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A
And so I actually said this in 2008. I said that the United States in 2008, so two decades ago, should have hit China with a nuclear bomb completely with no warning. Just hit him with a nuclear bomb. No one should be allowed to hold high office unless they have been a successful international businessman because you do not understand the world until you understand international capitalism, if you will. So I think, unfortunately, universal basic income will exist. It'll be very low, and the world will be unrecognizable in 40 years.
B
Okay, guys, welcome back to the show. We got Marquette today, special guest. Been in the social media game for a long time. Been in the business world for a long time as well. Thanks for coming on today, Marquette.
A
Thank you for having me.
B
Yeah, it's. It's been cool seeing your journey, man, and definitely were an inspiration to me early on. So just want to give you flowers off the rip.
A
I appreciate that and shout out to you. I see you have a huge following.
B
Yeah, been grinding, man. 2,000 episodes in three years. But what's the latest with you, man? Did you watch the Manosphere documentary that came out last week?
A
I did, I did. It was a curious thing. Taught me a little bit more. You'd think I'd know about these guys, but some of them I've met, others I've seen online. Some have reached out for collaboration. And at some level, I was kind of impressed in that some people were very straightforward, like, hey, this is what I do. I do it for money. And other folks, you know, things seem like a little plastic. But one thing that I did appreciate, and I hope others do, too, is that there were young men who felt like they were getting some benefit and some guidance. And at the end of the day, if you can help someone closer to happiness or success, that's a good thing. But obviously there are going to be things that are a little different for me, things that I don't quite agree with. But it was a neat little documentary. It was entertaining, no doubt.
B
Absolutely. Do you feel like the manosphere in the red pill movement has gotten a little out of hand lately? Where do you stand on that?
A
Well, I don't know how much you've been tracking. I know you said you've been listening for years, but from the very beginning, I always said that I'm hashtag no pill, and I never meddled in these terminologies that reference online groups. I've always been staunchly focused on the value of meeting in real life. And also, I don't think that red pill has ever had real ideology and thereby been a movement with a leader that's heading in a particular direction. So in my view, it's always been a bit lost and misguided and really it's been a haven for young men who are angry. And this is not to suggest that the folks who call themselves red Pill, that some of the speakers in the movement aren't intelligent or insightful, or that they don't have real grievances. But no, frankly, I was just looked at it as a group of online folks who get together to complain.
B
Yeah, I think during the pandemic it really ramped up. I even gravitated towards it for, for a bit. But now I agree. I think you got to be careful with the labels. I try not to associate myself with any movement, religion or, you know, when it comes to dating, stuff like that, I think it can get dangerous. Menu for a bias.
A
You know, I can dig it.
B
Yeah. So any big. I guess you already mentioned the takeaways from that documentary, so let's move on from that. Have you been covering the. I think you saw a couple videos of this. You were covering the Iran Israel war, giving your opinion on that, right?
A
Yeah. That's a curious one. Ironically, I found myself in it at some level. I have an annual drip trip in Asia, take a group, about 40 guys out there. We get make custom suits, handmade custom shoes as well. And anyways, I was going to Nigeria for some philanthropic things I participate in. And rather than just take a long flight from essentially got a fly to Hong Kong to Lagos, I said I'll stop over in Dubai, spend a couple of days just to break up the trip. And sure enough, your boy Trump and Bibi kicked off their war and I ended up getting trapped there. I would have covered it anyways, but it was from a different angle and it taught me so much and validated things that we already have suspicion of. I think we all know that government is perhaps not honoring the things that they speak to in terms of freedom of speech or the idea that government is for the public good, or that government collects your taxes for the purpose of providing for the people. We know they're a bit shady, but seeing it from Dubai while being in a high rise where a hotel within a three minute walk got turned into an ashtray and then seeing it on social media that they were saying that oh no, no, it's completely safe and you could tell that they were paying influencers, some very popular influencers, to spin the narrative. Because let's be real, Dubai has a terrible Climate, it's unreasonably hot most of the time. And the only reason you go there is because it's very well marketed and they really focus on all the superlatives, the best hotel, the seven star hotel, the tallest building. And so they attract you there with these fairly surface things. And many of the other things you find in Dubai are contrary to Islam. But anyways, I was there because it's quite a nice place. And more importantly, I had a stopover and I took a few meetings there and just to see the level of propaganda and lies and the threats that the UAE government was giving a number of people, myself included, that if you would speak to the truth, you would be jailed for a minimum of two years and have a significant fine. It was really saddening to see such a thing.
B
Yeah, yeah, they don't mess around over there. How long were you trapped there for?
A
That's a good question. I'd have to check back on it. I think I arrived around the 24th, and then I had to pay an extraordinary amount of money to be extracted because the United States government, unlike, say, the Russian government or even the Indian government, was not getting Americans out of there. And I wouldn't even. You know, I hate to say it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were hoping that there would be an American casualty so that they could drive the American population to support a war that is largely futile.
B
Wow, thank God you had some money laying around. Money.
A
In that case, bruh, I'm trying to tell you, you know, the fact is what they did was they privatized the safety of American citizens. If you are a middle class, or worse American in the Middle east, you're pretty much trapped. And it was really sad to see. And this is also true of the Brits, too. I had a colleague there who was a British national. He and his lady, you know, startup guy, you know, just kind of putting things together and they were trapped for a long time. But strangely, the Russian government and the Indian government sent charters.
B
Really?
A
Yeah, yeah, they chartered. They also had some commercial flights going in. It was very bizarre because the Russians, I get it, you know, it's a developed country, but India, we always have so many bad things to say about India. But they seem to care about their citizens. Right? They seem to care about their citizens at a level that the American government doesn't, which, you know, you would think the Indians could stand to lose if you don't. They have, like, in excess of a billion people.
B
I never know what to believe when the media Talks about countries. That's why I think it's best to travel like you are around the world and form your own opinions. Right?
A
Yeah. And so much of it is shocking. I think that a lot of reasonable people, you can at least agree with the language of Make America great Again. In fact, I think we should make it greater than it's ever been. But when you travel around the world, you see how far behind we are. And unfortunately, we observe that the Trump administration, which is not necessarily unique in America except to the degree at which they're stealing, they use public funds, but when the profits come in, the profits are privatized. And I don't mind you being a psychotic warlord, imperialist, if you're going to bring back some of the booty or some of the spoils of war and distribute it in the country, whether it's through infrastructure or through direct payments to the citizens. But in the case of Trump, it just seems like it's only his family and his synagogue that benefits.
B
They made a lot of money, allegedly, this time around. Yeah, I. I do see a massive shift in his first term compared to this one.
A
Yeah, it's.
B
It's pretty disheartening. I. I used to support him. I. I don't think I'd ever say I'd support him these days.
A
No. And I made a lot of money. Yeah, I made a lot of money in his first term, and the country was liquid, so.
B
Yeah, yeah, very. Did very well, you know, in crypto and stocks and business that first term. This term. I don't know, man. It's looking rough. It's looking very rough. So you're not in favor of the Iran war, right?
