Is Netanyahu Dead, The Socialists Are Going To Cuba, Two Attacks In One Day | Weekly Recap

Summary

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Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu

Episode: Is Netanyahu Dead, The Socialists Are Going To Cuba, Two Attacks In One Day | Weekly Recap
Date: March 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Impact Theory, hosted by Tom Bilyeu, is a weekly breakdown and analysis of sensational news headlines circulating online, focusing on deep dives behind viral stories about violence, geopolitics, and social division. Tom and his co-host critically assess current events with a focus on truth-seeking, rational debate, and examining the consequences of digital misinformation, radicalism, and policy decisions. Key stories analyzed include two separate terror attacks in the United States, American leftists traveling to support Cuba, and the viral internet obsession with whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dead, alive, or AI-generated.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Domestic Terror Attacks: Synagogue Attack in Michigan (01:00)

• Event Recap:
  – A man drove an explosives-laden truck through the front doors of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, aiming for a large synagogue.
  – The attacker bypassed security obstacles, resulting in a firefight with armed security. The suspect was killed before exiting his vehicle, which subsequently caught fire.
  – 140 children and all staff evacuated safely; one security guard was injured but is expected to recover. Thirty law enforcement officers suffered smoke inhalation.
  – Investigators found mortar-type explosives; the act is being treated as a targeted anti-Semitic attack.
  – Speculation (unconfirmed) that the attacker's motivation involved revenge for children allegedly killed in an Israeli airstrike.
  – Tom emphasizes:

  "Nothing justifies what the man did. But if this is confirmed, this becomes a story that is very different than just being an anti-Semitic terrorist attack." (03:19, Tom)
  – Discussion expands to radicalization from war and how “war radicalizes virtually everyone that it touches.”

• Blowback Concept:
  – Tom highlights perpetual enemy creation through war, citing:

  “If you think that we’re going to be able to go to war with Iran... and get out of this without people being radicalized, that is really a miscalculation.” (02:45, Tom)

• Memorable Quote / Social Media Reaction:
  – “I’m not a political expert, but if you eliminated Hamas but killed my whole family in the process, my first move would be to start Hamas too.” (04:04, Co-host quoting tweet)

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2. Virginia School Shooting by Former ISIS Supporter (06:05)

• Event Recap:
  – At Old Dominion University (ODU), a former convicted ISIS supporter carried out a shooting in an ROTC classroom, killing a retired Army lieutenant colonel.
  – The students collectively subdued and killed the assailant, displaying remarkable bravery.
  – The shooter, Mohamed Baylor (aka Jalo), was a naturalized US citizen, had a previous conviction for attempting to support ISIS, and was released from prison early, despite having previously expressed intentions to “carry out an attack modeled on the 2009 Fort Hood attack.” (07:18)

• Systemic Critique:
  – Tom’s frustration:

  “This touches something in my soul. To me, this is the world’s most aggressive game of fafo.” (06:17, Tom)
  – The co-host questions:
  “That seemed like that should have been flagged or something. But you know, who am I? I’m not justice.” (06:13, Co-host)

• Notable Government Response:
  – The FBI lauds the courage of the ROTC students:

  “The ROTC students showed extreme bravery and courage... they subdued the guy, and this is in the FBI’s own words, rendered him no longer alive.” (08:54, Tom)

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3. Socialist Solidarity: The DSA’s Visit to Cuba Amid Unrest (10:28)

• Background:
  – There have been eight consecutive nights of protests in Cuba, linked to severe shortages of food and water.

• DSA Delegation:
  – The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are joining the “Neustra America Convoy”, a broader international leftist initiative, to Havana to show support.
  – Tom’s critical perspective on the DSA’s motives:

  “They're going to Cuba to defend a regime that is absolutely drenched in humanitarian abuses.” (11:50, Tom)

• Debate on Blame:
  – The co-host observes:

  “It is the one that we're directly causing, though. So are we, Drew. We cut them off.” (11:05, Co-host)
  – Tom counters, reframing embargoes as consequences of a failed economic system:
  “Whenever a country [adopts socialism/communism], they so weaken themselves that they end up getting slapped around by everybody around them.” (15:12, Tom)

• Historical Economic Analysis:
  – Tom digresses into Cuba’s pre-revolution prosperity and post-revolution economic collapse after central planning and forced sugar monoculture, seeing it as a prime cautionary tale (12:00–14:00).

