Episode 001 | Politely Up Yours - Democracy Is a Disaster

Politely, Up Yours!

Dave Rael and Joe Macaluso dive into the nature of democracy, government, power, and corruption

Chapters:

• 0:01 - Welcome and Hello
• 0:59 - Inflammatory statement and opening to the discussion: Democracy is a disaster
• 3:52 - Incentives, alignment, intent, and reality
• 6:32 - Distinguishing levels of government
• 8:23 - Legalization of marijuana and the criminality of possession
• 9:42 - Citizens United, Bernie Sanders, and the power to overturn
• 10:54 - The nature of democracy
• 11:52 - “A democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” - Gary Strand
• 12:24 - The purpose and nature of government
• 16:02 - Rational and legitimate fears
• 19:17 - The concentration of force as response to the fear of force
• 21:55 - Intent of the US Constitution
• 22:46 - How government finances itself and use of force
• 25:50 - Dave compares government to Mafia
• 26:59 - Pragmatic concerns in public vs. private sector
• 29:33 - Government making things more effective and efficient - reality or fiction?
• 31:14 - The myth of the free market and "money in politics" vs. "politics in money"
• 33:31 - Decision makers vs. freedom, vigilante justice, and anarchy
• 37:21 - The Star Wars story of the rise and reign of Palpatine as illustrative of reality
• 40:15 - Elections as popularity contests
• 42:22 - Evolution of societal structure
• 46:39 - The utility or futility of trying to use the system to make improvements

Resources:

• Decmoracy According to Wikipedia
• Bernie Sanders on Money In Politics and Overturning Citizens United
• Gary Strand on Democracy, Wolves, and Lamb
• Government According to Wikipedia
• Government as Monopoly on Violence
• The Federalist No. 51 - James Madison - "If men were angels ..."
• United States Contitution
• The Laws of Thermodynaics
• Local Maximum