A
Not at all. It is yet another fraudulent war that is being conducted by someone who is consistently incompetent in whatever they pursue, wildly dishonest. He mentioned that he would use the tariffs and cut checks to Americans. Those checks have not materialized. I've paid tariff fees myself personally, whether it was on imported art or business items. I've shut down three businesses ranging from. Yeah, so it's very angering, in fact, because he's penalized every class of Americans except the super wealthy with no plan. I always remind people, make America great is a fine saying, but you cannot make America great without making Americans great. Our culture is backward. That's across most of the racial categories. And our educational attainment is declining, especially among males. And so as you cause these issues with the immigration policy, we're not even importing intellectual talent. So now we have to deal with the. Inept Americans who have gone to public schools that have been insufficient and are basically benefiting on the accomplishments of our forefathers. You know, the Benjamin Franklin type of American is no more. You know, the one that's industrious and innovative. And sometimes we import talent, like, say, an Elon Musk who's a racist South African. But even he has underperformed because you look at his cars and they're fine cars, except when you line them up next to a Chinese car and then you realize, like, oh, wow, like this car is superior and it's way lower cost. And so we claim to be capitalist, and I am a capitalist, I'm an ethical capitalist, but we claim to be capitalist, but we don't allow for any competition. So there are so many lies going on. And unfortunately, I think that we are nearing a time in which action will be required on the part of the American people if we would like to even call ourselves a free people.
B
I have a Tesla. It's a very linear bar. Mine, yeah, mine has a lot of issues. I'm down over 50 grand on it. So I think you're like 20k now. He keeps lowering the price on the Model 3. I mean, if think about it, if you're selling a car for 20k, how much are you spending to make that? You know what I mean?
A
You know, I have no problem with good profit margins, but I do have a major problem with not delivering on reasonable quality.
B
Yeah, I like what you said about ethical capitalism, because I would call myself that too. I want to deliver value on anything I sell, but with these big conglomerates, it doesn't seem like they give a about that. Right.
A
And it's bleeding through the whole of American culture. You know, one thing I used to appreciate is, say you end up in Cairo, Egypt or Amman, Jordan, you'd be like, man, these people are liars. They're liars and scammers. I'm happy to go back to America where things are more predictable, people are straightforward and honest. But increasingly, the United States is Cairo, Egypt, it is Amman, Jordan. Everyone's lying and stealing and cheating, the government included. And you know, unless we do something, we are going to be reduced to a third world country. And it's not because we're importing the third world, which we have done at some level, but rather it's because what it is to be American has completely fallen apart. Americans used to have a savings rate. Americans used to believe in being innovative and being entrepreneurs and not relying on the government and handouts. Americans used to believe that there was something holding us together. We used to wave the American flag instead of all these other ones. There used to be assimilation and expectation, whereas now that's not the case. And we have white supremacists, not even the impressive kind of white supremacists. We have, like, degenerate ones running the country. And they're not even developing white people. They don't even have a plan for white people. So we're in quite dark times because we're blaming the immigrants. You look at who's running Google, is that a white Anglo Saxon Protestant who are running our major corporations, especially the innovative ones? Are those white Anglo Saxon Protestants? No. So being American is a little bit bigger than this narrow understanding that you might get from a Pete Hegseth, who's a dimwitted white supremacist. So I think that we have a lot to do in terms of defining America or what it is to be American, ensuring assimilation and also providing our populace with the education, tools, conditioning, culture, and values so that they can actually enjoy the land of opportunity, but more importantly, make our collective, our country, a strong place that will continue to dominate the world. Not in a bad way, but in a good way.
B
Hmm, well said. Well said. Yeah, they really blaming the immigrants worked phenomenally, I think. Both my parents are immigrants. You know, I attribute a lot of my success to that immigrant mentality, but, yeah, they pulled that off, man. They. They really put a lot of blame on the immigrants. People hate hearing that word. Now.
A
Which country are you folks from?
B
Mom's from China and dad's from Ireland. He grew up on a farm. Really tough lifestyle. And then my mom came here with $20 in her pocket, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and didn't know any English. And now they're both made, self made. That's an American dream, you know.
A
Hell, that's your dream in any country. Becoming a millionaire is a dream anywhere. Yeah, you know, and the Chinese are really impressive folks. I've been to China many times and in fact, was going to do a deal with the Chinese. Actually, I did a deal with the Chinese government, and it fell apart during COVID which is yet another fascinating thing. But the Chinese are really a remarkably impressive people. And I think that at this time, if we don't try to learn something from them and compete with them in appropriate ways, then we will be eradicated quite swiftly. Like, they're already ahead. And our white supremacist leaders keep lying about that fact.
B
Ahead in what regard?
A
Well, let's take first. Culture. I talk about culture. A lot. They're Han Chinese. Mostly everyone speaks Mandarin. Some folks speak Cantonese. They're on one page. You do have some level of dissent, but mostly everyone is like, wow, you know, since the 1980s and the Deng Xiaoping economic reforms, we've all done really well. You've removed millions of people out of poverty. And then when you look at the cost of living, it's quite low. You look at things like real estate. They don't use real estate as something to speculate on and grow wealth. They just use real estate as housing. You know, you just live in your house. You pay for your house and live in it. So in terms of quality of life, in terms of culture and homogeneity, those are strong advantages. Whereas in, say, the United States, you have heterogeneity in the worst way. Because we don't even agree. Forgive the fact that we look different. We don't even agree on what it is to be American. We don't agree on values. If someone gets elected that we don't like, then the liberals say that they're going to move to Canada. So having a country where people actually mostly are on the same page is a huge advantage. That's why Iran is going to be such a problem, because the lies have been that Iran has a lot of folks who are dissenting, and this is, quite frankly, not the case. And the more that we bomb schools of girls, they're going to come together. But just to wind it down, the Chinese, their tech stack is really impressive. So many years ago, let's say circa 2011, 2014, at the time, I was living in South Korea, so I'd transit through China a ton. Number one, we know their productive capacity is unreal. And that's what allowed us to win World War II, is the fact that we were. We had a significant manufacturing base. You go through the Chinese airport, Pudong, and they're selling iPhones. IPhones that they are iPhones but are not iPhones. They're perfect replicas. So they know how to copy things. And I think in the west, we had the arrogance to think that the Chinese, they don't think for themselves. They're not innovators. They don't have the intellectual property. They can just copy the intellectual property. But then there came a point where it turned out that, no, apparently they can think and they're great at copying and they have a huge manufacturing base and they make things at low cost. So, for example, I remember circa in between 2011, 2014, I was there with my assistant and we're in Beijing and I went to this particular suit maker and we get into a taxi, which was a dd, right? Because Uber went to China and essentially failed. And so they used dd, they closed their markets to competition, which is kind of smart. And in this DD they had a heads up display for the driver and it had all of the same technology that I had in the brand new Rolls Royce that I owned. I was like, this is essentially an Uber driver. How does he have an infotainment that's as good as the infotainment I have on a car that's well over 300k. Like, how's that make sense? How's that affordable? And then I went back to China and this time I went on a little tour because I was doing business there. But I remember getting to Shanghai and I was in a train station, but it was bigger than any American airport I'd ever been to. It didn't even look like a train station. Everything was sparkling. And not to mention we get on the train. I wanted to take a nap because I was exhausted. The Chinese and shout out to the Chinese, very hardworking people I'd flown in, they had already set up this like, number of cities. They're going to take me to a part of the Belt and Road initiative. I'll get into that in a moment. But I wanted to take a nap on the train. I get on the train, close my eyes and then we're there. And my assistant's waking me up and I'm like, oh, okay. That's how trains work here. Like they, they move. And I think that train is a representation of them speeding past the west. And you've seen videos of Chinese construction, but with regards to the Belt and Road Initiative and the fact that they have their tentacles throughout the world, namely in resource rich places like Africa, and they've also offered loans and have the African nation put up their port or their rail system or their airport as collateral. These are very clever deals. Some would call them predatory, but in other cases, in addition to doing that, they send people, you know, they send engineers, they send construction workers, and they also have significant Chinese populations around the world. There's scarcely any place that you can go and not find a Chinatown. You can go to Zambia and find a Chinatown. So the strategic efforts of the Chinese government has already paid dividends and they're planning for the future. And so the Belt and Road initiative that China's put forward, we don't see anything comparable that's being created by the United States. And though at some level the Chinese may be neocolonial in Africa. That's not mostly how the Africans view it. Whereas if the United States wants to come in, they're definitely suspicious. And we see that recently, I think it was Uganda rejected an offer of significant amount of funding for some health initiative from the Trump administration. So, you know, the Chinese are doing a great job at all of the metrics you should seek to advance on. And then the trade war, they had a trade surplus. During a trade war with Donald Trump, they had a trade surplus. So they essentially showed, like, you think you're the center, you think you're the Middle Kingdom, but we're the Middle Kingdom and we don't actually need you. So the Trump administration and the Westerners in general, they have a lot of tough talk to China, but they never engage them directly. They've engaged the Russians rather aggressively. They've engaged the Iranians rather aggressively. But the Chinese, they kind of just talk about them, but don't do anything. And they're losing. When I say they, I mean the west collectively is losing badly.