• Comparison to Singapore & Booker T. Washington:
  – Singapore’s rise from adversity is contrasted with Cuba’s dependency on aid.
  – Tom emphasizes self-reliance, productivity, and incentivized individual contribution as keys to societal success; imports examples from history for illustrative depth (16:14–20:00).

• Critique of American Capitalism:
  – Not all Democrats are socialists nor all Republicans MAGA, but Tom laments both parties’ economic irresponsibility.

  “We don't need to lump everybody into a bucket and say Democrats bad, Republicans good. That would be a blatant lie...” (21:33, Tom)
  – Advocates for prioritizing candidates’ understanding of economics and balanced budgets over party labels.

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4. Netanyahu 'Six Fingers' Meme, AI Deepfake Panic, & The Death Rumor (23:49)

• Viral Conspiracy:
  – The death rumor was sparked by a video where Netanyahu appeared to have "six fingers," fueling viral speculations and deepfake accusations. – Tom humorously details how internet sleuths analyzed every anomaly—coffee foam, missing zippers, and pocket movements—to determine authenticity.

• Dissection of Digital Illusions:
  – Tom’s methodical approach:

  “If you look at it closely. If you just pause the video and look at his finger, the region even has a name—Hypothenor Eminence.” (24:26, Tom)
  – Uses the moment to demonstrate the unreliability of online media in an age of AI, noting:
  “Nothing is provably real anymore... we are living in a totally different dimension.” (25:29, Tom)

• Point on Wartime Propaganda:
  – Tom suggests:

  “...this is wartime propaganda that is being spun to confuse people… There are reasons why Netanyahu probably doesn’t even mind that some people think he’s dead.” (27:28, Tom)

• Broader Threat of Digital Manipulation:
  – Tom weighs how viral distractions (“coffee gate, pocket video”) outpace consequential news coverage (e.g., China-Taiwan military drills).

  “World affairs as bread and circus. Because I can influence it the way I could vote on American Idol, if you get what I’m saying.” (31:59, Tom)

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5. Social Media, Information Warfare & Free Speech in Wartime (32:43)

• TikTok and Wartime Collaboration:
  – Discussion of a US TikToker openly providing Israeli target coordinates to the Iranian regime—illustrating the new permeability of information borders.

• State Use of Social Media:
  – The amplification and repurposing of US dissent by Iranian state media as evidence of American division.

• Limits of Free Speech:
  – Tom’s boundary:

  “Say what you want about free speech and I walk right up to the line of being a free speech absolutist. And even I get that there are things you don’t say and do during wartime.” (33:40, Tom)
  – Stresses the dangerous power of information and the blurred line between dissent and complicity during international conflict.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Radicalization:

  “If you think that we’re going to be able to go to war with Iran... and get out of this without people being radicalized, that is really a miscalculation.” (02:45, Tom)

• Social Media & Reality:

  “Nothing is provably real anymore... we are living in a totally different dimension.” (25:29, Tom)

• On Economic Policy:

  “Inflation is theft and you should immediately get your government to stop stealing from you.” (21:33, Tom)

• On Information Warfare:

  “World affairs as bread and circus. Because I can influence it the way I could vote on American Idol, if you get what I’m saying.” (31:59, Tom)

• Free Speech Limits in War:

  “Say what you want about free speech and I walk right up to the line of being a free speech absolutist. And even I get that there are just things you don’t say and do during wartime.” (33:40, Tom)

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:00 | Synagogue attack in Michigan: Details & analysis | | 04:04 | Discussion of radicalization & viral tweet on revenge | | 06:05 | Virginia school shooting by ex-ISIS supporter discussed | | 10:28 | Unrest in Cuba & DSA's solidarity mission | | 12:00–14:00| Cuba's economic collapse post-revolution | | 16:14 | Singapore & Booker T. Washington as examples of resilience | | 21:33 | Balanced budgets, economic policy, and party critique | | 23:49 | Netanyahu’s ‘six fingers’, AI fakery, meme dissection | | 31:59 | “World affairs as bread and circus” – the spectacle of news | | 32:43 | TikTok, info-warfare, the limits of free speech in conflict |

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Conclusion

Tom Bilyeu and his co-host deliver a rapid-fire, insightful breakdown of sensational current events, revealing the dangers of meme-driven narratives, propaganda, and information overload in the digital age. The episode spotlights how war, ideology, and unchecked digital information shape public opinion, while also reminding listeners to look beyond the spectacle and critically assess motivations, policy, and economic fundamentals. Tom’s candid, sometimes irreverent, tone adds urgency to a message of skepticism and responsibility for navigating our complex world.

