What if Tom were the President, Tom's Political Compass, Essential Reads for Combating the New World Order | Weekly Recap

Summary

Podcast Summary: Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory

Episode: What if Tom were the President, Tom's Political Compass, Essential Reads for Combating the New World Order | Weekly Recap

Date: April 26, 2026
Host: Tom Bilyeu
Format: Weekly debate, simulation, essential reading, political compass journey

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Overview

In this lively and unfiltered episode, Tom Bilyeu tackles head-on the complexities of modern politics and governance in an experimental "President for a Day" simulation. He outlines the policies he'd champion as president, navigates the pitfalls of American bipartisanship and accountability, discusses root causes of national crises, and closes with a rigorous exploration of essential books to understand the current global order. The episode also features an on-the-spot Political Compass test, giving listeners an honest look at Tom’s political philosophy.

Bilyeu’s core message: rigorous cause-and-effect thinking, tough accountability measures, and refusal to cave to ideological camps are necessary to thrive in our disruptive era.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Tom Bilyeu as President: Policy Simulation

Segment: [00:30 – 14:51]

• Immediate Priorities

  • Tom states he would focus, above all, on balancing the budget through spending cuts, and then on kickstarting economic growth ([00:30]).

    "We are going to balance the budget and we're going to get this economy humming. Full stop. Period. End of story." — Tom Bilyeu ([00:30])

• Policy Proposals Tested:

  • Spending Cuts and Budget Balancing ([01:17])
    • Mix of public support and concern about social program cuts.
    • Focus group responses: fiscal conservatives (e.g. “Texas Tom”) cheer cuts; progressives (e.g. “College Chloe” & “Brooklyn Jamal”) protest loss of social safety nets ([02:13–02:46]).
  • Social Security Reform: Gradually raise retirement age to 69 ([03:19])
  • Fiscal Federalism: No federal funds to states with unbalanced budgets ([03:38])
  • Housing Deregulation & Rent Control: National push to eliminate rent control and cut building regulations ([03:49])
  • Manufacturing Incentives: Direct incentives to rebuild domestic manufacturing base.
  • Accountability for Congress: New rule — members of Congress ineligible for reelection if budget deficit exceeds 3% over GDP ([14:51])

    "That's green across the board. Everybody loves that." — Interviewer ([14:51])

  • Ban on Congressional Insider Trading, Congressional Term Limits: Broad national support ([15:53], [16:16])

• Obstacles Realistic to U.S. Politics

  • Tom’s policy ideas routinely blocked or diluted by Congress, with only stripped-down versions sometimes passing ([05:11–05:17]).

    "Jesus Christ. ... This is why I'm not a politician." — Tom ([05:15])

  • Memorable Reactions:

    • Miami Maria: “Finally a president who gets it. Cutting regulations and killing rent control is exactly what we need.” ([05:28])
    • Brooklyn Jamal: “Forcing folks to grind to 69 while corporations get free pass to jack up rents by killing rent control.” ([05:43])

2. Responding to National Crisis

Segment: [06:17 – 09:17]

• Mass Shooting Incident Simulation:

  • Tom emphasizes the need to get at root causes (mental illness, economic despair), not just focus on gun control ([06:40]).

  • Points to "deaths of despair" and economic stress as primary triggers.

    "If you think that just by taking guns away you're going to stop the violence, you're not, as Europe is learning the hard way, you'll just hack somebody to death with machetes… There is cause and effect." — Tom Bilyeu ([06:40–08:50])

    • Asserts he would be a one-term president, unmoved by political backlash but committed to cause-and-effect solutions.

  • Public and Media Reactions:

    • Headlines attack Tom for not proposing gun reform ([08:50]).

      “That, that, that gets a 3am tweet. I'm not gonna lie.” — Tom ([08:56])

    • Political support shifts regionally: strong among Midwestern and Mountain states, loses favor in DC and Northeast ([09:19]).

3. Education Reform

Segment: [09:52 – 12:12]

• Tom likes school choice and proposes tying education funding to school performance.
  • "What I like about school choice is it lets people basically put the bad schools out of business. So yeah, I'm totally here for that." — Tom ([10:06])
• Maintains support for high funding but only if results are delivered ([11:20])
• Not all support: focus groups highlight distrust, fearing public schools and marginalized communities will suffer ([11:52]).

4. Foreign Policy and Cybersecurity

Segment: [12:12 – 13:54]

• Chinese state hackers leak US diplomatic cables. Tom advocates for strong retaliatory sanctions and cybersecurity upgrades.

  • "We're already in a cold war with China... If we knew that it was a state hack, then there would be economic sanctions." — Tom ([12:34])

• Public response overwhelmingly positive for “strong on China” stance ([13:54]).

5. Other Major Policies and Their Reception

Segment: [14:08 – 21:08]

• Phasing Out the Federal Reserve: Universally unpopular, but Tom stands firm ([14:10–14:27])
• Immigration: Balanced H1B program: 50/50 split between middle America and coasts ([17:12])
• Strict Borders + Broad, Sensible Immigration: Receives broad support ([17:42])
• Housing Deregulation: Popular, but Tom warns people conflate regulation with personal protection ([16:39–21:08])

  “People have come to confuse government stepping in and regulating with protecting me.” — Tom ([19:36])

• Calls for More Accountability

  "Accountability, I think, might be a big trigger for getting everybody on the same page." — Tom ([15:10])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Root-Cause Thinking

  "If I were legitimately president, the thing that people would absolutely get bored to death of is this is a deterministic universe. There is cause and effect. We need to identify in this particular instance what actually happened." — Tom ([07:55])

• On Political Backlash

  "The odds of me being anything other than a one-term president are effectively zero. ... I'm just going to try to say this is where we're going. This is the cause and effect to get there. ... Whoever that pisses off, it pisses off." — Tom ([08:50])

• On Accountability

  "People like politicians being held accountable." — Tom ([15:10])

• On Human Nature and Regulation

  "What I think history shows just unequivocally, is that regulatory capture is always about the corporations, and it's never about the individual." — Tom ([19:36])

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Essential Reads for the New World Order

Segment: [23:49 – 33:48]

Tom prescribes five must-read books for anyone who wants to survive and thrive in today’s chaotic environment:

1. Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink & Leif Babin: Personal responsibility as a foundation (take ownership of all outcomes) ([23:49], [29:01]).
2. The Gulag Archipelago – Alexander Solzhenitsyn: The brutality of totalitarian systems and moral lessons from inside a bloody regime ([23:49],[29:14]).
3. Mao: The Unknown Story – Jung Chang: Exposes the realities and disasters of Maoist China ([23:49]).
4. Red Famine – Anne Applebaum: Explores the consequences of enforced collectivism and famine in Ukraine ([23:49],[29:14]).
5. The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom – James Burnham: Realpolitik, oligarchy, and political manipulation in modern times ([23:49],[29:51]).