B
Yeah. China plans 100 years in advance. Right. They think long term, you could see it playing out now. I really do think there's a good chance they. They pass us in almost every aspect economically, I mean, culture, like you said. I feel like they already have at this point, which. Which isn't too hard these days.
A
Right, Right.
B
Yeah. China, man. So do you see them as the big threat, the biggest threat in terms of other countries to America, or do you see them more as an ally? Because I know you're doing a lot of business out there.
A
You know, I've not done much business out there since, at least in terms of software. Software is where I made my career, and that's where I was doing my business before. Now I've done business with China in terms of tangibles. And there's no doubt that if you, as an individual or as a multinational corporation, want to succeed, you're going to have to engage the Chinese. So in as much as that's the case, they're not an enemy to you as an individual or as a multinational corporation currently. But if you are one who believes in the American nation state as something special and you believe it should dominate, then there's no doubt that China is the single biggest threat to American hegemony. And the only thing about China that has not yet been proven is their military might. And all of our estimates have suggested that they have an inferior number of aircraft carriers, et cetera. However, our assessment of Iran's capacity has Also been off. And when you look at America's engagements in the last half century, you know, how many has America won? You know, Vietnam didn't go so well. We replaced the Taliban with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Libya was kind of easy work, but we don't have a lot of W's against significant competitors. And so I actually said this in 2008. I said that the United States in 2008, so damn near two decades ago, should have hit China with a nuclear bomb completely with no warning. Just hit him with a nuclear bomb. And you say, well, why is that, Marquette? Because if you engage China with conventional warfare, you have to remember at the end of World War II, there are enough Chinese citizens, nationals, that if they held hands, they could wrap around the planet Earth three and a half times. Obviously, their population has grown significantly since then, while white folks in America, who are the majority, they don't even have their birth rate at replacement. Right? It was like at 1.8, 1.9. So if you engage a conventional war, we saw that we were able to thrive in World War II due to our productive capacity, which relies on people, but also capacity pre existing factories and things like that, which we've already outsourced to China. And so you can't outproduce them. In the case of, say, the Russians, they produced an inferior tank, but they could produce a higher number of tanks so that they can contend with the Germans who had superior technology. We're in a situation where the Chinese are kind of positioned as the Germans because they might have superior technology in certain areas of military weapons, but if they didn't, they could certainly outproduce us. And if you look in the Iran situation right now, they're engaging asymmetrical warfare. And their biggest asset is the fact that they have a stockpile. They have a significant stockpile, and there's no doubt that China will have a significant stockpile. So assuming that we're not using nuclear weapons, China will have more people, more human lives to sacrifice. They will have more productive capacity to produce weapons, conventional weapons. And I truly believe that the Chinese, like most homogenous countries, they're fighting for blood and soil. And there's just a greater willingness to sacrifice life versus the United States, which is generally separated by a large ocean from all of the theaters of war that we've been in previously. So I think the Chinese would be more willing to separ. Sacrifice life. And they have billions of people too, so they could lose a billion and still have more people than we do. Yeah, that's Kind of funny.
B
So if China, if and when China invades Taiwan. Right, yeah. Do you think America should get involved with that?
A
Number one, you have to define a specific outcome. So just broadly in the sense of what is ethical and what is right. Objectively speaking, not as an American, not as a nationalist or a patriot or anything like that. If you look at the history, I think it's very clear that Taiwan does belong to China. Right. If we consider General Chiang Kai Shek and his retreat and you know, was he Chinese? And so if he was fighting to take over mainland China and he retreated to Taiwan, and Taiwan wasn't currently controlled by any other entity, any other country, then reasonably we'd have to assume that that essentially is China and they were only protected by the United States, which is a world away. So I think ethically Taiwan does belong to the Chinese and most of the people there are Han Chinese and they speak Mandarin or Cantonese or some other language that sounds nothing like English. Right. So I think that it'll be a great asset to the Chinese. Right. They, they do a lot with. Was it semiconductor? Semiconductors. Is that what Taiwan's now? Chips, Right, okay, yeah, chips, yeah. So they're, they're really important for the high tech industry globally. So if I was China, I would want it and I would surely find the ideal time to take it. Now, the thing that has been fascinating about the Chinese versus Westerners is that the Chinese haven't been aggressive in the same way. But there's no doubt that at some point they will take it. And when it's taken, I don't think the west is going to do anything except put out propaganda. I don't think they're going to move a muscle. I don't think they're going to move a muscle at all.
B
We're good at that, aren't we?
A
Propaganda. Yeah, we're great at propaganda. Not as good at war.
B
Yeah, yeah. When did you start catching onto the propaganda? Was it before social media? Was it kind of recently? When did you feel like you started raising an eyebrow?
A
You know what I don't think that I really started to comprehend until I started doing international business, which is why I've stated many times that no one should be allowed to hold high office unless they have been a successful international businessman. Because you do not understand the world until you understand international capitalism, if you will. Because the truth is, most of what we're observing, what you might call war, what you might call international relations, these are all things related to commerce. The biggest issue right now is The Strait of Hormuz. Which is what? The passing of goods. That's all it is, the passing of goods. And so you'll be very poorly informed if you're say, like a Barack Obama. Not to say Trump is well informed. I mean, he knows how to make money for his family in his synagogue. But Barack Obama, I remember when he put in some policies, I was early on in my tech business, and he put in a number of policies that were very detrimental to me as a young entrepreneur. And I was just thinking, why would he do this? And I think at some level it's just because he lacks experience and knowledge, because he's not run a business. For example, when he had a requirement with regards to health insurance, I had to reduce a number of employees from being full time to part time or to being contractors because I could not afford to pay out certain benefits in terms of health insurance.
