RadixJournal - The Graveyard of Empire

00:00:00.000 Kandahar!

00:00:01.140 Kandahar!

00:00:02.320 Kandahar!

00:00:10.240 Gee golly wow boy we got em now

00:00:13.840 Kandahar!

00:00:15.580 Kandahar!

00:00:17.540 Say Taliban, Muryo, minivans

00:00:20.680 Kandahar!

00:00:22.420 Kandahar!

00:00:23.080 He lives for danger

00:00:31.080 He lives for the moment

00:00:39.920 He lives on the edge

00:00:46.720 James Bond 007

00:00:49.240 There is only one force of history

00:00:54.080 That can break the reign of hatred

00:00:57.480 And resentment

00:00:59.200 And expose the pretensions of tyrants

00:01:03.260 And reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant

00:01:07.240 And that is the force of human freedom

00:01:11.460 We are led by events and common sense

00:01:17.160 To one conclusion

00:01:19.420 The survival of liberty in our land

00:01:24.160 Increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands

00:01:30.040 The Taliban is clearly on the march

00:01:34.920 Your objective is to have a negotiated political settlement

00:01:37.680 What gives you confidence that the Taliban is interested in that?

00:01:40.660 The Taliban also has to make an assessment

00:01:42.880 About what they want their role to be in the international community

00:01:46.060 So America is not plausible

00:01:50.180 And I think it's increasingly unable

00:01:51.960 To engage in the kind of expansionism

00:01:54.760 That was announced at George W. Bush's second inaugural

00:01:59.040 Our strategic interest

00:02:01.060 And our most holy ideals are one

00:02:06.220 We must spread democracy across the globe

00:02:09.620 And he did say

00:02:10.340 We will end tyranny in our time

00:02:12.780 It's just a trite

00:02:15.180 The impossible remark, isn't it?

00:02:17.160 It's like saying a war

00:02:17.960 No, he actually meant it

00:02:19.900 And it had effect on foreign policy

00:02:22.000 They invade every single tiny Amazonian tribe

00:02:25.920 Obviously it's absurd

00:02:28.720 But did he actually believe that

00:02:31.540 As a born-again Christian?

00:02:33.120 Yes

00:02:34.340 Did that have effect on American policy?

00:02:38.820 Yes

00:02:39.260 There was a dream of a unipolar American order

00:02:43.580 That infected the minds of think tankers

00:02:47.620 And military industrial complex people

00:02:51.000 And the media

00:02:52.180 And it still has

00:02:53.540 They're the ones who won't give up on the dream

00:02:55.920 So, Ed

00:03:04.140 It's a bit of a cliché to say this

00:03:08.900 It's banal, maybe

00:03:10.760 But we seem to be living through history

00:03:12.960 Well, yes

00:03:14.840 I don't think that's right

00:03:15.760 Frequently the case

00:03:17.540 That people do live through history

00:03:18.980 And history has certain patterns

00:03:23.320 And unfortunately our Judeo-Christian mindset

00:03:26.480 Makes us think that those patterns don't apply to us

00:03:29.300 But I'm afraid they do

00:03:30.440 And we are

00:03:33.120 And they give us the hubris to think

00:03:36.300 We'll somehow be different

00:03:37.660 But we won't

00:03:38.420 And Afghanistan has long been called

00:03:40.960 The graveyard of empires

00:03:42.640 For a very good reason

00:03:45.480 And that is that it seems to be impossible

00:03:47.540 To create a functioning state there

00:03:49.600 Even if you're Afghan

00:03:50.560 And it seems to be impossible

00:03:52.280 To bring peace to the place

00:03:55.580 Well, we can talk about this first

00:03:58.560 Why modernity is difficult

00:04:02.720 To say the least

00:04:03.480 If not impossible

00:04:04.320 In Afghanistan

00:04:05.020 And also the graveyard of empire

00:04:08.080 Was it 1842

00:04:09.500 The Afghan disaster?