• Central Themes from These Books:
  • Societies are always ruled by small groups of elites shaping public narrative ([24:26],[29:51]).
  • History’s greatest tragedies (21st-century communism/socialism) ironically stemmed from egalitarian intentions, but required brutality to enforce ([26:07],[29:23]).
  • “A line from the Gulag Archipelago… the line between good and evil runs through every human heart.” — Tom ([29:51])

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Political Compass Test: Tom’s Ideology Unpacked

Segment: [34:44 – 47:01]

• Method: Tom walks through the classic two-axis Political Compass, answering tough questions and explaining nuanced positions.

• Position:

  • Economics: Slightly right-of-center (free markets, personal responsibility, limited but necessary regulation)
  • Authoritarian/Libertarian: Very far from authoritarian — staunchly pro-civil liberties, skeptical of state power ([45:33])

    "I would like the record to reflect how far away from authoritarian I am on the economic [axis]." — Tom ([45:42])

• Notable Answers:

  • Strongly opposed to racial or cultural superiority ([35:56]), aggressive state control ([40:44]), forced collectivism ([36:43]).
  • For accountability, free expression, school choice, but with careful attention to avoiding punitive populist measures ([15:10–15:55]).
  • Pro-social safety nets where necessary, but highly critical of bureaucratic bloat ([44:26]).

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Deep Insights and Meta-Reflections

• Human Nature is Fallible:

  “If you ice them out of the economic system, they will eventually turn violent. And even before they turn violent, they start, like, living lives of misery. You get deaths of despair, start skyrocketing. So that one, to me is just—it's grotesque that people don't look at that and say, ooh, we can't do this.” — Tom ([20:44])

• Policymaking Requires Detachment from Tribes:

  "If somebody doesn't end up in your quadrant, you want to throw feces. ... Be very careful about focusing on the things that make you different and really, really try to find a way to come together in the middle. That is when the world has always been at its best." — Tom ([47:01])

• Self-Knowledge Over Ideological Rigidity:

  "Know thyself is the first rule. ... I have a way that I like to do things, it is not objectively right." — Tom ([47:01])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Presidency Simulation Begins: [00:30]
• Spending Cuts & Budget: [01:17]
• Mass Shooting Crisis Response: [06:17]
• Education Reform/School Choice: [09:52]
• China Hacker Scenario: [12:12]
• Congressional Accountability Laws: [14:51]
• Housing/Regulation Deep Dive: [16:22]
• Essential Reads/Book List: [23:49]
• Philosophy Behind Book Picks: [24:26]
• The Political Compass Test: [34:44]
• Tom’s Self-Reflection on Ideology: [45:33]
• Meta-Reflection on Political Division: [47:01]

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Summary Table: Tom’s Core Policy Themes

| Theme | Tom’s Stance | Population Reaction | |----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------| | Balanced Budget | Cut spending, hard choices | Fiscal conservatives as strong supporters. Progressives wary of cuts.| | Economic Growth | Reduce regulation, encourage manufacturing, housing stimulus | Wall Street support, mixed public reaction | | Accountability | Congressional term limits, no insider trading, deficit penalties | Universally popular | | Social Programs | Press for results-based funding, favor local/charitable safety nets | Cautiously positive, but fears for marginalized | | Crime and Tragedy Response | Focus on root causes not reactionary policies, avoid gun-grab | Polarizing | | Global Affairs | Strong, proportional retaliation (esp. China), wary of global elite manipulation | Nationalistic favorability spike | | Education Reform | School choice + output-based funding | Mixed, with worries over equity | | Regulatory Philosophy | Necessary baseline of regulation, but anti-bloat, skeptical of regulatory capture | Split |

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Conclusion

Tom Bilyeu’s simulated presidency is a thought experiment in radical pragmatism, uncomfortable honesty, and the pursuit of root-cause solutions above party orthodoxy. He champions personal and systemic accountability, clear cause-and-effect reasoning, and draws on sobering historical examples to warn against simplistic left-vs-right narratives. By taking the Political Compass, he reveals himself slightly to the center-right, fiercely civil libertarian, and wary of all forms of unchecked power — corporate, bureaucratic, or populist.

His essential reading list urges listeners to gain both tactical self-ownership and a blunt-eyed view of human nature and history’s darkest lessons. The episode is an invitation to think beyond memes and headlines, see systems as they are, and prize honest debate about the world’s future.

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Notable Final Quote

“We really can do a lot together if we can stay focused on cause and effect and get this done.” — Tom Bilyeu ([22:30])

Transcript

[Interviewer]

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[Tom Bilyeu]

If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H Vac and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. I'm Tom Bilyeu and I'm president for a day. And let me tell you right now, I'm running on one thing. We are going to balance the budget and we're going to get this economy humming. Full stop. Period. End of story.

[Interviewer]

All right, the floor is yours. A rare quiet month, no crises competing for attention. What is your policy statement? Executive action.

[Tom Bilyeu]

So we are focused on balancing the budget via cutting. Like, we're going to balance the budget right now, today. So we are going to make hard choices about what has to go and what's going to stay. Then after that, the focus is on growing the economy. Those are going to be pillars one and two.

