tim suggests the only way out might be starting a war with China and wiping out the dollar to reset it.
- 52:54He believes another economic boom could happen—maybe green energy is the next cycle, though it won't dent existing debt.
- 53:07Once the dollar is no longer the reserve currency, it's over—all America has left is military dominance.
- 53:36Question of whether war with China happens within 20 years, given the power disparity America currently holds.