00:04:11.500 Yeah, it's the third

00:04:12.260 1839 to 1842

00:04:15.140 You've got a column of British

00:04:18.040 Including women

00:04:18.940 Being evacuated from Kabul

00:04:22.000 Through high passes

00:04:24.100 In which they're just being shot at

00:04:25.680 And massacred

00:04:26.940 Absolutely infamous

00:04:29.440 And the Greeks

00:04:32.100 The ancient Greeks

00:04:33.180 Had trouble in Afghanistan

00:04:34.400 They wouldn't

00:04:35.540 Alexander the Great's army

00:04:36.920 He was so knackered

00:04:37.700 By Afghanistan

00:04:38.380 They wouldn't follow him

00:04:39.240 To India

00:04:39.720 The Turks

00:04:42.440 Had problems in Afghanistan

00:04:43.700 The Mongols

00:04:44.600 Had problems in Afghanistan

00:04:45.660 A combination of factors

00:04:46.960 The terrain

00:04:47.840 Is probably the main thing

00:04:48.980 It's so

00:04:49.760 It's so

00:04:50.340 It's so mountainous

00:04:51.580 That any

00:04:52.400 Any insurgents

00:04:53.520 Can just escape

00:04:54.520 It's absolutely impossible

00:04:56.560 To

00:04:57.020 To

00:04:57.340 To

00:04:57.660 To attain them

00:04:58.460 Right

00:04:59.580 The parallel

00:05:01.080 That most people

00:05:02.240 Are mentioning

00:05:02.820 Is the Soviet experience

00:05:05.300 Which lasted around

00:05:06.420 A decade

00:05:07.160 At the time

00:05:08.820 And I think

00:05:09.680 This is very interesting

00:05:11.380 I don't think

00:05:12.220 America is going to

00:05:13.140 Therefore collapse

00:05:14.100 In the next three years

00:05:15.060 You know

00:05:16.540 History is prologue

00:05:18.060 But it is worthwhile

00:05:19.420 Looking into that experience

00:05:21.000 There was a socialist

00:05:23.500 Government

00:05:24.360 Of some kind

00:05:25.480 In Kabul

00:05:25.980 That was seemingly

00:05:28.060 Trending westward

00:05:30.100 And there was

00:05:31.980 An invasion

00:05:32.660 An invasion

00:05:33.260 By invitation

00:05:34.240 To some degree

00:05:35.000 In a kind of coup

00:05:36.860 And then there was

00:05:38.420 A nine year period

00:05:39.300 That really resembles

00:05:40.620 What we went through

00:05:41.440 And this was also

00:05:42.160 The period

00:05:42.780 In the Carter

00:05:44.820 And Reagan administrations

00:05:46.140 Where we were

00:05:48.420 Just funneling money

00:05:50.100 And I don't mean

00:05:51.140 Giving them

00:05:52.720 You know

00:05:53.680 Giving some

00:05:54.400 Mujahideen

00:05:56.720 A few thousand bucks

00:05:57.780 I mean hundreds

00:05:58.620 Of billions of dollars

00:06:00.160 Funneled into

00:06:02.120 Islamic extremist

00:06:05.500 Organizations

00:06:06.180 For lack of a better word

00:06:07.420 Actually

00:06:08.080 The two Hollywood films

00:06:10.620 Were pretty interesting

00:06:12.280 On this

00:06:12.880 If you rewatch

00:06:13.720 The James Bond film

00:06:16.080 The Living Daylights

00:06:17.180 Which is a good film

00:06:18.720 Starring Timothy Dalton

00:06:20.180 Or Rambo 3

00:06:21.740 I believe

00:06:22.400 You have all of the

00:06:24.300 You have kind of

00:06:25.160 Hollywood picking up

00:06:26.380 On current events

00:06:27.280 And it's all about

00:06:28.140 The Mujahideen

00:06:29.060 Being these

00:06:29.620 Oxford educated

00:06:31.020 You know

00:06:33.000 Kind of freedom fighters

00:06:34.420 Against the evil Russians

00:06:36.000 And similar

00:06:37.560 In Rambo 3

00:06:38.920 Well

00:06:39.620 We saw how that

00:06:40.660 Turned out

00:06:41.160 I mean there

00:06:41.580 There is no question

00:06:42.720 That the United States

00:06:43.620 Government funded

00:06:44.660 Osama bin Laden

00:06:45.960 Funded

00:06:46.780 All of these

00:06:48.580 Movements

00:06:49.840 That would ultimately

00:06:50.760 Kind of come back

00:06:52.000 To bite us

00:06:53.700 I mean

00:06:54.460 There's no

00:06:56.160 The idea with these

00:06:57.040 Kinds of podcasts

00:06:57.820 Is that you have

00:06:58.460 A hot tape

00:06:59.160 Or whatever

00:06:59.560 But there's no

00:07:00.000 Real hot tape

00:07:00.680 You can have

00:07:01.100 About Afghanistan

00:07:01.800 Anybody could have

00:07:02.860 Told

00:07:03.160 Anybody could have

00:07:03.940 Told George Bush

00:07:04.760 When he went in there

00:07:06.520 First of all

00:07:07.460 He had absolutely

00:07:08.020 No business

00:07:08.480 Going in there

00:07:09.140 It was a complete

00:07:09.760 Fake lie

00:07:10.560 It was just

00:07:11.420 That there had been

00:07:11.960 9-11

00:07:12.520 And so somebody

00:07:13.440 Needed to pay a price

00:07:14.900 There had to be

00:07:15.360 Consequences to somebody

00:07:16.400 And so

00:07:17.580 It can't be Pakistan

00:07:18.920 Because Pakistan

00:07:19.540 Is nuclear weapons

00:07:20.380 And it can't be

00:07:21.260 Saudi Arabia

00:07:21.840 Because Saudi Arabia

00:07:22.560 Is too important

00:07:23.160 And rich

00:07:23.720 So let's go

00:07:25.120 Into Afghanistan

00:07:26.840 Even though

00:07:27.680 The hijackers

00:07:28.280 Were mainly Saudis

00:07:29.160 And even though

00:07:30.060 Saba was in

00:07:31.380 Was in Pakistan

00:07:33.000 So let's go

00:07:34.540 Into Afghanistan

00:07:35.180 And while we're at it

00:07:35.920 Let's just go

00:07:36.320 Into Iraq

00:07:36.840 For a laugh

00:07:37.460 And the result

00:07:39.340 Is that over

00:07:39.860 400 British people

00:07:40.900 Were killed

00:07:41.300 Soldiers

00:07:41.860 And how many

00:07:42.500 Americans were killed

00:07:43.780 In Afghanistan

00:07:44.800 Thousands

00:07:45.620 I think 2,500

00:07:46.540 Or so

00:07:47.160 That's

00:07:48.800 In terms of

00:07:49.620 The damage

00:07:50.920 To human life

00:07:52.120 Of Americans

00:07:52.740 It's much

00:07:53.660 Much higher than that

00:07:54.860 I think

00:07:55.400 I actually heard

00:07:56.100 An estimate

00:07:56.640 That it's

00:07:57.180 Half a trillion

00:07:58.260 Or even a trillion

00:07:59.480 Of

00:08:00.440 Kind of

00:08:01.020 Liabilities

00:08:03.260 That they're going

00:08:04.340 To have to pay for

00:08:05.060 In terms of

00:08:05.720 Injured Americans

00:08:07.100 And not

00:08:08.160 Pension

00:08:08.760 And then you've

00:08:09.880 Got that

00:08:10.280 Fascinating

00:08:10.760 Woman

00:08:11.800 Jennifer

00:08:12.920 Capparelli

00:08:13.760 Saying

00:08:14.480 Please don't

00:08:15.140 On Twitter

00:08:16.000 Saying please

00:08:16.620 She works for

00:08:17.220 The Institute

00:08:18.180 Of War Studies

00:08:19.140 Or something

00:08:19.600 In DC

00:08:20.720 And she said

00:08:21.640 Please don't

00:08:22.140 Share tweets

00:08:23.260 With Saigon

00:08:24.020 Like images

00:08:24.800 In case

00:08:25.400 It causes us

00:08:26.600 To get

00:08:26.960 Post-traumatic stress

00:08:28.520 Oh I think

00:08:29.320 I tweeted that out

00:08:30.400 Yeah

00:08:30.640 The men that

00:08:32.640 Fought there

00:08:33.240 Got their legs

00:08:33.780 Blown off

00:08:34.380 Not their

00:08:35.100 Post-traumatic stress

00:08:35.900 But post-traumatic stress

00:08:36.780 Of seeing an image

00:08:38.220 That isn't very nice

00:08:39.540 Right

00:08:40.400 For a think tank

00:08:41.560 A chick

00:08:43.160 With a master's degree

00:08:44.440 Working at a think tank

00:08:46.040 Who wants to believe

00:08:46.960 That we can

00:08:48.040 Build democracy

00:08:48.980 In Afghanistan

00:08:49.680 We don't want to

00:08:50.500 Trigger this

00:08:51.020 We can build

00:08:51.740 A better world

00:08:52.480 We can build

00:08:53.020 A better world

00:08:53.640 And it's all just

00:08:54.420 About democracy

00:08:55.080 And kindness

00:08:55.640 And it's so awful

00:08:56.900 That Kabul's

00:08:58.140 Not going to be having

00:08:58.800 A pride march

00:09:00.100 This year

00:09:00.640 And please

00:09:03.620 Please don't

00:09:04.200 Well they might be

00:09:04.760 Having a pride march

00:09:05.740 Just of a different

00:09:06.360 Yeah a different

00:09:06.800 Kind of pride

00:09:07.440 A different kind

00:09:08.480 Pride in religion

00:09:10.220 And love

00:09:11.060 And please don't

00:09:14.260 Do that

00:09:14.660 Because it won't

00:09:15.900 Help us

00:09:16.360 If we have PST

00:09:17.300 It might cause us

00:09:18.160 To self-harm

00:09:19.040 I thought that was

00:09:19.880 Absolutely wonderful

00:09:20.940 It was just such

00:09:21.640 An embodiment

00:09:22.320 Of the reason

00:09:23.720 Why the Taliban

00:09:25.820 Have won

00:09:26.800 Because they

00:09:27.960 Because they

00:09:28.580 Don't have

00:09:29.200 Values like that

00:09:30.100 And they

00:09:30.360 Don't have

00:09:30.800 Anybody in

00:09:31.440 Their society

00:09:32.100 Or tolerate

00:09:32.820 Anybody in

00:09:33.380 Their society

00:09:33.880 That has

00:09:34.360 Views like that

00:09:35.180 And so

00:09:37.320 There is

00:09:38.620 Well also

00:09:39.200 I mean

00:09:39.560 When we think

00:09:40.640 About government

00:09:42.180 Systems

00:09:43.040 You have to

00:09:44.960 Take into

00:09:45.940 Account

00:09:46.520 Things like

00:09:48.100 Terrain

00:09:48.940 You certainly

00:09:50.080 Have to take

00:09:50.640 Into account

00:09:51.380 Things like

00:09:52.240 Climate

00:09:53.060 You have to

00:09:53.780 Take into

00:09:54.180 Account

00:09:54.400 Things like

00:09:54.900 Race

00:09:55.320 Obviously

00:09:56.080 And not

00:09:56.620 To mention

00:09:57.000 History

00:09:57.520 But I

00:09:58.340 Think again

00:09:59.140 Those girls

00:10:01.180 With master's

00:10:02.060 Degrees

00:10:02.480 They don't

00:10:03.480 Take anything

00:10:04.060 Of those

00:10:04.720 Things in

00:10:05.080 Account

00:10:05.300 They have

00:10:05.660 A kind

00:10:05.920 Of platonic

00:10:06.700 Ideal

00:10:07.320 Of democracy

00:10:08.200 Which

00:10:09.720 Basically

00:10:10.420 Yes

00:10:11.060 Means

00:10:11.480 Gays

00:10:12.080 And parades

00:10:13.700 And women

00:10:15.120 Working

00:10:15.820 Getting

00:10:16.200 Undergraduate

00:10:16.780 Degrees

00:10:17.240 And you know

00:10:18.080 Working

00:10:18.440 In academia

00:10:20.160 Are becoming

00:10:20.680 Like themselves

00:10:21.440 Maybe

00:10:21.820 A female

00:10:22.580 Is becoming

00:10:23.160 Think tank

00:10:24.220 White paper

00:10:25.280 Generators

00:10:26.460 Yeah

00:10:26.960 But you

00:10:28.560 If you

00:10:29.460 Want to

00:10:30.240 Engage

00:10:30.920 In something

00:10:31.360 Like regime

00:10:32.460 Change

00:10:33.040 Maybe that

00:10:33.760 Would be

00:10:34.080 Necessary

00:10:34.800 At some

00:10:35.440 Point

00:10:35.720 You have

00:10:36.800 To take

00:10:37.620 These factors

00:10:38.340 Into account

00:10:39.040 The fact

00:10:39.780 That the

00:10:40.160 Taliban

00:10:40.540 Was there

00:10:41.320 The Taliban

00:10:42.100 20 years

00:10:42.760 Later

00:10:43.060 The Taliban

00:10:43.660 Is back

00:10:44.440 It's a

00:10:45.820 Modern

00:10:46.100 Organization

00:10:46.480 I think

00:10:46.960 It was

00:10:47.180 Founded

00:10:47.800 In the

00:10:48.380 In the

00:10:49.440 Aftermath

00:10:50.100 Of the

00:10:50.400 Soviet

00:10:50.640 Period

00:10:50.900 I think

00:10:51.140 It was

00:10:51.300 Founded

00:10:51.640 In 1993

00:10:52.300 Or 1994

00:10:53.160 So it

00:10:54.100 Is a

00:10:54.340 Modern

00:10:55.280 Postmodern

00:10:56.080 Organization

00:10:56.700 But at

00:10:58.140 Least in

00:10:58.660 Terms of

00:10:59.240 The way

00:10:59.880 That it

00:11:00.620 Governs

00:11:01.800 It is

00:11:02.120 Calling

00:11:02.680 Back to

00:11:03.360 Something

00:11:03.720 That is

00:11:04.560 Legitimately

00:11:05.560 Afghani

00:11:06.640 And that

00:11:08.060 Is the

00:11:08.820 Kind of

00:11:09.180 System

00:11:09.520 You need

00:11:09.960 There

00:11:10.180 Is a

00:11:10.640 Reason

00:11:11.160 Why

00:11:11.960 You know

00:11:14.180 Democracy

00:11:15.000 Can arise

00:11:17.080 In certain

00:11:18.120 Geographic

00:11:18.900 Reasons

00:11:19.380 And I'm

00:11:19.860 Actually

00:11:20.080 Putting

00:11:20.360 Race

00:11:20.820 Aside

00:11:21.240 Here

00:11:21.420 I don't

00:11:22.100 Quite

00:11:22.560 Like

00:11:23.040 Arguments

00:11:24.040 About

00:11:24.440 IQ

00:11:25.000 And

00:11:25.360 Democracy

00:11:26.000 As if

00:11:26.920 There's

00:11:27.660 There's

00:11:27.920 There's

00:11:28.180 There's

00:11:28.820 There's

00:11:28.980 There's

00:11:30.020 There's

00:11:30.180 There's

00:11:30.720 There's

00:11:31.180 There's

00:11:32.180 There's

00:11:32.560 There's

00:11:33.180 IQ

00:11:33.680 Because

00:11:34.180 You have

00:11:35.180 To have

00:11:35.360 A certain

00:11:35.680 Level

00:11:35.900 Of

00:11:36.060 Trust

00:11:36.340 Yes

00:11:37.220 You have

00:11:38.000 To have

00:11:39.080 A certain

00:11:39.380 Level

00:11:39.660 Of

00:11:39.880 But it's

00:11:40.120 Been

00:11:40.240 Found

00:11:40.460 Again

00:11:40.700 And

00:11:40.840 Again

00:11:41.000 And

00:11:41.140 Again

00:11:41.300 You have

00:11:42.080 To have

00:11:42.300 A certain

00:11:42.640 Optimum

00:11:43.160 Level

00:11:43.400 Of

00:11:43.640 Trust

00:11:44.080 And

00:11:44.900 Trust

00:11:45.180 Correlates

00:11:45.700 With

00:11:45.860 IQ

00:11:46.300 And also

00:11:47.380 You have

00:11:47.660 To be

00:11:47.880 Future

00:11:48.760 Oriented

00:11:49.400 And that

00:11:50.480 Kind of

00:11:50.720 Thing

00:11:50.920 To sustain

00:11:51.740 Democracy

00:11:52.240 I just

00:11:55.560 Don't

00:11:55.900 Buy

00:11:56.240 The

00:11:56.420 Democracy

00:11:57.100 There's

00:11:59.440 No

00:11:59.620 Argument

00:12:00.140 Don't

00:12:00.400 Give

00:12:00.500 It's

00:12:01.820 Like

00:12:02.040 E.