[Interviewer]

All right, let's submit this policy and see what happens. There's a threat assessment. Oh, I like this. The president has made the following policy announcement. We are focused on balancing the budget via cutting. We are going to make hard choices, but what needs to go, what is going to stay? After that, I will shift my focus to growing the economy. Treasury cost is low. Estimated expenditures. Potential savings of 500 to a trillion dollars annually in spending. That's better than Doge was able to get to. Key risk is political backlash from affected constituencies and interest groups, potentially solving cuts in the divided Congress. Some of the headlines Bill you Taxes, Acts to waste Bill you Outlines plan to balance to balance budget via spending cuts Bill Use austerity push threatens vital social programs.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah. Yes, aggressively. That is 100% true.

[Interviewer]

So so far so good. Everybody's green. Everybody still likes you. You didn't break anything. Some of the focus group responses. Texas Tom says from where I Sit. Finally, a presence. Talking Sen. Cutting the fat out of the bloated Washington budget. Iowa. Martha, my view is on this final year present taking sense, talking sense about balancing the budget. Everybody loves it, even Miami. Maria. Let me see if we get.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I have a feeling we're going to

[Interviewer]

have some people College Chloe.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes. College Chloe is going to hate me.

[Interviewer]

My reaction is, ugh, this is such a cop out. Cutting budgets when we need massive investment in climate action, student debt relief and health care.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Here we go.

[Interviewer]

All right. Gospel, Gloria. Gospel is crazy. Here's how I see it. This Republican talk of balancing the budget by cutting program sounds like they're coming for the safety. Safety nets that keep our folks from falling through the cracks. Brooklyn Jamal says, here's what I think. Another Republican president out here. Talk about balancing a budget by slashing the programs that actually help people like me. All right, so all the dissent is still there. All right, so Wall street. You gain in Wall street, you gain in Chamber of commerce, you gain in small business. All right, so far, nothing too crazy. First policy went over well. Cool. Let's play February 2025 now. All right, now let's make a policy. What's our first policy?

[Tom Bilyeu]

So we are going to extend. Extend the retirement age. But it will extend over the next 15 years. And then what else would we actually have to do if we wanted to balance the budget? We don't give states federal dollars if they don't have a balanced budget.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And no state funding for states with unbalanced budgets.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Increase the retirement age of 69 over the next 15 years and no state funding for states that do not have a balanced budget.

[Tom Bilyeu]

We're going to dramatically reduce regulation on housing to increase housing supply. I don't know what the federal government can do at the local level to outlaw rent control. But whatever the federal government can do to influence rent control, we want to

[Interviewer]

do for the sake of this. Let's say you want to extend the retirement age to 69 over the next 15 years. No state funding for states that do not have a balanced budget. Dramatically reduce regulation to promote builders to build more houses. And using the extent of our federal powers, remove all rent control nationally.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yep. And one more. I would create economic incentives for people to create jobs in America, especially in manufacturing.

[Interviewer]

Treasury cost is medium. Estimated expenditure approximately 20 to 40 billion dollars annually in manufacturing incentives offset by long term entitlement savings. Growth potential positive. So a your demand of growth is growing. Bill use Radical overhaul Punishes workers crushes renter. The American Herald. Tom Bilyeu Proposes sweeping reforms on retirement housing and manufacturing. Billye's bold boom plan. Ditch rent, rip offs, build houses, supercharged factories.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Okay, that's much better. Who was the one on the left? The first one? I want to know. These guys are liars.

[Interviewer]

They're the fake news.

[Tom Bilyeu]

They are the fake news, man.

[Interviewer]

Low iq, Congressional. You've been blocked by Congress on all

[Tom Bilyeu]

of them as introduced.

[Interviewer]

And then the stripped down version got passed through the House, but then they got filibustered in the Senate.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Jesus Christ.

[Interviewer]

You got blocked.

[Tom Bilyeu]

This is why I'm not a politician. And then so basically nothing has happened so far.

[Interviewer]

You're, you're doing great as a politician. You're doing great. You do great as a politician.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Where are my executive orders? I heard that works.

[Interviewer]

Miami. Maria said. My thought on this. Finally, a president who gets it. Cutting regulations and killing rent control is exactly what we need. We know we love Brooklyn. Jamal. Here's where I land. This is straight up trash, man. Forcing folks to grind to 69 while corporations get free pass to jack up rents by killing rent control.

[Tom Bilyeu]

What you guys do understand that when you eliminate rent control, rent gets cheaper, right? More people build.

[Interviewer]

Now you understand why Trump tweets at 3am in the morning. You start to start to understand, you start to embody. Wall street doesn't like you. You dropped two points on Wall street, so you lost.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah, well wait till they hear me trying to abolish the, the Federal Reserve. They're really going to hate that right now.

[Interviewer]

The national Debt ticked up 0.15 trillion. Did even get nothing to God.

[Tom Bilyeu]

That's because they, they're like, oh yeah, you want to reduce taxes, no problem that goes through. But all your other things that gets blocked.

[Interviewer]

All right, here's an immediate crisis that popped up. There's a mass shooting at Michigan factory. Kills 12 injured 20. A gunman opened fire at a Detroit auto parts factory today, killing 12 workers and wounding 20 others. The shooter, a 34 year old layoff employee, use a legally purchased AR15 style rifle. The incident marks the deadliest mass shooting of 2025 so far. Local union leaders demanding immediate federal action on workplace safety and reforms. What is your response?