B
Yeah. So Obamacare, right?
A
Yeah. And even for myself, I had to pay a fine for not having insurance. I'm like, I could run through a wall. I'm in my early 20s, I exercise every day. I can run through a wall. What do I need health insurance for? So even to this day, I've never even had a cavity. So the fact that he took away choice, he took away freedom, he tried to become the CEO of everyone else's company, yet he'd never been the CEO of his own corporation. It was obvious that he'd make missteps. And with Trump, I've even studied him. I'm like, you know, I've had to shut down several businesses due to his tariffs. I was like, why would he do something? I thought he was pro business. Often when racism gets mixed in, all bets are off. But one thing that was really obvious to me is that real estate is a unique business that involves a lot of speculation, huge amounts of debt and leverage. It's not really bolts and nuts, meat and potato business business. There's a lot of bs, lying and bankruptcy and all these things involved. In the real estate market, it's connected to so many things, Right. The bond market and interest rates and the Federal Reserve. Whereas, you know, if you sell something physical, it is more of a straightforward thing. And because Trump also got into selling his brand, I think that he forgot that much of the real world is operating on tangible items. You know, like people are selling, like, real things. They have to pay real money to get the items. They can't do a, a real estate deal and put down 4% and then get a, a multi million dollar 100 million asset having put down 4%. That's not the way a lot of the businesses in the world work. They're not over leveraged. That. Which is why you also don't have the same bubble situation where real estate is cyclical and it's crashing periodically.
B
Yep.
A
So I think that was the issue. And then also, of course, there's greed and there's a lack of true nationalism. Like, for example, Trump is a despicable charact. One, he's a recent immigrant. Number two, all of his wives seem to be immigrants. And I think it's really bizarre to be a white American in the most advanced country that has ever existed. And you cannot find a perfectly good white woman in these United States of America. You're the majority. Why can't you find a white one? Why do you have to keep going to a foreign country all the while while having a wife who speaks broken English? You keep disparaging immigrants. And me, I'm not pro illegal immigrant. I'm anti illegal immigrant. In fact, I think that we should only skim the cream of the crop from around the world. Only take the best people from around the world. But I just find it to be very hypocritical that you have one. You're conservative, You've been married and divorced three times. It was really embarrassing. But you have a wife who is a recent immigrant, still can't speak English, and then he elevated her to run sessions at the United Nations. I mean, the level of crony capitalism and, you know, just fraud is unparalleled.
B
They made a move. They made a movie about her.
A
Right.
B
I didn't watch it, but yeah.
A
No one did. Right.
B
Yeah. Well, that just shows, man, if you're Marin. I mean, this whole passport bro thing is hot right now. American Woman, I mean, that's a whole nother podcast. But yeah, even the President is the. You're right. Not.
A
That's a good American woman. Yeah, he is a passport bro. That's a good point. You may. I never thought of it like that. Trump's the greatest passport bro. Joe.
B
Yeah, man, that's. That's where we're at right now. The feminist movement is, I think even I can agree on this, has infiltrated the minds of a lot of women and made it harder to date for the average Joe. I mean, Trump's not an average Joe, but.
A
Right.
B
I guess made it harder for every man. Right. It's probably affected even you to a certain degree.
A
Probably much less than most people. But yeah. No, for me, it just causes me mild Disgust periodically. When I watch social media, that's about the extent of it. But yes, it's a poison that spreads across the entire world. You can find it because social media is what spreads the pathogen. And social media is accessible to everyone. And it is something that if the leaders in a given society are not taking a significant effort to manage nomophobia, that is addiction to your phone, and then social media, which can be detrimental to the psyche of, certainly of children, even adults, then we will all suffer and the world will be backwards. That's one of the main reasons we find addiction. Declining birth rate in the West. Right. It's because women are living in unnatural ways and then they start to behave. Excuse me, they. They get a lot of information that causes them to live in unnatural ways, which is why they do not want to procreate. And I think we can all agree that, you know, life and love is good and, you know, death and, you know, dying out as a species or as a racial category is generally a sign of failure.
B
Yeah, yeah. You mentioned white nationalists earlier. So for the first time in history, the birth rate of white babies is below 50%. It's 49% now. So you see a lot of these guys freaking out about that. What's your stance on that? Do you. Do you think that affects the identity of America? When the percentage of white babies being born keeps dropping, it will no doubt
A
affect the racial composition from a percentage standpoint. But I think the whites of today are no more the whites of yesterday decades. Then you could say the Italians of today are the Romans of the past or the Egyptians of today are the Egyptians of the past. In all three of the aforementioned cases, we find that those who occupy those lands in the modern day are very inferior to their forefathers. So for that reason, I don't think America is going to suffer at any significant level because the white birth rate is declining, because white people have not been developing themselves and their culture has been in decline. However, I think that in observing the declining birth rate, it reeks of something that will bleed into other civilizations and societies. We see it in South Korea as well, in Japan and other places. And if we don't try to learn from what is going on, then we're going to get that problem everywhere.
B
Yeah. So you see it as a big issue, and the only way to counter it for the moment is immigration. Right. Keep importing people, but then we're not people.
A
No, there's no doubt. And it's not even importing. Right. Well, like Biden just opened up the borders and said come on in. Which I think is extraordinarily foolish and dangerous and probably he should be prosecuted for that. But importing immigrants is not going to solve the problem because, well, is the problem our population declining or I should say the United States population declining? Or is the problem as you spoke of, if you're looking at it from a demographic perspective and you're a white person and you want your demographic to continue to exist or to thrive, well, then their issue is fixing their culture such that they can increase fertility. But if you're talking about the United States, I think that it is not true that you have to have an ever growing population to have a happy, healthy society. I think Japan's a good example of that. And furthermore you ask yourself, well, why do you need an ever growing population base? Well, some people use this justification of taxation or we have to collect more taxes, or they use a justification of who's going to take care of the older people. Well, with AI and robotics and theoretically all of those issues should be solved. One thing that human beings forget is that every time we get more technology, we think it's going to reduce the amount of work human beings have to do. That's never been the case. It always increases the amount of work, especially in the West. Maybe if you're a European you get to have siesta, excuse me, the west in the United States. So I would.
B
That's an interesting take.
A
Tell me more.
B
Well, you're basically saying AI is going to provide more jobs, Is that what you're saying?
A
No, I'm not saying it's going to provide more jobs. I'm saying AI is not going to reduce the amount of work that everyday working people have to do. So like for example, when the personal computer came out and I was not old enough to be an adult, but the sentiment at that time was, oh well, we have personal computing, we have email, we have Internet. We're not going to have to work so much because we have more technology so we can reduce our work hours. Life will be easier and more leisurely. That never happened. In fact, people were working more and the startup culture became one where it was like, oh yeah, don't go home, sleep in the office. So invariably we like the concept behind technology is to make life easier, but it has not done that. It's made us more mentally ill, it's increased work hours. And so one of the problems, again,
B
there are some new studies on AI. I don't know if you've seen this, how it lowers IQ because you're, you're relying on it, so you're not actually forming your own opinions anymore. Have you seen that?