00:12:02.260 Michael

00:12:02.480 Jones

00:12:02.860 Would

00:12:03.000 Say

00:12:03.180 Evolution

00:12:03.680 I

00:12:03.900 Just

00:12:04.040 Don't

00:12:04.220 Buy

00:12:04.500 It's

00:12:06.020 Democracy

00:12:07.260 Is

00:12:07.680 Not

00:12:08.160 A

00:12:08.460 Civilized

00:12:09.100 System

00:12:09.480 Civilized

00:12:09.980 I

00:12:10.280 Mean

00:12:12.660 It's

00:12:13.140 Postmodern

00:12:14.440 Value

00:12:14.960 Of

00:12:15.580 The

00:12:15.680 Contemporary

00:12:16.400 It's

00:12:16.720 Taking

00:12:16.940 A

00:12:17.180 Fun

00:12:17.760 Word

00:12:18.200 From

00:12:18.920 Contemporary

00:12:19.440 Society

00:12:19.960 And

00:12:20.480 Claiming

00:12:20.900 That

00:12:21.080 Only

00:12:21.360 Smart

00:12:21.740 People

00:12:22.020 Can

00:12:22.220 Do

00:12:22.320 This

00:12:22.500 No

00:12:22.820 It's

00:12:23.960 Not

00:12:24.080 Saying

00:12:24.320 That

00:12:24.460 At

00:12:24.540 All

00:12:24.700 It's

00:12:26.080 Saying

00:12:27.240 There's

00:12:27.640 A

00:12:27.760 Correlation

00:12:28.380 Between

00:12:28.700 The

00:12:28.980 Intelligence

00:12:29.440 Of

00:12:29.740 A

00:12:30.120 Community

00:12:30.520 And

00:12:31.120 Its

00:12:31.280 Desire

00:12:32.560 To

00:12:32.860 Sustain

00:12:33.300 Democratic

00:12:33.820 Systems

00:12:34.360 Rather

00:12:34.960 Than

00:12:35.080 Move

00:12:35.280 Towards

00:12:35.560 Totalitarianism

00:12:36.700 And

00:12:37.080 It's

00:12:37.200 Saying

00:12:37.420 When

00:12:38.400 Trust

00:12:39.020 Falls

00:12:39.300 Too

00:12:39.520 Low

00:12:39.740 Then

00:12:40.000 You

00:12:41.900 Don't

00:12:42.040 Tend

00:12:42.220 To

00:12:42.320 Get

00:12:42.420 Democracy

00:12:42.940 And

00:12:43.900 Similarly

00:12:44.180 When

00:12:44.740 Trust

00:12:45.520 Is

00:12:45.660 Too

00:12:45.820 High

00:12:46.280 That

00:12:47.080 Can

00:12:47.260 Be

00:12:47.340 A

00:12:47.440 Problem

00:12:47.640 For

00:12:47.800 Democracy

00:12:48.220 As

00:12:48.440 Well

00:12:48.580 I

00:12:48.840 Don't

00:12:50.640 Even

00:12:50.860 Know

00:12:51.080 That's

00:12:51.740 Left

00:12:53.100 Defined

00:12:53.680 Intelligence

00:12:54.180 So

00:12:54.440 We

00:12:54.700 Are

00:12:54.840 Democracy

00:12:55.440 Whereby

00:12:56.940 People

00:12:57.580 Vote

00:12:58.940 For

00:12:59.960 Their

00:13:00.260 Representatives

00:13:01.680 In

00:13:03.160 Some

00:13:03.320 Kind

00:13:03.560 Of

00:13:03.660 Capacity

00:13:04.140 Democracy

00:13:04.680 Means

00:13:05.080 Rule

00:13:05.500 By

00:13:05.740 The

00:13:05.920 People

00:13:06.300 That's

00:13:06.960 What

00:13:07.080 It

00:13:07.240 Means

00:13:07.460 It

00:13:07.760 Doesn't

00:13:08.060 Actually

00:13:08.400 Mean

00:13:08.680 Voting

00:13:09.160 That's

00:13:09.620 What

00:13:10.120 It

00:13:10.300 Means

00:13:10.520 That's

00:13:10.860 Literally

00:13:11.200 What

00:13:11.600 The

00:13:11.780 Word

00:13:12.020 Means

00:13:12.320 It

00:13:12.480 Does

00:13:12.640 Not

00:13:12.860 Mean

00:13:13.160 Voting

00:13:13.700 And

00:13:14.160 It

00:13:14.240 Does

00:13:14.400 Not

00:13:14.580 Mean

00:13:14.780 Representative

00:13:15.440 Government

00:13:15.900 Those

00:13:16.160 Are

00:13:16.320 Very

00:13:16.580 Different

00:13:16.920 Things

00:13:17.260 The

00:13:17.420 The

00:13:17.820 Etymology

00:13:18.760 Of

00:13:18.960 Democracy

00:13:19.660 Means

00:13:20.320 Rule

00:13:20.580 Of

00:13:34.140 Not

00:13:34.440 The

00:13:34.600 Idea

00:13:34.840 In

00:13:35.040 Britain

00:13:35.280 Power

00:13:35.640 Drives

00:13:36.120 From

00:13:36.300 The

00:13:36.440 Parliament

00:13:36.800 And

00:13:37.000 The

00:13:37.140 Crown

00:13:37.460 But

00:13:38.000 Even

00:13:38.180 So

00:13:38.500 Both

00:13:38.860 Would

00:13:39.000 Be

00:13:39.100 Regarded

00:13:39.500 As

00:13:39.600 Democracies

00:13:40.300 Because

00:13:40.820 Of

00:13:40.960 The

00:13:41.060 Way

00:13:41.240 In

00:13:41.380 Which

00:13:41.500 You

00:13:41.640 Transfer

00:13:42.000 Power

00:13:42.620 Is

00:13:43.280 Via

00:13:43.500 Some

00:13:43.760 Some

00:13:44.240 Sort

00:13:44.480 Of

00:13:44.580 System

00:13:44.860 Of

00:13:45.020 Elections

00:13:45.640 So

00:13:46.140 That's

00:13:46.380 What

00:13:46.500 I

00:13:46.800 See

00:13:47.640 As

00:13:47.780 A

00:13:47.860 Democracy

00:13:48.340 The

00:13:48.860 Point

00:13:49.100 Is

00:13:49.380 That

00:13:49.860 You

00:13:50.420 Have

00:13:50.600 To

00:13:50.700 Have

00:13:50.840 A

00:13:50.980 Certain

00:13:51.260 Level

00:13:51.780 Of

00:13:51.940 Trust

00:13:52.360 To

00:13:52.840 Sustain

00:13:54.200 A

00:13:54.420 Democracy

00:13:54.860 And

00:13:55.340 In

00:13:55.460 To

00:13:55.740 Have

00:13:55.960 That

00:13:56.120 You

00:13:56.800 Do

00:13:56.920 Have

00:13:57.100 To

00:13:57.180 Have

00:13:57.300 A

00:13:57.460 Certain

00:13:58.020 Level

00:13:58.220 Of

00:13:58.340 Intelligence

00:13:58.780 That's

00:13:59.120 One

00:13:59.340 Thing

00:13:59.560 But

00:13:59.860 It's

00:13:59.980 Not

00:14:00.100 The

00:14:00.240 Only

00:14:00.440 Thing

00:14:00.740 Another

00:14:01.500 Thing

00:14:01.740 That's

00:14:01.920 Very

00:14:02.080 Important

00:14:02.420 Is

00:14:02.620 You

00:14:02.840 Have

00:14:03.100 Unity

00:14:04.500 So

00:14:04.940 One

00:14:05.620 Ethnic

00:14:06.000 Group

00:14:06.420 And

00:14:07.040 Once

00:14:07.240 You

00:14:07.340 Get

00:14:13.760 Analyses

00:14:14.620 The

00:14:15.560 Polity

00:14:17.260 Into

00:14:17.640 Lots

00:14:18.040 Of

00:14:18.200 Separate

00:14:18.660 Communities

00:14:19.340 That

00:14:19.800 Are

00:14:19.920 Very

00:14:20.160 Strongly

00:14:20.720 Related

00:14:21.120 To

00:14:21.340 Each

00:14:21.580 Other

00:14:21.880 And

00:14:22.280 Are

00:14:22.440 Very

00:14:25.640 Distantly

00:14:26.240 Related

00:14:26.720 To

00:14:27.020 Those

00:14:27.380 That

00:14:27.960 Are

00:14:28.140 Not

00:14:28.340 Part

00:14:28.660 Of

00:14:28.740 That

00:14:28.900 Community

00:14:29.380 And

00:14:29.980 That's

00:14:30.220 Been

00:14:30.360 To

00:14:30.900 Be

00:14:31.080 One

00:14:31.300 Of

00:14:31.420 The

00:14:32.340 Problems

00:14:33.140 That

00:14:33.240 You

00:14:33.340 Have

00:14:33.520 In

00:14:33.620 These

00:14:33.760 Low

00:14:33.960 Trust

00:14:34.220 Societies

00:14:34.780 The

00:14:34.980 Way

00:14:35.140 That

00:14:35.280 They

00:14:35.460 Sustain

00:14:35.940 Some

00:14:36.540 Sort

00:14:36.920 Of

00:14:37.060 Trust

00:14:37.400 And

00:14:37.580 Investment

00:14:37.980 Is

00:14:39.020 By

00:14:39.240 Cousin

00:14:39.640 Marriage

00:14:40.140 On

00:14:40.340 The

00:14:40.420 Hand

00:14:40.820 And

00:14:41.200 By

00:14:41.540 Broder