[Tom Bilyeu]

Well, first of all, obviously I'm completely devastated that somebody was able to take this many lives. I mean, it's absolutely tragic. There's going to be plenty of people talk, talking about the gun control aspect, which I'm gonna not touch at all. But the thing that I would focus people on is this is almost certainly, I mean, look, this guy could be mentally Ill, there's no doubt about that. So if I had more information, that might change my assessment. But if this person isn't mentally ill, my immediate assumption is that this is a economic problem, that you have somebody that is just overwhelmed, stressed to the gills because they are being hollowed out by inflation and money printing. So I would try to get everybody to focus on, listen, you make it impossible for people to make ends meet and they have nothing left to lose, then they're going to start doing crazy stuff like this. And if you think that just by taking guns away you're going to stop the violence, you're not, as Europe is learning the hard way, you'll just hack somebody to death with machetes. So rather than try to lower the body count, what I would be focused on is making sure that people don't have the impulse to walk in and shoot something up. It's going to be a very complex issue. Everything from mental illness, SSRIs, on through the economic side of this. I would need more information to actually tell you what you need to do to solve this problem. If I were legitimately president, the thing that people would absolutely get bored to death of is this is a deterministic universe. There is cause and effect. We need to identify in this particular instance what actually happened. And so if this is mental illness, then you have that conversation. If this is a drug thing, whether like hard drugs or SSRIs, you have that conversation. If this is economic because this is somebody who was struggling and he went to this workplace because he's been completely iced out and is basically, this is a death of despair by cop, then you have to look at that. And so the one thing that my constituents can count on is, no matter what the punchline is, I care only about cause and effect. The odds of me being anything other than a one term president are effectively zero. And so in the one term that I have, I'm just going to try to say this is where we're going. This is the cause and effect to get there. And so we're going to do those things and whatever that means, whoever that pisses off, it pisses off. It just. It's the only way that I can do it.

[Interviewer]

Bill. Use heartless dismissal of mass shooting, tragedy, guns off limits, workers pain ignored.

[Tom Bilyeu]

That, that, that gets a 3am tweet. I'm not gonna lie. That gets the 3am tweet. You did not listen to a word I just said.

[Interviewer]

I feel bad because this is literally how it is. I was like, I empathize now this is crazy. Bill you responds to Detroit factory shooting rules out gun measures. Bill, you nails it. No gun grabs fix mental health and despair instead. Ooh. Okay, now we have some starting.

[Tom Bilyeu]

We're starting to see the first signs.

[Interviewer]

So in the north, in the armor, you lost some support. In D.C. you actually lost a lot of support. That's surprising. Least favorable is Washington, D.C. maryland, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut. Most favorable, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana. Focus group. Let's go to the same people we've been talking to. President Bilyeu isn't jumping on this tragedy to push more gun control like the Democrats always do. This dude just saw 12 people get slaughtered with the AR15 and his big plan is not. Not touching guns.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah, I mean here's the great news. This stuff is very predict. So that's, that's the great news of human nature.

[Interviewer]

Teachers union signals willingness to back budget cuts for school choice reforms the aft, the teacher American Federal Federation of Teachers issued a statement today expressing openness to cooperation if the administration advance nationwide school choice incentives as part of its economic reform package.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Man, if they. First of all, they would never come with this. But I love school choice. Let's go. Now I'm very sensitive to the fact that America has spent more money on education than virtually anybody else and we're middle of the pack in terms of results. So I've got a ton of beef with the teachers union, but anybody that comes with a good idea, I'm going to be super open. What I like about school choice is it lets people basically put the bad schools out of business. So yeah, I'm totally here for that.

[Interviewer]

I'm going to have your policy kill the teachers union and increase school choice nationally.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah, I would say. How are you going to say that? In a way, because if you're going to say get rid of the teachers union, it would have to be something like make the teachers union charter contingent on educational output, like accomplishments, benchmarks, something like that. You can't just keep funding the department of education and have it not get results.

[Interviewer]

Bill use school choice gambit threatens public education funding.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes, that is true.

[Interviewer]

Bill, you proposes performance based education funding nationwide school choice Bill, you schools teachers union empowers parents with choice revolution.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Hey, look, so even if they were trying to be mean with the national standard, that is accurate.

[Interviewer]

Hey, you got a strict version passed through congressional. The department of education will say it's not that.

[Tom Bilyeu]

So the schools are going to be publicly funded more aggressively under president Billy than anybody else. But I'm not Going to fund more

[Interviewer]

than they ever seen it.

[Tom Bilyeu]

The most aggressive, the most funding. But it won't. You won't keep getting funded if you're not delivering results. That is true.

[Interviewer]

So the Department of Education funding will now be partially tied to a basic to basic educational performance metrics in public schools. There you go. I think that's a win modification.

[Tom Bilyeu]

All right.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, that's a step in the right direction. All right. Everything is still net green. The haters are still hating, so that's good.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Wait, wait. Brooklyn Jamal hated that one.

[Interviewer]

I tell you what, the school choice nonsense is just a sneaky way to gut public schools and leave black and poor kids behind in underfunded. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Brooklyn Jamal as an archetype doesn't like school choice. What?

[Interviewer]

Brooklyn Jamal not having it. He's not here for you. He's not here for UBS President Bill you. He's not falling for it.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I thought Brooklyn would be all for this.

[Interviewer]

Chinese hackers they leaked the Billy admin diplomatic cables on EU trade talks. The FBI under Director Eric Medina revealed that Chinese state sponsored hackers access and leaked classified State Department cables from security Valentina's cruise Valentina Cruz's office exposing US negotiation strategies aimed at strengthening EU relations amid ongoing tensions with Beijing over manufacturing incentives.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Well, I mean the only thing that you really can do so one, you have a diplomatic meeting. But there's not going to be a lot that you can do unless you can prove that they did it. You need to be beefing up your ability to protect against that for sure. And then we're already in a cold war with China, so I'm not sure what exactly we can do there. But if we knew that it was a state hack, then there would be economic sanctions. We would have to do something because you absolutely cannot let that go for the game.

[Interviewer]

Let's. Let's say that we have it proven. We got it and it was proven that it was state sponsored like Iran state sponsored which they funded a group that the bills went back to his gc but he wasn't in the. He wasn't pressing the button. Yeah.

[Tom Bilyeu]

So we would have to find some equivalent of tariffs. I don't know if I would use tariffs, but it would be an economic penalty of some kind. So for now, for simplicity you can just say that we sanction them.

[Interviewer]

National standard bill you sanctions on China risk escalating trade war after hack leak the American Herald bill you order cybersecurity upgrades sanctions on China following diplomatic cable hack bill you hits hard Cyber boost and China sanctions after commie hack job.