A
I've not seen the studies, but I've observed people. And it seems very obvious that this is the case because say you use Google Search, it's providing you the information, you make your own interpretation, you use your own cognition. Conversely, AI is actually thinking for you. And I think AI is really for people of average and below average intelligence. I think it's a very sad, scary thing. But for those of above average intelligence and those who are raised, well meaning, not raised by an iPad, which most people are raised by television or an iPad, but for those who have good parents and good iq, I think the well to do will make their best effort to ensure that their kids are developing properly. They'll be put guardrails around the usage of such devices and then the wealthy and educated will utilize AI tools and it will create an enormous gap between average people and above average people, or what would have been middle class and people who are very wealthy. I don't believe there will be a middle class in the future. Obviously it's been shrinking in the United States, but I think it will be completely eliminated. And AI allows you to scale whatever you're doing without having to deal with the ineptitude of the average person. So I think unfortunately universal basic income will exist, it'll be very low and the world will be unrecognizable in 40 years.
B
Wow. Wow. So our kids are going to be growing up in this environment. That is fascinating. I grew up middle class and you're right, it has been dwindling. I think the gap's going to get even bigger than it is. If you don't have a high income skill, I think you're screwed, honestly.
A
Or a head start. Right? That's what you know. I have a course right now that, you know, teaches you how to create web applications, mobile applications, using AI. No coding, no experience needed. But we hyper focus on the monetization. Like do you have a proper revenue model? How do you make this thing make you money? Because the use of AI is very commonplace, but profiting from AI is much more rare. And so you need the head start, you need primitive accumulation, if you will. So what I'm suggesting is that if you can get the head start right now, work on that which is bleeding edge, then you're going to be locked into a higher level and then you can have your money work for you and all this other great stuff that we talk about. But if you don't get the head start, if you're actually doing a regular, you know, middle class job, or even if you think you're doing thought work, you're a writer, you're a musician. Even if you're a well earning writer, musician, scientist, physician, attorney, your family is going to be locked into generational, I would consider it poverty, but in the future it'll just be considered life.
B
Geez. Universal basic income. I just, as someone who like my work is my identity, I just can't imagine just collecting money and not being productive to society. I can't believe we're heading that way, honestly. You know what I mean?
A
Well, it's inevitable because here's the thing, and I think you probably realize this. We can take AI clone both of our voices at a level that for most people it's kind of hard to figure out if that's actually you or not you. The voice clones are really good. And then beyond that, both you and I are probably reasonably educated. But AI can devour data in a way that neither you or I could ever do. And then of course, not only can it clone our voice, it can clone our image and likeness. So there will be AI that can do a better job than you and I at what we're currently doing. So what you have to, I mean, right. Would you agree?
B
I agree. I think in a couple years, probably.
A
I don't even know if we're that far off, to be honest with you. I think on the.
B
Really?
A
Yeah, I don't think we're that far off. I think the only limit, to be honest with you, is the energy. Electricity. And like figuring out is this going to be run by fossil fuels, is it going to be run by nuclear energy? I think electricity is the big issue. And then it's like the ability to render video at length. But otherwise I think all the other technologies are in place. But I say that to say this, so say I also predicted that there will be no new celebrities in the future. And so this is what I mean. Like you and I are fortunate because like say we're famous now, we're public figures now. You know our image and likeness, the tone of our voice, all of these different unique things about us may be monetizable but in the future. And we're only competing with other human beings, right? So I might be more charming or humorous or intelligent or have unique life experience versus other persons who are competing to be noticed. Whereas in the future there will be AI models that will generate people who are better looking than Both of us, people who are more humorous, they can relate to others better. They have a greater base of knowledge. And so you're competing with people who are not people, which you're going to lose at. And so there will be no new celebrities, and there will just be, A.I. you know, personalities that are recognizable. But I don't think there'll be new celebrities like people who are, like, well known, unless maybe they're political leaders or religious leaders. But beyond that, I don't. I don't think that'll be the case. Deficiencies of the human being are such that they take themselves out of being valuable. I put on the perfection recently and just the number of people like, mind you, I'm paying top dollar for my actresses. And the guys mostly will show up because guys, you know, find it hard to get an easy buck. So guys will show up at about 80%, chicks will show up at about 16%. And so me not having to deal with. Yeah, about 16% of them will show up. After agreeing. Right. After agreeing, only 16% are going to show up. Exactly, exactly. So I think, though, I'm happy to replace them with AI Right.
B
And you're talking, like, actual actors, like, physical.
A
Yes, Actual actresses.
B
Movies.
A
Yes, They're.
B
Wow.
A
Yes.
B
That's already a possibility that actors are going to be replaced.
A
Oh, absolutely. So I did a project which I'm stopping now. It's called Burton Plantation. Crazy project. But, you know, we'd film. And every now and then there might be a scene we forgot to shoot or, you know, just something we couldn't shoot due to limitations of set and props. And then we just take a picture of the actress and then have AI create that scene. You know, just fill it in with, you know, 12, 15 seconds. AI. Yeah. And it looks great.
B
So you're gonna see these deceased actors licensing their rights to continue being in movies then.
A
That would be interesting. That'd be smart.
B
I mean, I'm calling it. I mean, like, yeah, when someone passes away, they already have such a legacy. Their. Their estate's gonna license their. I think Michael Jackson already does this or someone big in the artist space, holographic concerts, you know, and the key
A
is to be first, Right? The key is to be early so that you can become the standard.
B
Right.
A
So we always say Chapstick, but Chapstick is a brand, but we think of it as lip balm. So the key is to become Chapstick by being the first to get out there and become ubiquitous.
B
Right. So all this being said is your goal right now? Just Stack and dough. Just build up a safety net for. For doomsday. Get a little bunker like these billionaires are doing.
A
No, no. My goal is to fight what might possibly be a futile fight, one in which we would see a flowering of civilization and we'd see a leadership class that is dealing first with culture and seeking to manage man's achievement in technology. Because I think that currently all religion and spiritual teachings have been outstripped by technology. Like, you couldn't pick up a Quran or a Bible that can explain to you, is it cheating if your wife is DMing a guy? Right. Like, they've not, you know, they haven't said anything inappropriate. They're not in the same place alone, but they do have a line of communication that's completely private and unknown to you and others. So it's not moderated. We have to create a morality for modernity. And so that's my current interest right now. And of course, crushing the American government and all of the other wicked ones. Yes. So my hobbies.
B
I'm very curious. That first one you said about religion. So do you feel like these texts are just so outdated, they haven't adapted to modern times, so people can't find the right answers
A
that. And they were not able to anticipate the challenges of this day. In some cases, you might read through and say, oh, well, maybe that could relate to this. But for the most part, you're right. They just cannot address what is happening today. And that's how you are pretty.
B
Yeah, yeah, I'm reading the Bible right now. I mean, they are pretty. I don't know the word. It's just like, I'm all about application. Right. When I'm reading a book, I want to read something and immediately apply it to my life. But yeah, with the Bible, I noticed it's a little tougher. Right. Because it's kind of old. I mean, more than kind of old, but.
A
Right, right.
B
So are you trying to create a new text or how are you doing that exactly?