00:14:42.000 Clans

00:14:43.020 And

00:14:43.560 So

00:14:43.780 On

00:14:44.000 And

00:14:45.000 Tribes

00:14:45.880 And

00:14:46.540 Ethnic

00:14:46.980 Groups

00:14:47.580 And

00:14:48.140 There

00:14:48.780 Is

00:14:48.960 Distrust

00:14:50.020 At

00:14:50.780 Every

00:14:51.040 Level

00:14:51.360 And

00:14:51.600 So

00:14:51.780 That's

00:14:51.980 What

00:14:52.120 You

00:14:52.220 Have

00:14:52.360 In

00:14:52.460 Afghanistan

00:14:52.860 First

00:14:53.280 Of

00:14:53.400 All

00:14:53.480 You

00:14:53.580 Have

00:14:53.800 Various

00:14:54.300 Different

00:14:54.620 Ethnic

00:14:54.940 Groups

00:14:55.340 The

00:14:55.560 Pashtun

00:14:56.100 Is

00:14:56.260 The

00:14:56.380 Largest

00:14:56.860 They're

00:14:57.660 Only

00:14:57.820 About

00:14:58.000 35%

00:14:58.700 Of

00:14:58.840 The

00:14:58.880 Population

00:14:59.380 Then

00:15:00.320 You've

00:15:00.480 Got

00:15:00.620 The

00:15:00.820 Tajiks

00:15:01.380 In

00:15:01.560 The

00:15:01.680 North

00:15:02.060 Who

00:15:02.480 Are

00:15:02.580 Very

00:15:02.760 Different

00:15:03.100 They're

00:15:03.340 Much

00:15:03.520 More

00:15:03.680 East

00:15:04.180 Asian

00:15:04.580 Influenced

00:15:05.640 They speak

00:15:06.080 Persian

00:15:06.720 And

00:15:07.380 Then

00:15:12.000 Clans

00:15:14.120 And

00:15:14.820 You

00:15:15.460 Co-operate

00:15:16.100 Accordingly

00:15:16.780 And

00:15:16.960 The

00:15:17.060 Fact

00:15:17.240 As

00:15:17.400 You

00:15:17.480 Were

00:15:17.580 Saying

00:15:17.760 About

00:15:18.020 The

00:15:18.260 Geography

00:15:19.080 That's

00:15:19.380 Really

00:15:19.560 Important

00:15:19.960 To

00:15:20.100 This

00:15:20.220 We've

00:15:20.360 Got

00:15:20.460 These

00:15:20.640 Mountains

00:15:21.120 And

00:15:21.400 Whatever

00:15:21.620 And

00:15:21.800 So

00:15:21.900 It

00:15:22.000 Separates

00:15:22.700 Peoples

00:15:23.240 And

00:15:24.640 So

00:15:25.060 You

00:15:25.180 Get

00:15:25.340 These

00:15:25.540 Very

00:15:25.780 Distinct

00:15:26.180 People

00:15:26.540 That

00:15:26.780 Don't

00:15:27.120 Cooperate

00:15:27.680 And

00:15:27.880 You

00:15:28.000 Can't

00:15:28.400 Have

00:15:28.580 Centralized

00:15:29.140 Government

00:15:29.500 I

00:15:29.720 Mean

00:15:29.860 Basically

00:15:30.480 Every

00:15:31.080 Afghan

00:15:31.580 Head

00:15:31.900 Of

00:15:32.060 State

00:15:32.440 Since

00:15:33.260 About

00:15:34.100 1700

00:15:34.840 Has

00:15:35.540 Been

00:15:35.720 Deposed

00:15:36.320 Or

00:15:36.660 Assassinated

00:15:37.400 Right

00:15:38.260 Every

00:15:38.720 Single

00:15:39.020 One

00:15:39.360 Well

00:15:40.500 Do

00:15:40.720 You

00:15:40.840 Think

00:15:41.100 That

00:15:41.300 The

00:15:41.480 Taliban

00:15:42.040 Is

00:15:43.200 A

00:15:43.900 Is

00:15:45.620 A

00:15:45.820 Will

00:15:46.280 I

00:15:46.600 And

00:15:46.820 I

00:15:46.940 Don't

00:15:47.140 Know

00:15:47.320 Enough

00:15:47.560 About

00:15:47.760 The

00:15:47.920 Taliban

00:15:48.260 But

00:15:48.940 The

00:15:49.220 Taliban

00:15:49.640 Will

00:15:49.980 Offer

00:15:50.580 A

00:15:50.880 Kind

00:15:51.220 Of

00:15:51.380 Solution

00:15:51.840 To

00:15:52.060 This

00:15:52.280 That

00:15:52.460 There's

00:15:52.660 A

00:15:52.800 Unifying

00:15:54.560 Islamic

00:15:55.340 Fundamentalism

00:15:56.520 But

00:15:57.220 Then

00:15:57.600 In

00:15:58.080 Their

00:15:58.380 Primitive

00:15:58.940 Primitiveness

00:16:00.160 They're

00:16:01.000 Kind

00:16:01.220 Of

00:16:01.420 Offering

00:16:02.280 A

00:16:02.660 Certain

00:16:02.960 Decentralization

00:16:04.300 Which

00:16:04.780 Fits

00:16:05.160 The

00:16:05.380 Country

00:16:05.700 Better

00:16:06.020 And

00:16:07.140 Thus

00:16:07.820 Offers

00:16:08.300 Democracy

00:16:09.060 Even

00:16:12.200 Within

00:16:12.600 Pakistan

00:16:13.160 You

00:16:13.740 Have

00:16:13.940 These

00:16:14.160 Border

00:16:14.520 Areas

00:16:14.960 With

00:16:15.100 Afghanistan

00:16:15.640 That

00:16:16.220 Are

00:16:16.480 Lawless

00:16:16.980 Basically

00:16:17.480 And

00:16:17.860 In

00:16:19.040 India

00:16:19.280 As

00:16:19.480 Well

00:16:19.600 And

00:16:20.140 The

00:16:20.600 Central

00:16:21.920 Government

00:16:22.320 Does

00:16:22.540 Not

00:16:22.760 Have

00:16:23.020 Control

00:16:23.540 Over

00:16:23.820 These

00:16:24.000 Areas

00:16:24.420 And

00:16:25.100 Doesn't

00:16:25.320 Even

00:16:25.500 Try

00:16:25.740 To

00:16:25.880 Fother

00:16:26.160 Because

00:16:26.620 It's

00:16:26.760 Pointless

00:16:27.260 So

00:16:28.220 They're

00:16:28.860 Lawless

00:16:29.540 And

00:16:29.800 They're

00:16:29.960 Left

00:16:30.140 Alone

00:16:30.440 So

00:16:30.960 You're

00:16:31.120 Going

00:16:31.200 To

00:16:31.280 Get

00:16:31.400 Areas

00:16:31.740 Like

00:16:31.940 That

00:16:32.180 Right

00:16:32.420 Up

00:16:32.500 In

00:16:32.580 The

00:16:32.700 Mountains

00:16:33.000 Where

00:16:33.280 You

00:16:33.380 Still

00:16:33.560 Get

00:16:33.780 White

00:16:34.300 People

00:16:34.660 That

00:16:34.880 Practise

00:16:36.620 Wacky

00:16:37.120 Religions

00:16:37.560 Not

00:16:38.080 Even

00:16:38.540 Islam

00:16:38.960 And

00:16:40.120 Things

00:16:40.800 Like

00:16:41.020 That

00:16:41.180 They'll

00:16:41.360 Just

00:16:41.480 Be

00:16:41.580 Left

00:16:41.760 Alone

00:16:42.080 But

00:16:42.500 You

00:16:42.600 Do

00:16:42.780 At

00:16:42.960 Least

00:16:43.180 What

00:16:43.840 They

00:16:43.980 Seem

00:16:44.180 To

00:16:44.300 Be

00:16:44.420 Offering

00:16:44.780 Is

00:16:44.960 Some

00:16:45.160 Kind

00:16:45.380 Of

00:16:45.500 Stability

00:16:46.020 That

00:16:46.760 We're

00:16:48.840 We're

00:16:48.860 All

00:16:49.000 Muslims

00:16:49.500 We're

00:16:49.720 Fellow

00:16:49.980 Muslims

00:16:50.460 The

00:16:50.860 Problem

00:16:51.100 Is

00:16:51.300 That

00:16:51.460 And

00:16:51.980 Interestingly

00:16:52.500 Last

00:16:53.540 Time

00:16:54.020 When

00:16:54.300 It

00:16:54.400 Was

00:16:54.620 When

00:16:55.420 The

00:16:56.000 Taliban

00:16:56.560 Were

00:16:56.800 In

00:16:56.920 Power

00:16:57.100 It

00:16:57.300 Was

00:16:57.400 An

00:16:57.580 Overwhelmingly

00:16:58.380 Pashtun

00:16:58.940 Movement

00:16:59.500 But

00:17:00.460 There's

00:17:00.680 Evidence

00:17:01.100 Now

00:17:01.660 That

00:17:02.120 There's

00:17:02.580 Quite

00:17:02.860 Senior

00:17:03.400 People

00:17:03.840 Now

00:17:04.260 In

00:17:04.580 The

00:17:04.760 Taliban

00:17:05.040 That

00:17:05.360 Are

00:17:05.480 Not

00:17:05.720 Pashtun

00:17:06.240 That

00:17:06.400 Are

00:17:06.480 Tajik

00:17:06.980 It's

00:17:07.840 Almost

00:17:08.020 Become

00:17:08.300 More