Transcript

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[C]

Domestically there were some things that hit back home. A synagogue was attacked, there was a school shooting. Walk us through what happened yesterday at home.

[A]

Yeah, terror found its way into one of the largest synagogues when a man drove an explosives laden truck through the front doors of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan in what is a blatant anti Semitic terrorist attack. So I know that people are going to say other things, but dude drove his truck like down the hallways pretty wild. Male suspect steered his truck around the security bollards, the things that they put out front to block cars from doing exactly this, drove through the front doors, drove down the hall all the way into the building. Thankfully, the temple was expecting something like this, which is sad, but they had security guards armed security guards, they were waiting and gunfire was exchanged between the security and the gunman. And the suspect that crashed his vehicle in was killed before he could even get out of the vehicle. The ends up catching fire. Ultimately the whole building catches on fire as well. In fact, 30 law enforcement officers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation after clearing the building. One security guard was actually struck by the truck. He was knocked unconscious, taken to the hospital, he's expected to recover, but damn, when you get hit by a car and knocked out, it's not ideal. Thankfully, every one of the 140 kids that were inside got out safe. So did all the teachers and staff. Now, investigators found mortar type explosives loaded in the back of the vehicle. So clearly this guy had intent to go buck wild. And the Question is why? Obviously targeting Jews. And it's being widely reported, though it is still unconfirmed. So I don't know that this is true. But true or not, it's a powerful reminder. So what's being widely reported is that the suspect had children. They were in Lebanon, I believe, and they were potentially, if this is all real, killed in Israeli airstrike in the last couple of days. Now, again, that detail hasn't been officially confirmed, but if it's true, it serves as a powerful reminder of how war radicalizes virtually everyone that it touches. If we think that we're going to be able to go to war with Iran, drop bombs with good intentions or otherwise, and get out of this without people being radicalized, that is really a miscalculation. I want to be very clear. Nothing justifies what the man did. But if this is confirmed, this becomes a story that is very different than just being an anti Semitic terrorist attack. It is that. But if this is also about a guy that's seeking revenge because his kids were killed, you can expect more things like that. The FBI has taken over the investigation and is treating this as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community. Authorities have not officially released the suspect's name, so we'll circle, circle back as more information comes out. But this is one of those, I'm not saying you should break our will to see this through or anything like that, but powerful reminder that you're not going to get out of this cleanly.

[C]

There was a tweet I want to pull up that to me was like hilarious. I'm not a political expert, but if you eliminated Hamas, but killed my whole family in the process, my first move would be to start Hamas too.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Now this is of course talking to the Gaza, Israel war, but there is something that we have to talk about. The blowback of this war. We are going into Iran, we're dropping bombs. We're still investigating the 175 school children bombing. If that was us, who it was, how did it start? All those things would happen. But out of 175 people, conservatively, you just created 350 more people that will hate America.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And I know they don't hate American citizens. I know that they don't want to come to California and fight us, but they hate Trump and ipso facto, anybody that's connected to them.

[A]

Here's the thing that we have to think about, and it's fascinating in the age of infinite information for us to have to contend with the way that war actually works. So when you really start looking at, at the motivations for it, it can often feel, not feel. It is grotesque, certainly from a moral perspective. And yet the other side, the things that they're doing, are often grotesque and immoral as well. I think it is very wise for people to understand that when you do something like this that you create enemies. I also think it is very wise for people to understand that in life you're going to create enemies and you can't not do something because you're afraid that somebody is going to respond. You want to take that into your calculus. You want to make sure that you understand whether you're willing to that response or not. But at the end of the day, the person who is willing to inject the most violence into the world, if they don't meet sufficient force to push them back, they become the de facto ruler. And so if you look at Mexico, the cartels gain power because they're willing to do something that most other people aren't willing to do. Same thing with the most successful leaders of all time. They were just willing to kill more people than the next person and they were better at it. They were more efficient military tacticians. And then they just didn't show mercy. And it works. And I get why we find that horrifying.

[C]

And then we got to jump over to Virginia in odu, where a former official ISIS supporter did a school shooting as well. That seemed like that should have been flagged or something. But you know, who am I? I'm not justice.