[Tom Bilyeu]

It is funny seeing the left, center, right responses to all this.

[Interviewer]

Key versus Chinese retaliation through escalated cyber attacks or trade disruptions, potentially worsening bilateral relations and current treasures amid current tensions.

[Tom Bilyeu]

America loves me.

[Interviewer]

America.

[Tom Bilyeu]

America loves me, baby.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Let's go.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Tom Bilyeu]

They're here for it. Strong on China.

[Interviewer]

That was your highest favorability. Okay, this is. This is. This has been your best policy so far. I like it. All right, we're not going to go through each month. Let's just do, like, some quick hits of your favorite policies. We'll add them and kind of see what the sentiment is. You cool with that?

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Is there any sweeping things that you

[Tom Bilyeu]

could think of that we haven't already talked about? Finding a way to phase out the Federal Reserve over the next 10 years. You lose everybody with that one because you'd have to phase it out. Try phase out the Fed with 10 years and see if it changes. They still hate it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. You got more red.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Interesting. It's so necessary. Okay, so let's see. What would be a specific policy that might not be as widely triggering? Put forward a bill that would make any member of Congress uneligible ineligible for re election if the budget is more than 3% over GDP. In the red. Let's go.

[Interviewer]

Nice. 83%. Oh, that's. That's green across the board. Everybody loves that. In college Chloe said, all right, this is kind of the pull of radical accountability we need. There you go. You got a purple hair.

[Tom Bilyeu]

That's what I'm talking about. Now, college Chloe, if we're on the same page with that. Yeah, I. I respect it.

[Interviewer]

Brooklyn Jamal's at 85. You even sold him, man.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Come on, now.

[Interviewer]

You're the.

[Tom Bilyeu]

If really understand, like, what's going on. I think what that tells us is people like politicians being held accountable. There is an element of, like, anything I do that somebody reads is like, oh, somebody's not being held accountable. They're going to hate anything I do where they're like, yeah, yeah, like, that person's being held accountable. I think that's a big part of why the taxing is so enticing to people, is they feel like, yes, they're being penalized for their greedy ways, and so get that tax money, money. So it's interesting. Accountability, I think, might be a big trigger for getting everybody on the same page. So it becomes a good question of what are other things that we could do where all of us politicians are being held accountable. Like, no insider trading. Let's see what that looks like.

[Interviewer]

Another. Another 84 green.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah, another one.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So everybody likes to hold Congress accountable. Yeah.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Listen, these are good things. What are other things? Oh, term limits. Term limits. Eight years for Congress, 12 for Senate. Do we want to do 12 for Senate? Yeah, why not? We'll be. Be nice and chill. Let's go. Let's go. Okay, man, I'm getting the country behind me here.

[Interviewer]

There it is, There it is. Okay.

[Tom Bilyeu]

What else would be good that everyone would love?

[Interviewer]

How do we fix affordable, like housing? Let's attack housing.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Well, so you've got, you've got to reduce regulation so they're not going to feel like anybody's being held accountable. That's the problem. So deregulate the housing market to stimulate growth. If you say it like that, then people are going to. It's going to split.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Still, we'll take it.

[Interviewer]

Still green.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

Still green. We're starting to see some.

[Tom Bilyeu]

That one's very important. What can we do on anti fraud law and order? Tight borders like these are all. Ooh, here's one that's really going to be divisive, but is nonetheless, I think, important. We want an H1B visa program that is conservative in terms of total numbers, but gives business the ability to like, grab the best and the brightest from all over the world. I expect this one to be split.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah, 50%.

[Tom Bilyeu]

The funny thing I was gonna say that that one's like a 50, 50

[Interviewer]

and middle America hates it.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

The coastal cities are more favorable.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes, of course. Because they're the ones that want to do the hiring.

[Interviewer]

We talked about housing. We talked about H1B immigration. Immigration policy.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes. Well, so generalized immigration policy would be strict borders. I don't know how else to say that. 0il immigrants and sensible, broad, broad immigration policy. It's a little vague, but we'll see.

[Interviewer]

I was just thinking, I was like, the AI is going to be like,

[Tom Bilyeu]

okay, not bad, not bad. Trending green again.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, there it is.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Now, our map is not cumulative though, Right? This is just per policy.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Per policy, we're doing each individual by itself. Okay.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I mean, that gets you an idea of the kind of things that I'd be doing. I'm really trying to look at, okay, you've got a broad basket of Americans and ultimately everybody's happy when the economy is booming. And I think that there are really basic things that operate in my brain that lead to my decision making. There's a certain amount of regulation that you need to make sure that Workers aren't being taken advantage of, which we know from the early 1900s and every time before that, they will get taken advantage of if you don't have protections, so you want to make sure that you have those. But then what ends up happening is those regulations just grow and grow and grow and grow and grow, and they begin to choke out business. It actually ends up being bad for the tax base because you're not able to grow at the level that you want to grow. If your mental model is every regulation is me, the individual worker being fought for, you're not going to like it. But the reality is, what I think history shows just unequivocally, is that regulatory capture is always about the corporations, and it's never about the individual. And so people have come to confuse government stepping in and regulating with protecting me. But the reality is, I think we can all agree there's more regulations now than there has ever been. And let's say prior to Trump, there's more regulations than there's ever been, and the economy is an absolute disaster. So all of those regulations have not helped us. And so if you look at the way that the economic system works is people go to the government and as a business, they've got the money to lobby, and they're going to lobby for things that are in their favor. And so once you realize, oh, the people that are going, getting people's ear, getting them, they're. They're the ones drafting the legislation. So you've got the companies drafting the legislation, begging for the industry to be regulated. And the reason that they will ask for the industry to be regulated or the specific way in which they will ask the industry to be regulated will be beneficial to them. And will I sell other people that? That is how it always works. If you look at housing, you'll see it clear as day. You get places like Houston that have just deregulated the life out of it. And houses are. They're not. Not an asset, but they're not an asset that just goes up. Rent stay relatively flat, Home prices stay relatively flat. That's incredible. That's what people should want. Now, I understand if you have a house, you want the it to go up, up, up, up, up, up. But it creates the distortion that we're seeing now where it's like, if you got in, yeah, then you're winning, you're laughing, you're loving life. If you didn't get in, it gets farther out of reach, farther out of reach, farther out of reach. It's happening right now. And you don't have to look very far in the past to see people get violent. If you ice them out of the. The economic system, they will eventually turn violent. And even before they turn violent, they start, like, living lives of misery. You get deaths of despair, start skyrocketing. So that one, to me is just. It's grotesque that people don't look at that and say, ooh, we can't do this. I understand how hard life is. And so I don't want to make this sound easy, but if everybody thinks of life in terms of policy rather than what helps me, then it's like, okay, cool, yeah, I'm willing to compete in this system, and I'm looking for everybody else to compete. But when you start trying to do things that give you an edge, like they're specific to your circumstance, that's where I'm like, it's evil.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Tom Bilyeu]