00:17:08.680 Popular

00:17:09.240 Among

00:17:09.940 The

00:17:10.220 Non

00:17:10.480 Pashtuns

00:17:11.140 So

00:17:11.840 It's

00:17:12.020 Almost

00:17:12.260 More

00:17:12.620 Of

00:17:12.720 A

00:17:12.800 Unifying

00:17:13.300 Source

00:17:14.300 Now

00:17:14.620 Than

00:17:14.840 It

00:17:15.240 Was

00:17:15.420 20

00:17:15.720 Years

00:17:15.980 Ago

00:17:17.040 So

00:17:17.640 It's

00:17:18.420 Surprising

00:17:19.060 But

00:17:19.320 Maybe

00:17:19.620 It

00:17:19.820 Shouldn't

00:17:20.120 Be

00:17:20.280 Surprising

00:17:20.840 Because

00:17:21.220 The

00:17:21.420 Last

00:17:21.660 20

00:17:22.000 Years

00:17:22.540 Of

00:17:22.980 American

00:17:23.540 Rule

00:17:23.960 Have

00:17:24.220 Been

00:17:24.480 Absolutely

00:17:25.460 Devastating

00:17:26.560 It's

00:17:26.800 Just

00:17:26.980 It's

00:17:27.300 Coincided

00:17:27.940 With

00:17:28.140 Tremendous

00:17:28.880 Loss

00:17:29.400 Of

00:17:29.580 Life

00:17:29.940 Tremendous

00:17:31.400 Depression

00:17:32.100 The

00:17:33.520 They're

00:17:34.120 Interesting

00:17:34.900 Polls

00:17:36.140 Now

00:17:36.340 A poll

00:17:37.160 In

00:17:37.480 Afghanistan

00:17:38.060 Maybe

00:17:38.880 Take

00:17:39.140 That

00:17:39.260 With

00:17:39.380 A

00:17:39.480 Gran

00:17:39.660 Of

00:17:39.840 Salt

00:17:40.120 But

00:17:41.040 They're

00:17:41.200 Just

00:17:41.360 Very

00:17:43.120 Important

00:17:43.560 Polling

00:17:44.140 That

00:17:44.500 Reveals

00:17:45.080 That

00:17:45.460 These

00:17:46.160 People

00:17:46.640 Are

00:17:46.980 Depressed

00:17:47.740 They

00:17:47.900 Don't

00:17:48.060 Have

00:17:48.200 Any

00:17:48.540 Hope

00:17:48.800 For

00:17:48.960 The

00:17:49.080 Future

00:17:49.400 They

00:17:50.220 Feel

00:17:50.620 Ruled

00:17:51.220 By

00:17:51.460 A

00:17:51.620 Foreign

00:17:51.860 Power

00:17:52.280 They

00:17:52.560 View

00:17:53.220 Their

00:17:53.740 Leaders

00:17:54.140 As

00:17:54.760 American

00:17:55.420 Puppets

00:17:56.080 I

00:17:56.700 Mean

00:17:56.860 Correctly

00:17:57.740 And

00:17:59.120 I

00:17:59.440 Can

00:17:59.640 See

00:17:59.980 A

00:18:00.180 Certain

00:18:00.500 Nostalgia

00:18:01.860 Coming

00:18:02.860 In

00:18:03.200 Where

00:18:03.560 The

00:18:03.920 Taliban

00:18:04.320 Okay

00:18:04.900 What

00:18:05.980 Was

00:18:06.360 The

00:18:06.580 Phrase

00:18:07.520 From

00:18:07.960 Africa

00:18:09.860 You

00:18:10.180 Know

00:18:10.460 Charles

00:18:11.040 Taylor

00:18:11.420 He

00:18:11.680 Killed

00:18:11.960 My

00:18:12.160 Ma

00:18:12.400 He

00:18:12.580 Killed

00:18:12.760 My

00:18:12.960 Pa

00:18:13.300 But

00:18:13.480 I'll

00:18:13.620 Vote

00:18:13.820 For

00:18:14.040 Him

00:18:14.180 Anyway

00:18:14.480 I

00:18:15.360 That's

00:18:16.440 A bit

00:18:16.700 Grotesque

00:18:17.460 But

00:18:17.700 I

00:18:17.900 Think

00:18:18.080 It

00:18:18.200 Might

00:18:18.360 Be

00:18:18.620 A bit

00:18:18.880 Like

00:18:19.220 That

00:18:19.520 In

00:18:19.680 The

00:18:19.800 Sense

00:18:20.060 That

00:18:20.420 We

00:18:21.360 Know

00:18:21.620 What

00:18:21.820 We're

00:18:21.960 Getting

00:18:22.180 With

00:18:22.360 The

00:18:22.500 Taliban

00:18:22.820 They

00:18:24.240 Offer

00:18:24.760 Stability

00:18:25.260 They

00:18:25.680 They

00:18:25.700 They

00:18:25.720 They

00:18:25.740 They

00:18:25.760 Even

00:18:26.080 You

00:18:26.720 You

00:18:26.760 Know

00:18:26.880 Cousin

00:18:27.300 Marriage

00:18:27.660 Not

00:18:27.860 Withstanding

00:18:28.320 They

00:18:28.580 Are

00:18:28.960 Us

00:18:29.600 On

00:18:30.280 Some

00:18:30.540 Level

00:18:30.840 And

00:18:31.320 Also

00:18:31.900 F

00:18:33.060 You

00:18:33.340 America

00:18:33.880 Yeah

00:18:34.880 I

00:18:35.100 Mean

00:18:35.300 Remember

00:18:36.260 That

00:18:36.540 That

00:19:07.000 The

00:19:11.120 Title

00:19:12.380 You

00:19:12.580 Johnson

00:19:14.000 The

00:19:14.200 Him

00:19:16.340 Superman

00:19:17.040 It's

00:19:18.320 submarinoxies

00:19:18.860 than the liberal types.

00:19:21.120 The liberal types are more likely to flee Afghanistan

00:19:23.220 and go abroad and get out of the country

00:19:25.360 and go to America, like that chap

00:19:26.920 who drove our taxi in Chicago at that time.

00:19:29.140 They recall them doing

00:19:30.540 whistling noises.

00:19:33.820 And

00:19:33.840 they, so it's just

00:19:36.960 become, you'd expect it to become a sort of more

00:19:38.980 fundamentalist society, and

00:19:40.840 this is what they're offering. It's a bit like

00:19:43.020 Bhutan. They're offering

00:19:45.140 an evolutionary match.

00:19:46.800 They're offering what these people have been

00:19:48.840 evolved for over a long time,

00:19:51.200 which is an extremely patriarchal society

00:19:53.300 in which, because there was trust

00:19:55.040 developed below, men want

00:19:57.040 their women to be covered up so they can guarantee

00:19:59.120 against cuckoldry. The women will

00:20:01.020 be selected to be submissive to

00:20:03.020 this and want to be covered up.

00:20:04.840 And yes, they'll be outliers, but that's mainly

00:20:06.880 what's going on. These people have popular

00:20:09.100 support. And that's

00:20:11.180 why, not democratic, of course,

00:20:12.920 but they have popular support.

00:20:14.200 And they have what's

00:20:16.000 democratic. I mean, sorry to be

00:20:17.740 autistic about the word

00:20:18.840 democratic. This is

00:20:20.480 democracy. This is what it looks like.

00:20:22.580 It's ruled by the people.

00:20:23.820 It's legitimate.

00:20:24.680 It makes sense.

00:20:25.780 It's a room called

00:20:27.320 Asabiya, and that's what they have.

00:20:29.320 They are literally the desert tribesmen

00:20:31.480 that are very high in ethnocentrism,

00:20:33.480 that are up against the

00:20:34.580 decadent people in the towns

00:20:35.940 that are low in ethnocentrism

00:20:38.060 and that are rich and whatever,

00:20:40.040 and have lost their martial values.

00:20:42.240 And who's going to win?

00:20:44.200 These people who are fighting for their own

00:20:46.520 ethnic group, for the Pashtuns,

00:20:48.140 but also more broadly for Islam,

00:20:50.320 and have a sense of eternity,

00:20:51.680 and a sense that God's on their side,

00:20:53.260 and a sense that their ancestors have

00:20:54.780 always done this, and they're

00:20:55.900 preserving it for the glory of God.

00:20:58.200 Or a bunch of people who,

00:20:59.980 what would you call them,

00:21:00.680 shills, who are prepared,

00:21:02.560 mercenaries, basically, who for money

00:21:04.680 are prepared to work for the

00:21:06.560 occupied regime in the army.