[A]

Before we begin, I'm just going to confess my bias. This touches something in my soul. To me, this is the world's most aggressive game of fafo. So you've got a convicted ISIS supporter already. That kid storms into an ROTC classroom in Virginia and opens fire. And by the way, like the first question out of his mouth was, is this the ROTC class? So it's where he wanted to be. And the students were like, yes, opens fire, manages to kill a retired army lieutenant colonel. And then the students promptly beat that mother to death. Now, it's unclear whether the students stabbed him to death or killed them with their bare hands, but guess what? Challenging a room full of military hopefuls is not a smart strategy. So a couple more people ended up getting wounded. This all happened in Old Dominion, the university in Norfolk, Virginia, if I didn't cover that. And the now deceased killer was 36 year old Mohamed Baylor. JLo, I don't know, Jalo, not sure exactly how you pronounce that. He was originally born in Sierra Leone, but immigrated to the US and became a naturalized citizen. Unfortunately for him, obviously, he went into the wrong classroom. Now, the crazy thing is he wasn't unknown to law enforcement. He was a former Virginia Army National Guard specialist who pled guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He had told a government informant that he wanted to carry out an attack modeled on the 2009 Fort Hood attack. He ends up buying an AR15. He tries to send $500 to ISIS. He's then sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. This is back in 2017, but he was released in December of 24, more than a year early. And at his sentencing, he lied and told the judge he was disgusted by ISIS and deeply regretted his actions. But clearly, he was just biding his time. Now, the victim, the guy that he killed, was Lt. Col. Brandon Shaw, who's a retired army officer serving as the ROTC professor at Military SC of Military Science. He was killed at the scene. Then two other ROTC members were wounded and hospitalized. Now, the FBI's special agent in charge put it plainly. The ROTC students showed extreme bravery and courage, which I agree with. They subdued the guy, and this is in the FBI's own words, rendered him no longer alive. We've got to show this clip here. Watching her try to say what happened without saying what happened was hilarious. There were students that were in that room that subdued him and

[B]

cried, her no longer alive.

[A]

And also, they basically all were able to terminate the threat, rendered him no longer alive. That. That is like he was. Not the weirdest way to say that ever. Now, beyond that, authorities aren't saying exactly what happened. I'm not sure why they're being coy, but the students made it clear that homeboy had picked up the very wrong classroom. I'm here for that. I'm here for that. If somebody comes in with a gun, bro. We're hitting pause for a moment, but there's plenty more ahead, so don't go anywhere.

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[A]

Thanks for sticking around. Let's get right back into the action.

[C]

Headed over to Cuba, it seems that there's been eight consecutive nights of protest. There's been unrest rising in the streets, and an unlikely visitor is heading over there. The Democratic Socialists of America are getting a relative likely.

[A]

Are they exactly who you expect to head over to Cuba? As you might imagine, this one has my panties in a bunch, as my mom would say.

[C]

You know, they have been without food, they have been without water. So humanitarian aid, I think, is nice. So I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

[A]

Think about how many humanitarian crises there are in the world, and the one that they're going to support is the one run by a communist dictatorship.

[C]

It is the one that we're directly causing, though. So are we, Drew. We cut them off.

[A]

Yes. Do you actually presume that these guys just somehow weren't aware of all the other humanitarian crises that have happened and therefore did not touch those? Or do you see them trying to campaign the American people, that the DSA are the good guys and American capitalism writ large are the bad guys, and they want to go help the good guys in Cuba, who are the communists, to your point?

[C]

Yes. I think that this is a way that they can rally the American people to get more support to say, hey, Trump and Cuba are beefing right now. Trump is cutting Cuba off. We're going to help Cuba and we're going to be anti Trump.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And as the left has been, that's been their campaign strategy for the last 10 years. So perfect. I'm aligned with that.

[A]