A
Well, step one is in one religion. I think religion is a. Can be a beautiful thing. And the monotheistic faiths have offered a great many good things to humankind and perhaps a couple wars here and there, too. In fact, I'd say the war that we're observing right now is a holy war. But what I'm more interested in than, say, religion is culture and how we put guidelines and guardrails on human behavior and expectations and identity and bringing science in in a way that is, you know, functional and honest. Like, for Example, I took a master's at Johns Hopkins University, and then after that I managed a program at Johns Hopkins Medical. So I was around a huge number of PhDs, MDs, postdocs, nurses, medical professionals who are actually in the field. And they have a lot of conversations which will be insightful. And then also they end up mentioning studies. You read them. And there are a couple that are really interesting. One is it notes that there is no actual gay gene. And this goes directly in contradiction to what we've heard a lot, which is, I was born this way. Well, there's no good gene, and certainly they've been searching for it. Then the other piece is people who are individuals who call themselves transgender, once they're post op, they actually have a higher rate of taking their own life. So once they get the surgery that they thought was going to help them, they have a higher rate of taking their own life, which I think is very tragic. And I think that whether you agree or disagree with what people call alternative lifestyles, I think we all agree that human life is precious and people taking themselves out is a negative. So when we can acknowledge the truth of science, what we know up to this point, and implement that in ways that can help people lead happy, healthy lifestyles the world over, I think that we'll have a better situation. But I truly believe that much of society, especially in the west, we are suffering from serious levels of clinical immaturity and mental illness. And because that is so common, we have a lot to change and fix.
B
Agreed. Yeah, there's a lot we could talk about there. But the gay gene. Wow, I did not know that. So scientists proved there's no gay gene. So that way gene in terms mean that being gay is all environment then. Right.
A
I'm not going to say what it is, but what we certainly know is what it isn't. We know that it isn't genetic. And certainly environment may have some impact. Well, why do you say that, Marquette? There are also studies that say that those who identify as LGBTQ have had traumatic experiences in their childhood. I don't want to say anything that would get you flagged. They've had traumatic experiences in their childhood of you can imagine what variety. And we're talking about a huge, huge percentage likelihood higher than an average person who identifies as heterosexual. So that may give you some indication.
B
Yep, that would make a lot of sense. Childhood trauma affects you for the rest of your life. Right. If you don't address it.
A
And the funny thing, though, is that the United States government in the 60s and the 70s put out studies on these and now they're largely removed from public Internet. You can only find them in academic journals. And that's large.
B
Really?
A
Yes, yes, yes. A lot of this stuff was government data. Now there have been newer studies, but the ones that the United States government put out have largely been scraped from the Internet.
B
Wow.
A
Yeah.
B
That is crazy, man. Yeah, the government is. Man, I don't even know what to say to that. I'm speechless. They just dropped a study last week. I don't know if you saw that one about parasites.
A
Tell me more.
B
You see that one?
A
I've, I, you hear so much about parasites.
B
And yeah, yeah, there's a lot of BS with parasites, but basically the CIA investigated what causes. I got to be careful how, where this was going to, but what causes and a bunch of diseases. And this was in the 60s, I believe. So they did this study, they found out there was a link with parasites, how almost every single patient had parasites. And then they shelved that study. But it just got released last week, what, 60 years later?
A
These things are, they're, they're disturbing, they're saddening, they're angering. And again, the governments of the world, many of them are quite wicked. And that's why I mentioned ethical capitalism, because at some level it's more profitable to have disease as opposed to not have disease. You know, if you're running the pharmaceutical company, then there's also this term product obsolescence, I believe is how that's properly pronounced. And product obsolescence is the idea that, well, I could build a light bulb that'll last two years. Two years. You buy this light bulb, it is lasting two years, easy. But it'd be more profitable if the light bulb only lasts six months. So I think I'll build the six month light bulb and let you buy it every six months. And the industry will organize around that standard because making consumables is better for all of us. And there's essentially a collaborative effort of capital against the citizens. And the government, which is supposed to be a bulwark, does nothing. Which is why I don't like the European culture today very much. But one thing I have to acknowledge is their consumer protections are superior to ours and as well their protections on food and drug. But for example, if a airline in Europe cancels your flight or delays it a significant amount, they have to pay you up to 700 bucks and put you up in a hotel and do all this stuff. Whereas in the United States you're screwed. They do right they may do it at their pleasure, or if it's a certain level of delay, or if it's cancellation, then they have to put you up in a hotel. But the fact that four hours, I think. Yeah. And the fact that we don't have a similar level of consumer protection. You have bad credit as an individual and businesses can bill you as they like and then claim that you haven't paid and impact your credit, which will impact your whole life. But as a consumer, you have very little recourse against businesses that would do you wrong. And so capitalism as it's been practiced in the United States recently, when I say recently, I mean like the last half century, increasingly favors business in a way that the government is just a tool of capital as opposed to government supposed to be something that protects and provides for the common good. It's just really sick and sad. Like for example, as you know, I was trapped in Dubai. We bought about six different plane tickets trying to get out of there and they kept getting canceled. So I got about $36,000 worth of plane tickets. Oh my gosh. And for example, with Emirates, they've not refunded anything and they won't even reply, you see, so. Right. They won't reply and they've not automated the refunds which you would think they would have because they are the ones that canceled all the flights. So I say that to say, when I reached out to Amex, I said, hey, you know, these flights were canceled due to the airport being bombed. And this is public information. Amex goes gots to go through a whole investigation and I already got one result yesterday. And Amex said, no, no, you're, you don't need to be refunded for this.
B
No way.
A
Yeah, yeah. And I think that that's has nothing to do with me as an individual or my purchase history or fraud report history. I think it just has to do with the fact that overwhelmingly big business is favored. I don't think there was a proper investigation. Obviously a proper investigation would have yielded like, yeah, like they've canceled the flight. So if you didn't get the flight that you paid for, you should get reimbursed. And there's just so many stories like this.
B
Unfortunately, man, I'm surprised because Amex is usually decent out of all the credit cards, but that is crazy. Yeah, 36 grand on flights. Jesus.
A
Yeah, I think you have the best chance at Amex. Now granted, obviously there were, you know, first class flights. I figured, you know, your business class and your first class flights would have less Price competition.
B
Right, that makes sense. So. So that being said, is there any government system that you've either experienced or researched that you don't mind, or are you pretty anti government in general?