00:21:08.220 And when the money dries up,

00:21:12.420 they run.

00:21:13.540 What kind of people are going to

00:21:14.400 break and lay down their lives

00:21:16.260 and win?

00:21:17.660 Is it going to be the

00:21:18.580 Asabiya type people,

00:21:20.000 or the people who are literally

00:21:21.240 mercenaries?

00:21:23.640 So I don't know why Joe Biden

00:21:25.740 even bothered to feign surprise

00:21:27.300 that they didn't bother to fight.

00:21:28.480 Why would they bother to fight?

00:21:29.580 Why are they going to lay down

00:21:30.360 their lives for the American

00:21:32.420 government when it's just about to

00:21:34.140 leave, when they have no popular

00:21:36.160 support?

00:21:36.660 And so what he's then left them

00:21:39.800 with, by leaving so quickly and

00:21:41.660 suddenly, is a rogue state run by

00:21:46.360 religious fundamentalists that's

00:21:47.900 got probably among the best arms of

00:21:49.700 any country in the Middle East now.

00:21:51.600 It's got all America's arms.

00:21:53.700 Yeah, and that is just, you know,

00:21:55.840 an expression of disaster.

00:21:57.160 And it's, again, a continuation of

00:21:58.720 these kind of chess moves or 3D

00:22:01.920 chess games, like, oh, let's fund,

00:22:05.080 let's give a billion dollars to the

00:22:08.720 Mujahideen.

00:22:09.880 What could go wrong?

00:22:11.760 You know, let's own the Soviets by

00:22:14.040 funding Osama bin Laden.

00:22:15.620 You know, what could go wrong?

00:22:16.580 A lot can go wrong.

00:22:19.540 I'd like to turn to kind of like

00:22:22.220 bigger trajectory, not in Afghanistan,

00:22:25.200 but in the United States.

00:22:27.020 So I, speaking as an American citizen,

00:22:33.640 was actually extremely proud of Joe

00:22:37.160 Biden.

00:22:38.800 Yes, was this perfect?

00:22:41.220 Or was this perfect?

00:22:43.240 Of course it wasn't.

00:22:45.000 Could it have been better?

00:22:46.680 Maybe, but I'm not sure.

00:22:48.580 I think sometimes you just got to rip

00:22:50.160 the bandaid off.

00:22:51.560 And all of these people claiming,

00:22:53.100 oh, I can't, who lost Afghanistan?

00:22:55.800 This happened too quick or whatever.

00:22:57.600 Well, it was going to happen anyway.

00:22:59.600 Might as well have let it happen quick.

00:23:01.800 Rip off the bandaid.

00:23:03.600 I, you know, could it have been done

00:23:05.020 better?

00:23:05.440 Sure.

00:23:05.760 But would the outcome be different?

00:23:08.100 No.

00:23:09.260 So I was actually quite proud that he

00:23:12.380 went before the cameras and basically

00:23:14.980 said, I'm going to pursue our strategic

00:23:16.980 interests.

00:23:17.860 We cannot guarantee democracy and

00:23:21.040 feminism around the world.

00:23:22.380 He didn't use quite those words,

00:23:24.240 but that's what he was saying.

00:23:25.760 We need to pursue our strategic

00:23:26.960 objectives.

00:23:27.900 He kind of declared victory, I think,

00:23:29.640 in a, an understandable face

00:23:31.700 saving manner, which he said, we

00:23:34.400 achieved our goals when we went in

00:23:37.100 in 2002.

00:23:40.480 The, to stop, to kick Al Qaeda out of

00:23:43.580 Afghanistan and stop the, to prevent

00:23:46.680 the Taliban from being a safe haven for

00:23:48.480 terrorists, basically.

00:23:49.380 I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I mean, I think

00:23:52.040 it's a bit of a face saving, but when

00:23:54.120 someone's admitting defeat, I think you

00:23:56.660 should probably let them save a little

00:23:58.520 face.

00:23:58.900 That's only civilized.

00:24:00.880 Uh, but he, I, so I, I, I was proud that

00:24:04.920 he faced down the critics.

00:24:06.520 There's a major disconnect in the United

00:24:09.920 States where for at least 10 years, the

00:24:13.500 public has been either wary, ignorant, or, or

00:24:18.360 hostile towards the Afghanistan situation.

00:24:21.260 Uh, it, it does not have popular support.

00:24:24.200 It certainly did when it first happened, uh, at

00:24:26.960 that post nine 11 period of hyper patriotism and

00:24:30.880 terrorism mania.

00:24:32.480 Uh, I believe nine out of 10 Americans supported

00:24:35.320 and the Afghanistan war.

00:24:37.500 So, you know, we are responsible to some

00:24:40.520 degree, but, um, certainly over the past

00:24:43.080 decade, it's just, you know, what are we

00:24:45.280 doing there?

00:24:45.700 I don't want to even think about it.

00:24:46.880 Let's get out.

00:24:47.440 So Biden made the right decision and he

00:24:50.620 opposed the mainstream media.

00:24:52.480 He opposed the military industrial complex and

00:24:54.900 he did what the vast majority of the public,

00:24:57.720 including the vast majority of Republicans

00:24:59.360 ultimately wanted.

00:25:00.580 So he kind of overcame polarization.

00:25:04.340 And I think that's actually something you

00:25:06.220 should be given credit for.

00:25:07.520 Yes.

00:25:07.800 Wrote to me and noted that, that, that, that

00:25:09.760 it is, as you say, it is, it is putting out

00:25:11.760 of a ridiculous situation.

00:25:12.960 And as long as the Americans don't have to

00:25:15.240 suffer with the Afghan asylum seekers coming

00:25:17.520 in and raking their daughters as a

00:25:19.840 consequence of this, then, then, then

00:25:21.860 fair enough.

00:25:22.280 But on the other hand, um, it is, it is a,

00:25:26.540 it is a total, a big part of politics and

00:25:29.580 being a significant player on the world stage

00:25:31.740 is seeming powerful and important.

00:25:34.120 And it is a total national humiliation to

00:25:37.900 have for your, for you to go into a country,

00:25:40.300 supposedly establish a, a regime to, um, to,

00:25:45.260 to outlast you.

00:25:46.640 And within no time at all of you withdrawing,

00:25:50.020 the president of the country has fled and, uh,

00:25:53.260 and the country has been taken over by the

00:25:55.080 exact people.

00:25:55.320 I agree, but I don't want to sound like a

00:25:57.420 cuck here, but sometimes you have to admit

00:25:59.240 defeat and move on.

00:26:01.220 And, you know, I'm sorry.

00:26:03.180 I think that is more manly.

00:26:05.180 It was.

00:26:05.780 This nonsense coming from conservatives about

00:26:09.240 like who lost Afghanistan?

00:26:11.940 Why is this so bad?

00:26:13.800 Uh, this is by, this is the liberals did this

00:26:16.280 or whatever.

00:26:16.640 Give me a break.

00:26:17.920 Just face up to the fact that we failed.

00:26:22.360 It's okay to fail.

00:26:24.240 Everyone fails.

00:26:25.220 You have to move on.

00:26:26.520 And if he, and if America, I mean, yes,

00:26:29.400 it's humiliating.

00:26:30.640 I obviously grant you that, but if you

00:26:32.920 continue the humiliation, it's going to get

00:26:35.260 a lot worse.

00:26:36.520 And I think in many ways, Biden, who is

00:26:39.480 not a America first nationalist or

00:26:42.180 whatever, wants America to have a major

00:26:46.780 part in world affairs.

00:26:48.820 He, he is a child of the cold war.

00:26:51.320 He's a child of, in some ways, the age of

00:26:54.540 terrorism of, of rah, rah, rah.

00:26:56.260 America can do everything with the

00:26:57.580 greatest.

00:26:58.080 He is a child of those periods.

00:27:00.360 He does, he, he does not, he's not a Ron

00:27:03.160 Paul isolationist or something.

00:27:04.940 And he recognizes that in order for

00:27:08.460 Washington to have any plausibility to be a

00:27:13.200 major player, if not a unipolar, you know,

00:27:17.340 big kahuna of the globe, which I'm not sure

00:27:20.440 America quite is anymore, but you need to

00:27:24.800 plausibly engage in foreign affairs.

00:27:28.420 You cannot live in this just delusional

00:27:31.560 situation.

00:27:32.300 That's just this endless disaster.

00:27:35.300 And so, I mean, I think both Trump and

00:27:37.940 Biden are responding to American imperial

00:27:41.520 decline.

00:27:42.680 So there was a, a certain kind of high

00:27:45.680 watermark in say the, the, the, the

00:27:49.560 collapse of the cold war in the early to

00:27:52.660 mid nineties, where there was really, and

00:27:55.240 this is the age of Fukuyama is the end of

00:27:57.660 history.

00:27:57.920 There, there was no other plausible

00:28:00.480 alternative to liberal democracy in an

00:28:03.900 American led order.

00:28:05.440 And America was, or at least viewed itself,

00:28:08.160 but was largely viewed by the outside world

00:28:10.340 as the good guys.

00:28:11.700 They just bring us, you know, consumerism

00:28:15.000 and Hollywood movies and music.

00:28:17.560 Cargo cult America.

00:28:19.260 I, I, I agree of course, but I, I'm kind

00:28:22.660 of giving credit where credit's due here.

00:28:25.000 Um, then I think you, you also, 9-11 really

00:28:29.760 changed that.

00:28:30.500 That was kind of like, you know, how do we,

00:28:32.860 you know, we, we thought that we had reached

00:28:34.500 the end of history and then we have this

00:28:36.240 like radical specter of something that's

00:28:39.640 anti this, that's anti in our minds, progress

00:28:43.920 and modern modernity and wealth.