Nothing crazy there. The DSA is headed to Cuba right now, but they are going to Cuba to defend a regime that is absolutely drenched in humanitarian abuses. Okay. Freedom House classifies Cuba as not free and notes that Cuba is the only country in the Americas that consistently makes its list of the worst of the worst, the world's most repressive societies. Now, they got that title for widespread abuses of political rights and civil liberties. Now, remember, repression is required when you want to take people's things. I've said this many times, and I will keep banging this drum this is how the human mind works. People work hard for the things that they do. And when the government tells them that you ought not be doing that thing, you should be doing this thing, or you should be giving me the results of proceeds from your labor and I will decide how to give them. Eventually somebody says no. And what I want each and every one of you to answer is, what do you do when the farmer says, I don't want to plant corn, I want to plant this other thing? Do you take a gun out and tell them that they're going to make sugar? Because that's what the Cuba did. We'll get to that in a minute. The DSA's trip is part of a broader international initiative called the Neustra America Convoy. It's organized primarily by progressive international, code pink and allied groups. The convoy is set to converge in Havana on March 21st. And the DSA's co chairs Megan Rohmer and Ashik Sadiq have formally endorsed the mission. Now please keep in mind, Castro once bragged that Cuba had 20,000 political prisoners. Okay, let's look at Cuba before the communist revolution. Pre revolutionary Cuba. It was one of the most developed economies in Latin America. Before the revolution, Cuba was one of the richest of the Spanish speaking societies. In 1958 they had a higher GDP per capita PPP adjusted than Ireland or Austria and almost double that of Spain and Japan. Despite only 6.5 million inhabitants, Cuba was the 29th largest economy in the world. Then came the revolution. What happened you you ask? The productive class fled and the economy collapsed within four years. When Castro came up with the brilliant idea to force the country to focus on sugar production to revive the economy. Now when he did that, not only did it not work, it collaps most other major industries in the country because everyone had been forced at the end of a gun to focus on sugar. That's what you have to do when you're not relying on market forces. You, the supposed genius running the country, decides, hey, I know, because our sugar industry used to be the best thing ever. We're just going to force everybody to focus on that. And it absolutely cratered the country to the point where Cuba was forced to turn to Russia for charity. And they have been stuck ever since then in a cycle of international dependency. We should want them to discover the free market the way that China discovered the free market. I'm not saying they have to become democratic. If that's not what they want, fine. But they need to discover an economic principle that actually works. And the one that they're running now does not.

[C]

There is a running narrative in socialist circles how capitalism has reigned supreme is that when there is a country anywhere that becomes independent and wants to break off of the traditional capitalist structure, they get embargoed, they get sanctioned, they get tariff, they get trade restrictions.

[A]

Let me say it a real, a different way. Whenever a country decides that they're going to do that, they so weaken themselves that they end up getting slapped around by everybody around them.

[C]

But I would go the other way because I was trying to build up like first principles type thing. Like for a country to thrive, it needs trade partners. Can we start there? Do you think trade part trade is necessary for a country to.

[A]

If the country can't sustain itself, it is physics necessary? Yes.

[C]

So do you think that countries can sustain themselves without.

[A]

Yes. Trade there. There are some. You won't have the lifestyle that you have in a globalized world which is far better for everybody. It just doesn't last forever. But in a world where everybody was peaceful and you could just trade across borders, it would be ideal for sure.

[C]

Yeah, copy. So a lot of times the downfall of the country is then put on the backs of the system and not on the backs of the trade restrictions that then would happen. So that's what I think gives a lot of these far left communist socialist policies validity is because every country that they have their downfall, they switch over to a different economic system. All the capitalist countries ice them out and then they fall. They just kind of spiral down below.

[A]