And I don't think everybody does it to be evil. I think most people do it because they don't understand it. Getting people to think, how do you make the system work when it doesn't know who's going to be the person in the system? That's the right way to approach it.

[Interviewer]

Tom, you made a mediocre president. Brooklyn Jamal dare you. Brooklyn Jamal hates you. Maria. Miami loves you.

[Tom Bilyeu]

America loves me. America loves me. One of those is green, green, green. Let the record reflect once you understand what people want. People want things that are going to work and that hold people accountable. And it's the accountability part that's really interesting. There is such a desire to see people punished right now that if you can come up with a policy that is both good for the American public or perceived as good for the American public. But I actually only put. Other than the flower saying, I actually only put forward things that I actually think would be useful. But the ones where we really got it was where somebody got. Got jabbed a little bit. Whether it's China getting their sanctions or whether it's the Congress and Senate being held accountable for their budget proposals. They want to know, like, oh, yeah, like this guy, he's. He's got an eye on people.

[Interviewer]

Give us a 32nd state of the Union address. Your constituents. How would you talk to your voting base now that you had you stepped in the, in the chair for a second, you held the nuclear football. How do you feel about being the president? Is there any nuance that it added to you? Any, like, closing thoughts, stuff like that?

[Tom Bilyeu]

That to my fellow Americans, it was an absolute honor to serve you. I know that I am going to be a one term president, not doing things that based on what's popular. But man we really can do a lot together if we can stay focused on cause and effect and get this done. So I appreciate all your support on all my green initiatives that sounded like like energy thing. I appreciate all your support on the Dish it wow. I appreciate all your support on the different initiatives that I put forward and I look forward to seeing what is in store for all of us in the future. It is bright days ahead I assure you.

[Interviewer]

We need to play like the dun dun dun dun under it as you close out.

[Tom Bilyeu]

We're hitting pause for a moment but there's plenty more ahead so don't go anywhere.

[Interviewer]

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[Tom Bilyeu]

Thanks for sticking around. Let's get right back into the action. Here are the five books you must read if you want to last in the New World. 1. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin 2. The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn that is a must Mao the Unknown Story by Jung Chang the Red Famine by Anne Applebaum and the Machiavellians Defenders of Freedom by James Burnham.

[Interviewer]

Who is the book? Who are these books for? What is Tom Pre these books and Tom Post these books? And what are some of the changes you found with each individual one? Or you could group them together.

[Tom Bilyeu]

The reason that I picked these five books is we are in this incredibly tumultuous time and I want people to be able to navigate it well. And by that I mean on the other side of this we have to pick the right politicians and we have to invest our money wisely. If you do those two things, you're gonna have a much better shot at coming out the other side, no matter what happens. Well, but to do that you have to look at the way the world is and not be lost in your frame of reference. Like if you want to understand who I was before I read these books and then understand who I am after, it was I had one frame of reference that the world is a good just place where it's Pretty rare that things go wrong, that prosperity is a natural force of nature, that things tend towards the good and it doesn't require any effort from us. That inflation, for instance, is a natural law, that it's not man made. And then on the other side of all that, I realized, oh, the way that societies are structured, there always is this small group of elites at the top that are making decisions for all of us. They want to control what we see and believe. So they are intentionally leveraging the fact that we all get trapped inside of a frame of reference. It's necessary. But the smaller they can keep that frame of reference, the more they can control you. And that if you can get outside of your frame of reference and start tracking cause and effect now, you can avoid being manipulated and you can pick an endpoint on the horizon that you want to get to, whether economically, emotionally, in your career, whatever, and you can actually get there because you can step outside of what you've been taught to believe and actually see how things connect.

[Interviewer]

Okay, you went from extreme ownership to literally a first person narrative of the Holocaust. All those books have in common.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Okay, so right now we're living in certainly the most tumultuous time in anybody who's alive life. We've never had this kind of disruption. The last time that anything was this dramatic was World War II. The first step is going to be for people to take ownership of their circumstances. There is a hard reality to be faced about the fact that your life is a reflection of your choices. We live in a deterministic universe, so everything is cause and effective. But we have raised two generations of people to believe that the world is just always replete with success. It's an abundant world and the reality is it's not. And to have a moment like this is exceptionally rare and very difficult. And if people don't start going, oh, I can make different choices and get a different outcome, they're not going to walk down the right path. The reason that I include the three books, the Gulag Archipelago, the Red Famine and Mao the Unknown Story, is we are about to re ask the question, what economic system serves people the best? Because we've come out of the longest stretch of unprecedented economic growth for the middle class. We are now forgetting that we made a really hard choice between communism and capitalism and we've been eroding Capitalism here in the west is something you and I argue about a lot. But I think we're about to have to re answer that question. Question. And I think the consequences are dire and it Is something I just really can't get people to hear me. And you're such a good barometer for me. You're smart, you're super well meaning. You just want the right answer. You have a child, you love her the most. It's like, I know you just want what's good for her. But if you haven't read those three books to understand how wrong things go with humans. And the one notion that I think people really miss is to get equal outcomes, you have to do it by force. And those three books show three real examples in the 20th century. Man, this is not like a long time ago. Mao was alive when I was alive. For people to understand those three examples of how evil you have to be to get people to relinquish what they have fought to earn. Even if it starts in a good place, it ends up with. With murder. And those three books. Because I think people believe I'm being hyperbolic. Keep in mind I didn't start with this worldview. I, maybe more than most, I used to get made fun of by my business partners for being Pollyanna. And reading those books and many, many more about the atrocities of the 20th century, about economics, quite frankly, I really came to understand how bloody and sinister communist is. We've been able to communicate how evil Nazism is, but we were not able to get that same message across about communism. And so those three books really paint a terrifying picture from the inside of what it was like to live through those systems.