00:28:47.460 How, how do we deal with it?

00:28:49.060 It was, it was blowing our minds.

00:28:50.600 If I could just say, you, you remember the,

00:28:52.480 the, the cynical attitude of people of our

00:28:55.440 generation as teenagers, everything,

00:28:57.840 everything was just, it was about being

00:28:59.540 cynical about everything.

00:29:00.900 Like the Daria, like the, academic, academic

00:29:03.300 agent, who's a YouTuber, has talked about

00:29:05.080 this.

00:29:05.500 I remember Daria.

00:29:06.220 The cartoon Daria, where, where, where

00:29:09.240 you're just mindlessly cynical about

00:29:11.060 everything and nothing is important.

00:29:12.860 Are you describing me here, Ed?

00:29:14.680 No.

00:29:14.900 The black male Gen Xer.

00:29:17.760 Um, and nothing, nothing is important.

00:29:19.940 Nothing, nothing matters.

00:29:21.060 And let's just mock everything and take

00:29:22.620 nothing particularly seriously because

00:29:24.380 life isn't serious anymore because

00:29:25.760 life's over because the battles have

00:29:27.360 been won.

00:29:28.140 It's liberal democracy.

00:29:29.280 Liberal democracy has triumphed.

00:29:30.580 Oh, I see what you're saying.

00:29:31.700 Yeah, I, I think that the flip side of

00:29:34.620 the end of history is Daria, like

00:29:37.080 cynicism.

00:29:37.640 I kind of agree because in some ways

00:29:40.280 there, you know, you have the end of

00:29:42.020 history where it's like, we've won.

00:29:44.260 What else could you possibly want outside

00:29:47.160 of a Gucci handbag and a voting booth

00:29:50.800 and feminism and democracy?

00:29:52.840 This is it.

00:29:53.620 And then the flip side of that is that

00:29:55.800 kind of, you know, Gen X cynicism of,

00:29:59.780 well, you know, God is dead.

00:30:01.840 Nothing matters.

00:30:02.720 It's all bullshit.

00:30:03.880 I, I, I kind of agree.

00:30:05.740 I thought you were accusing me of

00:30:07.040 falling.

00:30:07.440 I mean, I, maybe I fall into that a

00:30:09.100 little bit, but.

00:30:09.780 Well, you did used to wear straps when

00:30:11.140 you were younger.

00:30:11.720 So that's kind of a cynical move.

00:30:13.520 Um, but, uh, but, but, but, uh, yeah,

00:30:16.340 exactly.

00:30:16.800 And then, and then 9-11, you know, it's,

00:30:19.080 it's, it's symbolizes the fact that

00:30:20.980 the symbolized of a broad process that

00:30:22.760 had been happening anyway for a while,

00:30:24.020 which was the increasing prominence of

00:30:25.840 Muslim immigration, including in Europe.

00:30:28.400 Um, and, uh, and then after, and then

00:30:30.420 after 9-11, of course, you have the

00:30:31.640 attack in London, uh, sorry, 2004 in

00:30:34.400 Madrid, 2005 in London, off, off it

00:30:37.000 goes.

00:30:37.740 And suddenly there's, there's a new

00:30:39.140 war.

00:30:39.460 But, but, but also we can't

00:30:41.440 underestimate that, that level of

00:30:43.680 patriotism.

00:30:44.360 So, I mean, again, I was born in

00:30:46.080 1978.

00:30:46.720 I, I certainly kind of came of age in

00:30:49.340 the nineties and that kind of thing.

00:30:51.640 I can remember, I was in New York

00:30:53.480 city during 9-11 and interesting

00:30:56.400 stories to tell.

00:30:57.300 We should maybe do, I, or, you

00:30:59.600 know, I, I should record this in some

00:31:01.000 way, but, um, the kind of

00:31:03.600 patriotism that emerged, the, the

00:31:06.660 unironic, sincere patriotism that

00:31:09.440 emerged even among hipsters was

00:31:12.100 remarkable.

00:31:13.120 Uh, I can remember being, cause I

00:31:15.420 was living in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

00:31:17.220 Uh, I can remember, uh, the young

00:31:19.900 hipsters, people who are my age in

00:31:21.540 their early twenties, holding

00:31:23.260 candlelight vigils with American

00:31:25.520 flags there.

00:31:26.420 I remember just the candles and the,

00:31:28.020 the kind of paper plate underneath to

00:31:30.220 catch the wax.

00:31:31.260 It was a religious like feeling, not

00:31:34.880 not just nationalists, but certainly

00:31:36.380 religious like feeling.

00:31:37.460 And if you said something like, maybe

00:31:40.000 we shouldn't go into Afghanistan

00:31:41.480 because that's the graveyard of

00:31:42.840 empires, you would get some nasty

00:31:45.240 looks.

00:31:46.420 Uh, there was something I, I just saw

00:31:47.880 on Twitter.

00:31:48.460 I, I, I had never seen this before.

00:31:50.260 There was Saturday night live now.

00:31:52.180 Now it is the ultimate just liberal

00:31:54.940 cynical.

00:31:55.440 We hate Trump kind of nonsense.

00:31:57.820 You, you look back 20 years ago

00:32:00.380 during the age of Afghanistan, they

00:32:02.960 are doing this kind of bizarre song

00:32:06.880 about invading Kabul, which they are

00:32:09.560 clearly endorsing and, and kind of

00:32:11.720 riding high on, you know, we're, we're

00:32:14.700 marching in to Kabul.

00:32:16.040 It's, it's unbelievable the change

00:32:18.680 that has occurred over the past 20

00:32:20.120 years.

00:32:20.980 Um, but so I think Biden on some

00:32:24.840 level recognizes this and understands

00:32:27.980 that if the United States is going to

00:32:29.740 have any plausibility, it's going to

00:32:32.080 have to start drawing back.

00:32:34.500 And there's also this thing that I

00:32:37.200 would mention, which I, which I was,

00:32:38.840 I was thinking about last night.

00:32:40.620 It's as a, so America is not

00:32:44.460 plausible.

00:32:45.000 And I think it's increasingly unable

00:32:46.780 to engage in the kind of expansionism

00:32:49.520 that was announced at George W.

00:32:52.280 Bush's second inaugural in 2004 or

00:32:55.520 2005, to be exact, where he said out,

00:32:58.520 he said something to the effect, our

00:33:00.140 strategic interest and our most holy

00:33:04.760 ideals are one.

00:33:07.440 We must spread democracy across the

00:33:09.880 globe.

00:33:10.180 And he did say we will end tyranny in

00:33:12.540 our time.

00:33:13.700 Now that is quite a whopper.

00:33:16.360 I mean, that, that is going to demand

00:33:17.960 the expending, uh, the spending of just

00:33:20.480 trillions of dollars, hundreds of wars,

00:33:23.520 thousands across the globe.

00:33:25.060 It's just, it's just a, it's just a

00:33:26.840 trite, the impossible remark, isn't

00:33:29.340 it?

00:33:29.460 It's like saying a war.

00:33:30.300 No, he actually meant it and it had

00:33:32.920 effect on foreign policy.

00:33:34.340 They invade every single sort of tiny

00:33:37.080 Amazonian tribe or tribe on the

00:33:39.020 Amazon.

00:33:39.560 Obviously it's absurd, but did he

00:33:42.380 actually believe that as a born again

00:33:44.940 Christian?

00:33:46.120 Yes.

00:33:47.180 Did that have effect on American

00:33:50.060 policy?

00:33:51.220 Yes.

00:33:52.140 And I think they certainly wanted to do

00:33:54.660 this to Iran first.

00:33:56.440 Um, they didn't quite get that.

00:33:58.040 Well, I don't think they will get

00:33:59.180 that, but yeah, there was a dream of a

00:34:02.060 unipolar American order that infected

00:34:05.700 the minds of think tankers and military

00:34:09.440 industrial complex people and the media.

00:34:12.780 And it still has, they're the ones who

00:34:15.200 won't give up on the dream.

00:34:16.860 And they're the ones out there while

00:34:18.420 you've had the rise of Islamic terror and

00:34:20.160 while you've had the rise of the new

00:34:21.320 Russia under Putin.

00:34:23.180 Um, and, um, and while you've had the

00:34:25.320 rise of China.

00:34:27.100 Uh, and it's, uh, it's, uh, it's one

00:34:30.220 thing that amazes me though, returning to

00:34:31.640 Afghanistan quickly is, is how quickly the

00:34:35.020 media, um, and, uh, indeed the

00:34:37.440 governments of Western countries seem to

00:34:39.620 have basically accepted that the Taliban

00:34:41.400 is in charge.

00:34:42.880 So the, the, the president has fled and

00:34:46.180 the vice president of Afghanistan has

00:34:48.360 declared himself for the president of

00:34:50.100 Afghanistan and is holding out in an area

00:34:53.420 of land that is not controlled by the Taliban.

00:34:55.520 It's been, it is, it is controlled by the

00:34:57.520 remnant Afghani army and by his people.

00:35:01.420 But you'd think that that would be the

00:35:03.020 recognized Afghan state.

00:35:05.040 Are you, that's how we, I mean, we, we didn't

00:35:07.120 recognize Lenin until Kolchak was finally dead.

00:35:10.120 I mean, we didn't recognize China in

00:35:12.700 so good as knows how long we recognized

00:35:14.580 Chiang Kai-shek.

00:35:15.860 But no, no, even so, it, it, that nobody

00:35:18.280 cares that the Taliban in charge, it's almost

00:35:20.880 like we like it like that.

00:35:22.160 It's like, it makes sense now.

00:35:23.920 It's not complicated and nuanced.