This is where we have to talk about Singapore. Singapore gets essentially booted out of their own country and they're like, oh, what are we going to do? He goes to the communists, I'm not joking, effectively grabs him by the lapel and is like, if you with what I'm about to do, I will kill every one of you. And then proceeds to go, okay, listen, we're going to build an economic structure that actually works and you guys are all going to be in on it. And so I, the person giving birth to this country as the leader, my house is going to be just like your house, but I want my house to be dope. And so we're all going to build this. You guys aren't going to me up and I'm not going to isolate myself in a palace and be away from you. And we're going to build this thing from the ground up. And now Singapore is the place, whatever, 80 years later that the entire world goes to for capital. Like, if you want to know where, where will Tom Go check out if the US can continues apace towards socialism, Communism. My first stop is in Singapore. So it has Chinese vulnerabilities. That's the only thing that scares me is full disclosure. But that is when you think about somebody that literally built a country out of the marsh. This guy does not fucking play around. You have to understand how if you're being betrayed by at that time, literally their country kicked them out and said, you guys can't be a part of this. And I forget what the thing was that made them all lump up. But anyway, they were like, you're not a part of this. He understood, we're on our own. No one is coming to save us. Oh my God. I'll give you another example, Booker T. Washington. We're around a bunch of people that want to kill us. We were just their slaves. We just got freed. They all want us dead. What do we do? He was like, I'm going to teach people how to build bricks. How to make bricks, man. Now as you can imagine, they did not have a whole lot of friendly trading partners. So he's got to now hustle that up. He's got to figure out, I'm going to build this school, but I'm going to do it by teaching these guys how to be reliant on only themselves. They get so good at making bricks that they end up exporting. It was to surrounding people in the south, but nonetheless you can think of them as like their own little startup country and having to make a product so high quality that they could export. The way that you deal with the world is go, I'm going to motivate and inspire. I'm going to and get rid of a K shaped economy. Not by telling people that they can't succeed, not by telling people that they can't pull away. I'm going to get rid of the K shaped economy by making sure people understand if you can bust ass and you do a thing that matters to this group, you're going to get paid. And so then if somebody doesn't bust ass and they don't contribute to the group, they can get the out. Now you don't get a K shaped economy because everybody's going hard and they're trying to build something that matters and you focus on the thing that nobody can take away from you. And so if people are like, you can't have a school, you and you go, no, no, I'm gonna teach these guys how to make bricks, dude. This is one of the most inspiring stories ever in human history. And somehow it gets on. I just can't see that. That's crazy to me. Cuba should have been like, all right, like, we're gonna really build this industry. But we are going to do one thing. We're going to be honest about what people are like and we're going to understand intelligence is not evenly distributed. And so we're going to reward the people that murder it. We're going to make sure that they can rise. And any wit that doesn't contribute, they get little to nothing for those kids, they get like extreme social pressure to contribute or get out. And we are going to get strong. And in times of like, desperation, struggle, war, whatever, dude, you better find in you that real ability to buckle down and get all Sparta on that. Because you're going to have to find a way to defend yourselves, to be strong, to get your economy, your supply chain, all of that in order so that nobody can with you. But we've got this weird globalized mentality of like, we're owed everything. That is not how the world works. And so every time these countries decide to act like somebody's just going to hand them some shit, that people are going to roll up on a flotilla and that they don't have to go. I accept that I have to motivate my people, that my people are motivated by outperforming and getting their just rewards for that, that there will be inequality. And our goal is to make sure that there's no intolerable inequality which has to be engineered into the system. You don't end up with intolerable inequality unless you find up your system. Central banks, debt, money printing, a government that can spend into the red. That is how you engineer a system designed to steal from the people who don't understand economics, which is evil as far as I'm concerned.

[C]

Everybody who's Democrat is not marching down a long path to socialism. Everybody who's Republican is not maga. So I understand the DSA is a very specific set on the left left. So I'm not going to other them stuff like that. However, the criticism here was although Trump is more capitalist than the dsa, absolutely in the left, we can't also act like Trump is running a free market capitalism administration. They're still intel is a government owned company. We have been not seizing the means of production, but owning a portion of the means of production for certain companies that we invested in. He just gave a $800 billion tax break to India. He's re flip the switch on H2H2A visas which are for migrant farm workers

[A]

clapped on for that.

[C]

So. So, yeah, so. So at the same time it's not like we're running a pure capitalist system for us and now not even close your other people like that. So is it just because we already have the Fed, that's why it's too big for us? Or can America still move closer to pure capitalism?

[A]

I'm going to put a hat on that, I hope is just pure encouragement for the American people of what we need to do to reclaim this. So one having everybody get to the point of functionally understanding the rough swag of how an economy works. And I will just give them the easy one. Inflation is theft and you should immediately get your government to stop stealing from you. The easiest way to do that is just insist on a balanced budget. It's not exactly that, but that's a close enough swag for the conversation. So get your government to be very clear headed about what it's going to spend money on and then yes, we need to acknowledge that both the left and the right spend completely irresponsibly. Now I would much rather see a physical fiscal conservative Democrat who understands the market than a fiscally irresponsible Republican who still believes in growth. So this is not me saying it's Republican or bust. I just need to get everybody behind the idea that when you're looking at a candidate, don't worry yourself at all about Republican or Democrat. Look at their level of understanding of economics and if they have a good understanding of economics then that's almost certainly the right way to go. Obviously, as always, we need to know more about the candidate, blah blah, blah. But that's question number one. Do they actually understand how economies work and are they going to move us forward? We don't need to lump everybody into a bucket and say Democrats bad, Republicans good. That would be a blatant lie and will lead you down a garden path of death and destruction if you just blindly vote for either party. But yeah, that you need to insist that your candidates show a desire for growth, a desire for capitalism, an understanding of why central banks are so dangerous. They don't have to say that they plan to get rid of it, but they need to understand why it's dangerous. They need to say how they plan to address inflation. They need to say why you can't deficit spend that, that is the thing that creates the K shaped economy. They need to show that a K shaped economy is not only a terrible idea, it is morally repugnant. And so getting into all of that again, you have to be so careful. There is natural inequality which is not only always going to persist, it's desirable, but toxic inequality must be manufactured into the system and is ultimately the death of every empire. Taking a short break, but there's more impact theory after. Stay tuned. Thanks for staying tuned. Now let's get back to it.