A
You know, it's funny because when I was much younger, I was, you know, I saw the potential of government, but in function. And that was when I was studying. But in function, I find that it's very hard to have government behave well. But governments that I've been impressed with in South Korea, I think that government and that culture is very impressive. The people are extremely honest and it's a high trust society. I'll give you a quick example. I remember one time, and the Koreans have won. And you know, we're talking about thousands of their denomination is quite off because of, you know, whatever historical factors. So sometimes as an American, you might get things confused. There's one time I paid a taxi in cash. I paid him too much and he got out. He said, oh, you know, hey, you, you pay in Korean, hey, you pay me too much. Here's your money. And I tell him, ah, don't worry about it. It's keybase. Consider it a tip. He was like, no, no, you pay too much. Here's your money. And I tell him, hey, I'm going to leave the country. I don't even need it. Just keep it. He's like, that's all fine, but you will not overpay me. This is your money. Okay, cool. That's one piece, then another piece if you go into the same store. Now, obviously I'm black, so I'm probably going to stand out more than you, but I lived in Pangyo, which is like their version of Silicon Valley, and I went into the same grocery store three times. Third time I went in there, they're like, you pay for nothing. You live here. I was like, yeah, I live here. They're like, you're in the army? I was like, no, I'm not in the army. They're like, like, you live here, like as a regular person? I was like, yeah, I have a business here. They're like, oh, no, you don't pay. You're our guest. You don't pay here. They wouldn't let me pay anything at the. We're at a grocery store. This is not like a gift shop. This is a grocery store, man. I got full cart of groceries. They won't let you pay. Here's the kicker, though. This is what lets you know everything you need to understand about a high trust, homogenous, orderly, just society. You need A business visa, obviously, if you're going to be staying there long term. And I went to the government office for this. And they asked you to bring your diplomas. The actual diploma, though, not your transcripts, the diploma. Now, my Berkeley diploma was reasonably sized, so I had it in, like, a little canister. And my Johns Hopkins diploma is very large. You know, the schools, they like to make. Because Hopkins, you know, the medical schools, they want it to be big because a dentist or a doctor has to put it on their wall so that you believe that them. So they're huge. So I didn't bring it. I just brought a transcript. And when I went in there to get my business visa processed, the woman says, okay, well, you have this one from Berkeley, but your Johns Hopkins one, you have transcripts. I can't accept transcripts. I was like, you know what? Actually, the transcript is more official. It's sealed with tape, so you can see if anyone's open. It tells you everything. Unlike a diploma, it could be forged. You can't forge these transcripts. They're like, no, no, no. We can't give you your business fees, so you're gonna have to go get that diploma. I was like, madam, I would have to fly back to America. I can't have them send it to a foreign country. It's just not gonna work. She said, well, I'm sorry, but this is our process. So I call up my contact@NYPA. I think it's like the National IT Promotion Agency. And so there's a couple government entities I was working with. So I call them up, I say, hey, I'm here at such and such government building, and the person is telling me I gotta have my. My actual diploma. I just got the transcript, and they say, oh, okay, no problem. I'll take care of this. Just go give them the phone. I was like, give who the phone? They're like, whoever you were talking to, just go give them the phone. I was like, okay, well, I probably got to hop back in line. Line's pretty long. I said, do you want me to call you back when I get. You know, when I get back up to the window? They're like, no, no, just walk to the front. I was like, just cut everybody. They're like, yeah, just cut every. Just cut everybody. Walk to the front. I was like, oh, there's somebody at the window. They're like, that's fine. Just walk up and just stick the phone under the window. I was like, all right. So I walk up, stick the phone under the window. The Woman's kind of looking at me funny. And then she picks up the phone. I say, oh, D.
B
Oh.
A
She gets off the phone and then starts using all these honorific terms, you know, like. Like Mr. Mr. Burton type of situation. And then she puts the closed sign on her window, tells the person sitting there to get up, gives me the phone back. She says, hold on. I'll be right back. Leaves. Now, mind you, they're supposed to mail out the card. So you get like, this little card, which is like your business visa thing. I think it gives you like a year or something in the country. You get it in, like, a couple weeks. She leaves, comes back 15 minutes with it printed out with my picture and everything. And she says, I'm so sorry. I apologize that I didn't acknowledge who you are. Here it is. If you ever need anything else when you come here, just come to the front of the line and just tell anyone your name. I'm gonna let everyone know. You'll never have a problem. I'm so sorry.
B
Wow.
A
Right. Now, here's the wild part that I think people miss. Whoever was on the phone, right when they got on the phone with this woman whom they've never met, they said, hey, I am Joe Biden or I'm Kamala Harris. And the woman was like, oh, gosh. Like, did someone way up here that. They know their name, they know, like, who the person is? They're like, oh, wow. And she trusted that they were actually who they said they were. Because in South Korea, you never get on the phone and say that you're someone that you're not. So she didn't even think twice. Like, oh, this could be BS this guy's a foreigner. He's black, you know, like, he doesn't know this person. Like, that was never a question. It was like, if I said, I'm the vice president of the South Korean Republic, you believe it, and you will abide by that because it's such a high trust society. And that's when I know. I was like, holy crap, this place is so much different. If I'd have been in the DMV and tried that stunt, like, that would not have went well.
B
Definitely not. Yeah, definitely not.
A
It wouldn't have went well. So anyways, go ahead.
B
Go ahead. Go ahead.
A
Yeah, and also, they have casinos in Seoul, and if you're a South Korean national, you cannot go in the casino unless you're a worker. So you cannot go in there to eat dinner. You can't go in there to gamble, certainly. So you have to use a passport just to get in. And they have to ensure that you also don't have a South Korean passport. They even pulled that on me, which is just bizarre, me being black and all. So I say that to say the government knows that gambling has no upside for the people. There's only downside. All of the odds are not favorable. It is not fair. It is a means of extraction that people who have money and intelligence and a good understanding of mathematics use to extract from people who have less money, less intelligence, and less understanding of mathematics. And so the Koreans will not allow their citizens to be fleeced. And I thought, damn, they really care about their people.
B
Meanwhile, in America, you see a gambling ad every five minutes, right?
A
Entire cities dedicated to gambling.
B
Sin City, as I'm in. Yeah, I'm living in Vegas, and I see the worst of it out here. But, yeah, South Korea is different, man. I flew. That was probably the best airport I've been to. I flew there on my way to Australia. The lounge was phenomenal. The people were great. It was so clean. They do it right over there.
A
Trying to fish. Yes. I got a couple other ones, too. I'll just give a quick shout out to Oman. You know, there are certain countries where they actually take the wealth of the country and distribute it reasonably well for the people. So Oman, I think they do really well with providing for their population. Botswana has also done really well with that as well. I hope the floor.
B
Hmm, interesting. Where do you want to go next? Any countries in mind that you have as an escape route. If goes down in America, man, that's been tough.
A
I've been actually searching for that for a long time, and it's really hard to find because either you have a situation where you cannot own property, freehold property, as a foreigner, they give you leasehold, which to me is just not worth it, so. Or it's just very difficult to get citizenship, or the place is not developed enough. So there are a lot of challenges with this. And then, you know, some of the places, you know, people like you and I would probably end up in Dubai, even though they're doing terrible things in Sudan. But, you know, Dubai is not about to be the same. It's a. It's going to be a different plan.
B
That was my. That was my plan B, honestly. And now with this war, I don't think I'll. I'll want to live there.
A
You know, it's about to be Puerto Rico.
B
I go back and forth with Puerto Rico. I mean, the quality of life is just kind of Worse there. In my opinion, you kind of live in a gated community. You can't really go explore. It's too dangerous.
A
I used to live in Puerto Rico and I really enjoyed it. The challenge was I got hit by Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma. I never seen anything like that in my entire life. And after that I was like, I will never live on or spend significant time on an island. Because islands present a unique challenge when they experience, you know, a natural disaster or maybe even war. Just, you know, in Dubai, if you could pay enough money, you can get like paramilitary to take you, you know, by ground travel, you know, to a bordering nation and then you can fly out with a private aircraft. In Puerto Rico, you were just trapped on an island. It didn't matter how much money you had, it was a wrap. You just had to wait with everybody.
B
How long did you not have power for when you were out there?