00:35:25.440 It does.

00:35:26.520 And you, you, you have to, you know, that all

00:35:29.640 about George W. Bush idealism just kind of has

00:35:32.300 to be defenestrated and you have to go back

00:35:34.480 to realism where Nixon goes to China and you

00:35:37.500 basically recognize foreign powers and you do

00:35:40.380 not judge them on the base of basis of their,

00:35:43.220 their domestic affairs.

00:35:44.980 That is the fundamental aspect of foreign policy,

00:35:48.460 foreign policy realism.

00:35:49.860 But to go back into this, I, I, I don't, I, I am

00:35:54.200 proud of Joe Biden just taking his lumps and

00:35:57.420 moving on.

00:35:58.100 I am.

00:35:59.020 That being said, I, I don't think that this is

00:36:01.600 a, uh, we should think of this as like Joe

00:36:04.720 Biden's a nationalist or like America first has

00:36:07.720 won or whatever, even though Trump after

00:36:11.220 expanding things in 2017, then actually did set

00:36:14.720 this ball in motion to his credit.

00:36:17.400 Uh, and he, I don't know if he was

00:36:19.840 would have followed through like Biden, but at

00:36:21.820 the least he got, he set the ball in motion.

00:36:24.440 Uh, I don't think this is America becoming

00:36:26.800 more nationalist or patriotic or America first

00:36:30.420 is one.

00:36:31.080 I think basically it's going to be more inward

00:36:34.640 looking because we can't plausibly project that

00:36:38.580 kind of George W. Bush idealism.

00:36:40.620 So we're going to be more inward looking.

00:36:43.260 And I think that might be kind of worse in the

00:36:47.040 sense that we're not going to be attacking

00:36:49.300 terrorists.

00:36:50.300 What was the line from the Bush era?

00:36:52.560 We're going to fight them over there.

00:36:54.020 So we don't have to fight them here or whatever.

00:36:56.020 I mean, totally ridiculous sentiment, but I

00:36:58.800 think now it's, we can't fight them over there

00:37:01.840 anymore.

00:37:02.340 So we're going to fight them here.

00:37:03.800 And I think there's going to be this kind of

00:37:06.200 chickens coming home to roost.

00:37:07.680 Your country is, is polarized and coming apart.

00:37:10.840 So there's going to be a lot of fighting where

00:37:12.440 you are anyway.

00:37:13.620 So exactly.

00:37:15.220 Uh, yeah, uh, there's, there's, there's, you've got,

00:37:17.180 you've got the woke mob, you've got the QL, QAnon mob,

00:37:21.060 you've got various mobs that things are generating

00:37:23.000 into.

00:37:23.440 So I don't see you, you're on all fronts if you're

00:37:25.860 also trying to fight in Afghanistan.

00:37:27.700 So maybe that's what he's preparing for.

00:37:30.020 Maybe that's what he has to do.

00:37:31.420 I mean, you've got people that are trying to break

00:37:33.040 up States in America.

00:37:34.180 You've got people in Oregon that want to secede

00:37:36.540 from Oregon and become part of Idaho.

00:37:38.520 You've got all kinds of things going on.

00:37:40.620 Um, so, so, um, perhaps that's what he's, he's, um,

00:37:44.220 he has in mind, although I'm not sure he has much

00:37:46.400 in mind.

00:37:46.900 I mean, mind wise, I think he's basically gone.

00:37:49.600 And, uh, just listening to conservative media.

00:37:52.640 I mean, he's not, it's not that bad.

00:37:55.340 The guy's 80 or something.

00:37:58.460 And yeah, but we have geriatric leadership.

00:38:02.360 So did the Soviet union in the seventies.

00:38:04.380 Like it's, it's just the way old empire does stuff.

00:38:08.240 We're going to probably have a boomer or even silent

00:38:10.500 gen president in 2024, 2028.

00:38:13.980 A silent gen president.

00:38:15.840 How old is a silent gen?

00:38:18.140 We might have them at like literally in the nineties.

00:38:21.200 We're going to make, we're going to make like Brezhnev

00:38:24.000 various Soviet leaders look like.

00:38:25.780 A comeback, a comeback for Jimmy Carter.

00:38:30.140 I was, I was, I was, I was quite saddened to discover

00:38:34.300 that Jimmy Carter's vice president, that his vice president

00:38:37.100 had died because of course he could have had a bit

00:38:39.360 of a comeback otherwise.

00:38:40.440 But Walter Mondale.

00:38:43.500 Right.

00:38:44.720 Yeah.

00:38:45.620 So I, I just, again, I, I, I do think that we've reached

00:38:49.460 an end of a paradigm and this is the full end

00:38:54.240 of the nine 11 paradigm, some 20 years on.

00:38:59.440 And I don't know what the next paradigm is going to be.

00:39:02.640 There is going to be one.

00:39:03.720 There's always going to be one dominant force

00:39:07.400 that is going to define the globe.

00:39:11.540 And is it going to define the United States?

00:39:13.660 I don't know what that is going to be.

00:39:15.100 I don't know if the elite quite know what that's going

00:39:18.040 to be, but I do think it's going to be worse because

00:39:20.960 it's going to be more inward directed.

00:39:23.680 And so America as this, you know, shining city on a

00:39:27.680 hill that spreads its values abroad, that's over.

00:39:31.680 And it's now, I think we now are going to kind of turn

00:39:35.180 on ourselves and that could be very nasty, not, not

00:39:39.700 necessarily violent or, and I, I don't think there's

00:39:44.220 any truth to like secession movements or, or something

00:39:47.540 like that, but, um, or, or any teeth to those

00:39:50.940 movements rather.

00:39:52.040 But, uh, I do think it's going to be nasty.

00:39:55.460 We're going to have to figure out what it means to be

00:39:58.360 American.

00:39:59.880 And that just, that, that just, that, that just

00:40:03.440 sounds trite to figure out what it means to America.

00:40:05.460 I don't think you're going to figure out what it means

00:40:07.780 to be American.

00:40:08.500 I don't think doing it will help.

00:40:10.500 I just think you're going to turn on each other.

00:40:11.980 Um, that's what I'm saying.

00:40:14.140 I just finished it there.

00:40:15.040 There's going to be a battle for defining what an

00:40:16.920 American is.

00:40:18.300 No, we're not spreading, uh, going abroad.

00:40:21.300 We're going to try to define what that means.

00:40:24.460 Okay.

00:40:24.900 And the last time, the last time you weren't going

00:40:27.080 abroad, the last time you were isolationist, what

00:40:29.420 America was, was the great Anglo-Saxon land abroad.

00:40:33.340 That's what it was.

00:40:34.560 And that's what was, that was what was deliberately

00:40:36.220 promoted in the twenties and whatever, when you were,

00:40:38.400 when you were isolationist, that you are the great

00:40:41.260 Anglo-Saxon homeland.

00:40:42.900 So I can't see that being promoted again, considering

00:40:45.580 your current demographics.

00:40:47.360 So therefore, I think more likely is an element of you

00:40:50.360 will promote that kind of thing.

00:40:52.000 And there'll be just a general patchwork breakup.

00:40:55.480 Well, an element, i.e. like me.

00:40:58.840 I mean, I, I don't think many people promoting that.

00:41:03.080 I think there's going to be the promotion of a kind of

00:41:05.860 post-Trump MAGA conservatism, which is going to be just

00:41:10.100 increasingly wacky and increasingly, uh, non-white and

00:41:15.580 certain non-straight actually, which is what you clearly see

00:41:19.280 among MAGA right now.

00:41:21.580 Um, but they're going to be fiercely, insanely, religiously

00:41:25.940 patriotic, and they're going to involve in a kind, they're going

00:41:28.760 to devolve into this kind of post-evangelical Trump cults or

00:41:34.200 something like this.

00:41:35.720 Um, I think there, I think the, the, the wokeness, I, I, the, the tendency

00:41:42.620 of wokeness to become more radical and more, maybe even violent, but

00:41:48.260 certainly more nasty, uh, I, I think is also going to happen.

00:41:52.720 But I think it's going to be a, a, a battle between those camps and

00:41:56.820 not sure, uh, which side I'm on.

00:42:02.400 Well, you did vote.

00:42:04.440 What?

00:42:05.800 Well, I'm not, I'm, I'm obviously not a leftist, but, um, I, I, the,

00:42:12.480 like the MAGA religion is, uh, going to lose and massively stupid.

00:42:20.200 So I'm not going to, uh, side with them.

00:42:23.060 Well, no, no, no, I'm not sure it's going to lose, but it, it is

00:42:26.800 massively stupid, yeah.

00:42:28.140 But then on, but then on the other hand, um, one of the ways that you

00:42:30.840 dominate others is through negative, ethnocentrism.

00:42:33.400 So if you believe your opponent is satanic, um, then, then this has a

00:42:37.620 sense, this will galvanize, uh, the more gullible, uh, and not

00:42:41.800 trickle among you.

00:42:42.720 So it is, you can see there's method in their madness.

00:42:45.420 Yeah, sure.

00:42:48.020 We'll see.

00:42:48.740 Uh, again, as the chickens come home to roost and America comes home

00:42:52.420 again, that just means we're going to be, uh, very nasty towards our

00:42:57.400 fellow man or woman or they or transsexual, transhumanist entity.

00:43:11.140 But at least in Afghanistan from now on, if you say something that upsets a

00:43:16.720 woman, she won't be able to give you a nasty look because her face will be

00:43:20.500 covered up.

00:43:27.400 It's not too bad.

00:43:28.460 It's not too bad.

00:43:29.460 Right.

00:43:30.120 .

00:43:38.380 We'll be right back.

00:44:08.380 We'll be right back.

RadixJournal - August 23, 2021

The Graveyard of Empire

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