[C]

Bibi Netanyahu posted this picture saying, hey, they say I'm what? Look at me, look, I have five fingers. I took a sip of coffee. The coffee shop in Israel also posted on their Instagram behind the scenes photos and things like that. It set the Internet on fire. A lot of people are saying it's AI the coffee didn't move, the sip on his lip disappeared, his zipper disappeared. People were zooming into the cash register and all these other types of things.

[A]

Yeah, among many, many other things. All right, to understand this one, you guys are going to have have to start at the beginning. The weekend played out something like this. Netanyahu's dead, but probably alive with six fingers, no weight at seven. But this is in 2024 or maybe it was during COVID I promise if you just heard me say all that, I'm not having a stroke. If you were online this weekend, you know exactly what I mean. And if you weren't, you are in for a treat because it all started with an Instagram account with 13.5 million followers that dropped a post claiming Benjamin Netanyahu was dead because he appeared to have six fingers in a video. Now I encourage you aggressively to check out the video for yourself. You'll see the supposed six finger is a part of his palm. When I first saw it, I was like, wait, what? Like, are people trolling? This is obviously part of his poem. If you look at it closely. If you just pause the video and look at his finger, the region of his finger, even as a name, it's called the Hypothenor Eminence. So there you have for the nerdy kids in the crowd. Now if you ran that original video through a deepfake detection tool, according to Grok, anyway, the rating comes back at 0.1% chance of being AI generated. And I have to say, looking at it with my own eyes and there's no doubt AI is getting very, very good. But it seems pretty normal and was not the kind of thing that I expected the Internet to go absolutely haywire over. The video showing Netanyahu getting coffee was also just absolutely mahusive with a bunch supposed smoking gun video zoom ins showing one aspect or another being obviously Quote, unquote, AI generated. Again, some of it, the takedown video, the smoking gun video, is faked. And so you get all of this stuff going on where if you're just looking at the takedown videos, the smoking gun videos, some of which are AI generated, many are zoomed in past the point of intelligibility, you could easily walk away with the conclusion that this is all AI generated. But if you go back to the original source videos, because I'll admit I flip flopped this weekend when I saw the pocket video. It's so funny talking about this stuff. Like, if you guys weren't online this weekend, you really did miss a treat. He puts his hand in his pocket. Now, I didn't notice it in the full video, so I saw. I'd seen the full video, but now I'm watching all the smoking gun videos, and I see this one smoking gun video of his pocket seeming to violate the laws of physics. And I was like, oh, snap. Like, this is 100% fake. Like, oh my God, he really is dead. I was like, holy, I can't believe it. And then I was like, hold on, hold on. Go back, watch the original video again. It's not that hard. So I went back, I watched the original video again, and if I'm honest, the way his pocket reacts when you watch the full video at normal speed was more convincing that it's not AI because how would the AI know to. The momentum of his hand stops because he hits the zipper, and then he pauses because it's like, how hard is this going to be? And then he decides, oh, it's just a zipper. I'm going to push through. He pushes through. That releases the snag of the pocket, the zipper on his skin, and then it moves rapidly because tension had built up with his hand. I cannot believe I have to take time to explain this. This is so wild. We are living in a totally different dimension. Nothing is provably real anymore. And that's where all of this gets crazy. When you've got a video. It was posted on March 15 on Netanyahu's official X account, by the way, where he's poking fun at the rumors of him dealing with, like, I'm dying to get coffee, all of that stuff, and having to point out that he's got ten fingers, you just know that we have completely lost the plot. And so looking at all of this from that perspective of we can't believe if his hand going into his pocket is real, if the sip that he's taking, because it doesn't disturb the foam in his drink. If. If that's real, people are going crazy over these details. When we can't use that and the tons of subsequent videos to decide if something is real. Even if asking AI to estimate the likelihood that the videos AI generated, if none of that proves to people that this stuff is real, then we are really in trouble. And that is exactly where we're at. Whether these anomalies come from video compression, whether they come from just the coffee being bizarrely resilient in real life, or from some something else, we are in a period where nobody can decide on what is real. Nobody is convinced by what they see that something is real. Nobody's convinced by the fact that it comes from his own account that this is real. And because we're living in a world now where, believe me when I say this is wartime propaganda that is being spun to confuse people, that there are reasons why Netanyahu probably doesn't even mind that much that some people think he's dead. Because if the Iranian people think he's dead and really not, yes, you take a morale, a morale hit on your side and you give them a bit of a boost. But if you're really still alive and are back channeling and keeping everything moving, then they're not going to focus as hard on trying to hit you. It's the same reason why I thought it was brilliant that the Iranians have promoted to supreme leader, somebody who is either in a coma, missing legs and. Or already dead. Because now it's like going on to strike that person, you know, doesn't really do you any good because they're already out of commission. And so, so now you've sort of defanged the opposition's approach to coming and getting that person, because it won't matter to what's really happening inside the country. So if he's alive, then they still have to worry about it and go after him. If he's dead and the country is still moving forward, yes, they have to manage the expectations of their own people, and that could be problematic. And if they're slowly unraveling because there's no longer a center of gravity, then you have a problem. But ultimately the big win is that the public is just confused. The public is paying attention to all kinds, kinds of other things, and they're not paying attention to the things that really matter. What are the economic consequences of this? Are the allies coming to our defense? Who's actually winning the war? And so if you look at this from the perspective of what happened in Vietnam. So Vietnam is the first living room war and the American public turned against it very quickly. We no longer had the appetite to prosecute the war. It all fell apart. We end up backing out. Total cluster. Now this is the first social media war. And what I'm seeing is that you can confuse the public so much that they just in fight and then you go do whatever the hell you want. And so that's where this is going to get wild. Like how do we get everybody on the same page? How do we get the American people pointed in a singular direction to either be behind the war or not behind the war or at least have an intelligent debate. But we're not having an intelligent debate based on the merits of the outcomes of our actions. Actions were spinning up. I even, because I knew I was going to need to report on this was like this has become a far bigger story than by just volume of interaction. Then the economic impacts of this or a story we're going to cover later. The fact that China is surrounding Taiwan as presumably a military drill for, hey, while the US is distracted, let's go just snatch this bitch up. Nobody's paying attention to that. Like that was measured in like the hundreds of thousands of views, whereas the stuff on, on a single pocket video coffee sip video was millions of views. Boys and girls, there is a thing happening right now. This is a new form of entertainment world affairs as bread and circus. Because I can influence it the way that I could vote on American Idol, if you get what I'm saying. Like you can actually influence what part of all of this people are paying attention to. If you can write the viral tweet about the coffee gate, the pocket video, the zoom in on the cash register, you can actually sway which way people are looking. If you can write the next bot that enrages people and they just fall for the entertaining value of rage bait. Remember, people want to be rage baited. They love that. And this is becoming a new form of entertainment. Even I find myself, because I'm covering this stuff, I'm like, this is occupying a certain amount of my time that otherwise would have gone to insert things that I would have done instead of this. And so when you take a populace that is desperate for distraction and you give them like real life geopolitical warfare as video game. It is wild to that point.