[Interviewer]

Okay, so we have the first one. Extreme ownership. It's important for the individual to know that you can change the decisions that. And you can change your life based on those decisions.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes. Life is not random. It's a deterministic universe. You're in control of your actions. You can change your outcomes.

[Interviewer]

Then the next three. Mao, Gulag and Red Famine. This is what happens when the human race breaks bad. That's a very shorthanded way.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Economic. The economic system you choose will have massive consequences. And if we go down the socialist communist route, it is the bloodiest path imaginable.

[Interviewer]

And these are three examples of that.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes. To get people on the inside of that so they understand the massive consequences. And if nothing else, to. To understand the brutality required to get people to willingly give up what they have fought to earn.

[Interviewer]

Okay. And then to round us out now with Machiavelli and Defenders of Freedom.

[Tom Bilyeu]

So we're. We're in the middle of an era where the way the world works is becoming apparent to us. And it's going to have A deranging effect. The Machiavelli was a real person in Italy. He writes this book called the Prince. The Prince was meant to teach basically world affairs to the rulers of Italy. And it's this no holds barred. It was like literally the 48 laws of power by Robert Greener based largely on the Prince. And so he was just trying to lay out the first book on politics, like how it actually works, not how we wish it worked or the. The veneer of civility, but underneath the. The power games, the manipulation, the fact that we're always going to be run by an elite group of people, which in the book he refers to as the iron law of oligarchy. And so in a world where social media is going to make everything hyper visible, the way that it works, the way that politicians lie, all the sex scandals, all of the secret cabals that really do gather behind the scenes and create things like a central bank. And that central bank sounds lovely, but it's absolutely sinister and just manipulative of the people. Things like Epstein, like, it's just all going to come out, out, and we're gonna look at that and it's really going to be deranging. And if we don't have somebody that can help us make sense of the way that humans interact as a political animal, we won't have a way to anchor and understand the moment. And so conspiracy theories will reign. People are going to run in a thousand different directions. Narratives are going to split into these tiny little fragments and we're not going to have any shared understanding of what the world, world is. And so Machiavelli and defenders of freedom. It was really James Burnham saying, okay, let's take a really hard look at this thing. Because people are trying to dismiss Machiavelli by saying he was evil or by saying that he was promoting the way that man is as a political animal, which is really grotesque. He wasn't trying to say this is good and as it should be. He's simply saying it is. This is how the human mind works. And when you take all these books together, it is the most raw look at what the human animal actually is. And I think if we don't have that understanding, we will be deranged by algorithms because the algorithm feeds into our emotions. We won't share a narrative about what is true and how people really are with each other. We won't be able to point at where we, we want to end up. We'll just get lost in the sauce of like, the lies, the manipulation and all of that. And so when you take all these books together, you've got a really hard look at how much you can own, your own decisions and how powerful it is to see yourself as a structure of power. You've got a really brutal look at the fact this is a line from the gulag archipelago, which most people will know the line, but they won't know where it came from, which is the line between good and evil runs through every human heart. And that was a guy who was a law locked into the Russian Gulag system, who knew that there were stories like there was one guy, they just could not break him. And so they brought in his 16 year old daughter and raped her in front of him to finally break him. And so he's living through that system and he comes out and says, you would do well to remember that you would probably be one of the guards, not one of the people that, you know, tries to maintain your integrity. The prisoners in the system massively outnumbered the guards, but they never tried to overwhelm them because they used other prisoners. By giving them perks, they got them to hold down everybody else. And so he realized it is far better for me to look at myself as weak and likely to break and not as some hero. And that this line really any one of us can break to the truly evil taking a short break. But there's more impact theory after Stay tuned.

[Interviewer]

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[Tom Bilyeu]

If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Thanks for staying tuned. Now let's get back to it. A few weeks ago, Drew and I talked about the political Compass on the live. And now I'm gonna take the political Compass test and see where I end up.

[Interviewer]

The Political Compass test was first developed by a British news outlet all the way back in 2001 with the goal of expanding how we discuss political ideology. The test was designed to implement Two separate axes. One for economic ideology and the other for social ideology. The aim of this was to begin dissecting the politics of any individual, utilizing a more in depth system rather than the simple left right spectrum we all colloquially understand. Today we are putting Tom through the test to find out where he really stands. First question. If economic globalization is inevitable, it should primarily serve humanity rather than the interests of transnational corporations.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Why is that? The dichotomy. That's a weird split. If economic globalism is inevitable, it's not. It should primarily serve humanity rather than the. Well, yes, strongly agree. You definitely want to serve humanity. But let me tell you, bro, that is going to get weird. And how you define that will be strange.

[Interviewer]

I always support my country, whether it was right or wrong.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Oh God, what do they mean by support? So yes, I'm not going to be a traitor to my country. But the real answer is that if my country is wrong, I'm going to speak up loudly. So I would say I strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

No one chooses their country of birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Our race has many superior qualities compared with other races.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Jesus Christ. Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

I said ours. So you know, okay, that helps. I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Disagree. But not strongly.

[Interviewer]

Military action that defies international law is sometimes justified.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

There is now a worrying fusion of information and entertainment.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

That was a banger. That's a good question. People are ultimately divided more by class than by nationality.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Disagree.