A
It was actually I was very fortunate because I was there doing a deal with the Puerto Rican government. So my office was actually in a government building. And this is again, how shisty the government is, generally speaking. Like maybe if you're in Switzerland, the government cares for people and they've provided for the actual population. Or in Norway perhaps. But in the case of, say, Puerto Rico, the government building still had running water, they still had hot water and they had a generator. So I was the only guy who could get hot showers during that time, at least in my office. My condo was, of course, destroyed. It was in Condado. I don't know how familiar you are with Puerto Rico, but that's like the ritzy area and San Juan, but we were out without electricity and much else for a significant amount of time. It was truly a tragic situation. I had maggots in my. Geez, yeah, it was just, just really atrocious. But my condo is like next to five star hotel. So I had the best experience and it was still bad. Like my electricity came back fairly quickly. You know, I could walk to my, my office and shower with hot water. I had a great experience compared to other people, and it was still horrible. And I never go back, but it was a, it was a major lesson. I think there are certain parts of the world that should not be inhabited. Those, you know, those Caribbean islands are subject to weather systems that will destroy everything that was built. You can never have real development in the Caribbean.
B
Yeah, that makes sense. So when it comes to America, then, do you have favorite cities that you recommend people move to or nearby?
A
What I like is that the state of Florida and the state of Texas have reasonable gun rights, but more importantly, they're considering stopping property tax. And property tax is one of the most insane forms of theft. Property tax is the idea that when you buy the house, you pay taxes. As you're making payments, you pay taxes. When you sell it, you pay taxes. It's like, God damn, when does this sad. Which means you never own anything, you never own the property. And I think that, that we should really be murderously angry over that. And Texas and Florida government have been having discussions about that. So I think those are two places that people should look at. And if you actually buy and then that law gets passed, your property value is about to skyrocket. I'm talking about 40%. You know, you're going to see, wow, huge uptick, right? I mean, let's be real here, right? Who can compete? All the other states are eventually going to have to adopt the same thing because people are going to flood into Florida and Texas because you actually own it. Just imagine the idea that, that you're done paying. And this is something that you'll actually find the Middle east as well quite a bit, which is the idea that. So, like, say, like you, guy like you, you have a gorgeous wife. You have, you know, a bunch of kids. Now, your wife, she's smart, but she's not smart like you. She's not financially savvy, she's not productive. So if you leave her, you know, $10 million and you guys are living in a $3 million house with taxes and you got to do upkeep, that's going to get burned through. But if you knew that if you died and she can stay in that $3 million house and pay $0 and all, she no taxes, no bills, no nothing because you paid off the house, and all she has to worry about is paying a little bit of money in electric bill, you feel so much more peaceful as a man. And you know that you have something that can stay in your family forever. Throughout the west, there have been many times where people have lost family properties just due to taxes. And there have been a lot of old women, you know, who have lost properties just due to taxes, which makes no sense because the taxes are from the government. And the government's supposed to provide for the common good. There's no common good in evicting elderly people because they can't pay taxes on a house that was paid off 40 years ago when they were young.
B
That is awful. So even if you pay off 80% of the house or 100%. You could still get evicted because of the property tax.
A
A hundred percent. If you pay off 100% of the house and you don't pay the taxes, you, not you can. You will eventually be evicted.
B
That is crazy because you could just miss a couple payments. Not even realizing that is nuts to me.
A
Yeah, it is nuts. It absolutely is.
B
So who takes the house in that situation? Is it.
A
That house will go to the government because there is no bank. Right. If you've paid off the house, there's no bank involved. So the house would then go to the government and the government's going to auction it and it's going to be bought for pennies on the dollar by someone who's ruthless and cash liquid.
B
I think I might be part. I'm a Gen Z. I might be part of the last generation that could comfortably afford a median house. I feel like it is just so unattainable these days. I see a lot of the kids I graduated with, they cannot afford a house right now. You know what I mean?
A
Yeah. Some things are going to have to change. Expectations will have to evolve. But I also believe that we forget human beings. We're supposed to pair up, right? Man and woman, and thereby you'd have two incomes in the modern sense. Or if we kind of got women out of the workforce for the most part, then we can probably increase the earnings in a given single income situation. And I think that's actually something we should consider. But we try to do it alone a little too much. And I think that causes us challenges. But also, so credit and debt are truly evil instruments. And until we unravel all of the complexity of the Western financial system, things will never be anywhere near fair. It's because of debt as a concept that prices keep shooting up. Because if American consumers could not access debt, then prices wouldn't grow so rapidly because producers would know, well, I can't increase the price on this because wages are not keeping up. And if wages are not keeping up, then I have to respect the market or else I can't sell any products or services. Debt is the reason that. And credit is the reason that prices keep shooting up along with many other things. Unfortunately, it's very complex. But I think that our financial system involves so much wizardry that it is fundamentally evil. And it's ironic because both in Christianity and in Islam they say that credit debt or riba should be illegal and not permissible. So it's like, how do we have a Christian nation when so right when so much of it is based on Credit and debt.
B
I did not know that. That is crazy. Christian Christianity and Islam. You said said that.
A
That's right.
B
Holy crap. I need to look into that. Yeah. Plus you got all the VCs and funds. I mean, here in Vegas, they're just eating up the real estate, you know what I mean? They're. They're kind of. They can control a whole city market with the, with the money they got these days and some of these VCs and funds.
A
That's what I said earlier. That's one of the things I appreciate about the Chinese system is that real estate is not for speculation. It's for living in like houses are for living in. In America. I think it's every 12 years, something like that, that people move. And it's because of, you know, the debt on the house, the inflation, the way the market changes and making money on the house and pulling out the loans of lines of credit. And everyone has a heloc. It's all complex. Whereas if we look at earlier America, a house cost 4,000 bucks. You work hard as a janitor or as a car, you work in an assembly line, you pay off your house. And life is simple. Dad's a janitor, mom's a homemaker, you got three kids and a dog. And life is straightforward. And I think that there's a claim that we could not have that, and we absolutely can. But there are a certain group of people who have created complex financial system and financial instruments that basically enslave the masses.
B
Yeah, agreed. Well, Marquette, this was great, man. I learned a lot. It was honor having you on. Where can people learn from you and keep up with you?
A
I appreciate that. Folks can check me out@peacetothesaints.com I make a couple courses that are mostly focused on communication. The things I know well. Right. Focused on communications, focused on product based business, which is say, tangible products or focused on technology learning AI. How do you create technology that actually makes you money? So if you go to pieceofthesaints.com, i think somewhere there should be a button that says courses. Or you could check out the content that I have there now. Thank you for having had me.
B
Absolutely. We'll link it below. Guys, check it out. Thanks for watching all the way to the end. Guys, please hit like and subscribe. It helps us grow the show and
A
helps us get bigger guests.
B
Thank you so much.
Episode: The Collapse Nobody Wants to Admit... | Marquett Burton | DSH #1937
Date: April 27, 2026
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Marquett Burton
This episode of Digital Social Hour features a candid, critical, and globe-trotting conversation between Sean Kelly and entrepreneur/philosopher Marquett Burton. They explore the unraveling of America socially, culturally, and economically, the rise of China, the fallacy of U.S. exceptionalism, and the broad consequences of AI, globalization, and weakening social ties. Burton shares pointed opinions on foreign policy, political leadership, immigration, and the future of work – while drawing sharp contrasts with other countries’ systems and cultures.
For more from Marquett Burton:
Visit peacetothesaints.com for courses on communication, tangible product businesses, and AI monetization. (72:24)