[C]

There was that tiktoker that was giving out coordinates to certain Israel targets.

[A]

You have a US TikToker speaking directly to the Iranian regime via TikTok. It's not like He's Tucker Carlson. He's got back channel channels, but he's talking directly to them, showing them coordinates, saying, these are the places that you should strike. Ron, all we need is a few missiles and we can wipe out the entire Israeli electrical grid. This is the Rothenberg power station. It's coal powered in Ashkelon, Israel.

[C]

These are showing up top. These are coordinates.

[A]

Warden, It's. There are people out there putting out information that will be beneficial on both sides of the equation. Iranians giving us information that we will end up using for nothing else other than propaganda, and then vice versa. So even just doing this, I know that Iranian state media has been replaying some of our biggest influencers saying, see, look, these guys don't even like what's going on. Everybody's with us. Everybody's on our side. Dear Iran and all of this stuff matters. This is why when a country takes over another country, the first thing they do, they go after the media. When a dictator comes to power, the first thing he does is take over the media to try to map out for the enemy what they should be doing. I will just tell you, if the war escalates, states like that will not be tolerated. Boys and girls, say what you want about free speech and I walk right up to the line of being a free speech absolutist. And even I get that, like, damn, there's just things that you don't say and do during wartime. So, yeah, this is. I'm just shocked. I get people not being for the US Moving on Iran, if you're like us, never should have moved on Iran. Hey, totally get it. I think there is an extraordinarily valid point to be made there that is a debate well worth having. Saying that we should be going to bat for the Iranian regime, that is wild.