[Interviewer]

Controlling inflation is more important than controlling unemployment.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

Because corporations cannot be trusted to voluntary protect the environment. They require regulation.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Agree.

[Interviewer]

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need is a fundamentally good idea. Idea.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

The free of the market, the freer the people.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

It's a sad reflection on how society on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a bottled, branded consumer product.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Land shouldn't be a commodity to be bought and sold.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

It is regrettable that many personal fortunes are made by people who simply manipulate money and contribute nothing to their society.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Disagree.

[Interviewer]

Protectionism is sometimes necessary in trade.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

The only social responsibility of a company should be to deliver a profit to its shareholders.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Disagree.

[Interviewer]

The rich are too highly taxed.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Disagree.

[Interviewer]

Those with the ability to pay should have access to higher standards of medical care.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

Government should penalize businesses that mislead the public.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

A genuine free market requires restriction on the ability of predator multinationals to create monopolies.

[Tom Bilyeu]

A genuine free Market requires restrictions, so you need to stop them from doing that. And I strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

Abortion, when the woman's life is not threatened should always be illegal.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

All authority should be questioned.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Taxpayers should not be expected to prop up any theaters or museums that cannot survive on a commercial basis. Ooh.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Disagree.

[Interviewer]

Schools should not make classroom attendance compulsory.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Schools. I mean, you should.

[Interviewer]

You have some pause there. What's the hesitation?

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah, it's one of those where I like that students have to be educated, but parents should be able to decide in what form that takes, so the schools shouldn't be in charge of it. But the ethos of making sure that our young are educated I do like. As a rule, I think that that's very important. But schools shouldn't be the ones to. Oh, God, this is going to be. Schools should not make classroom attendance compulsory. I'll go with agree but not strong.

[Interviewer]

All people have their rights, but it is better for all of us that different sorts of people should keep to their own kind.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Jesus. Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Good parents sometimes have to spank their children.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

It's natural for children to keep some secrets from their parents.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Agree.

[Interviewer]

Possessing marijuana for personal use should not be a criminal offense.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

The prime function of schooling should be to equip the future generation to find jobs.

[Tom Bilyeu]

To find jobs. Jobs. I'm gonna go with disagree. But it's not that it doesn't matter. It just shouldn't be the primary focus.

[Interviewer]

If you can change something, what should be the primary focus?

[Tom Bilyeu]

Problem solving and dealing with the real world. So how to deal with your emotions, Understanding your biology, knowing how to invest. Like there are things that will prepare you for the world that have nothing to do with finding a job. But people should definitely think about being an ad to society. But you may want to. To create a company or something like that. I have a feeling what they mean by this is that the prime function of school should be to be a cog in the machine. That I disagree with. I'll say disagree. But hedge my bets a little bit because there's enough gray area in there. I'm not going to push all the way to strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

People with serious inheritable disabilities should not be allowed to reproduce.

[Tom Bilyeu]

God damn. Strongly disagree. What the. Who wrote this?

[Interviewer]

The most important thing for children to learn is to accept disability discipline.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

There are no savage and civilized peoples. There are only different cultures.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Those who are able to work and refuse the opportunity should not expect Society support.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

When you are troubled, it's better not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Honestly. Yeah. Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I'm with you on that one. First generation immigrants can never be fully integrated within their new country.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

What's good for the most successful corporations is always ultimately good for all, Right?

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

No broadcasting institution, however independent its content, should receive public funding these days.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I strongly agree. There was a time where I wouldn't have, but the Internet is just so plentiful. Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

Our civil liberties are being excessively curbed in the name of counterterrorism. Ooh.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

A significant advantage of a one party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratically. In the democratic political system.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly. Aggressively disagreeable. Disagree.

[Interviewer]

Although the electronic age makes official surveillance easier, only wrongdoers need to be worried.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Get out of here. Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

The death penalty should be an option for the most serious crime.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

In a civilized society, one must always have people above to be obeyed and people below to be commanded.

[Tom Bilyeu]

One must always have. No. Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Abstract art that doesn't represent anything shouldn't be considered art at all.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

In criminal justice, punishment should be more important than rehabilitation.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Ooh, interesting. More important than rehabilitation. If I knew that they could be rehabilitated, I would be much more into the rehabilitation.

[Interviewer]

Make it a policy.

[Tom Bilyeu]

What's the make it a policy, Drew?

[Interviewer]

Very well said.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Very well said. I don't think we know how to rehabilitate, so I'm going to go with punishment should be more important. I'll go with agree, but not strongly.

[Interviewer]

Okay. It is a time is a waste of time to try to rehabilitate some criminals.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Agree.

[Interviewer]

The business person and the manufacturer are more important than the writer and the artist.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Artists. Ooh.

[Interviewer]

I feel like you just. These are both of your identities.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I know each other. It's like they. They are both very meaningful. But y. I'll agree that if you could have a bunch of artists but nobody doing business, you have a problem. If you have a bunch of business people with no writers and artists, it's sad. It's a bad day, but you can still have a functioning economy.

[Interviewer]

Mothers may have careers, but their first duty is to be homemakers.

[Tom Bilyeu]

God, no. Strongly disagree. But I highly advise, dear mothers, I highly advise you to prioritize your children as much as you can. That would be very good for them. But same for dads, by the way. So this is why. Yeah. Dear parents. Well said, Drew. This is exactly Why I didn't have kids because I knew that I would prioritize my career way too much. So, yeah, that's not a uniquely mom thing, but if you're going to have kids, while I feel you're doing all of us a great service, and so I feel terrible asking a little bit more of you. If you're going to do it, do it well. That would be my advice.

[Interviewer]

Almost all politicians promise economic growth, but we should heed the warnings of climate science science that growth is detrimental to our efforts to curb global warming.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I mean, yes, but I'm gonna go with this. Wait. I'll say agree, but certainly not strongly agree. I feel I need a neutral one on this one.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, this is interesting. I thought you were gonna say disagree.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Well, here's the thing. You do need to listen. Climate change is real, but you don't need to act like a European psychopath where it's like, no matter what, you just more green. More green. Even if it's economically disadvantageous. That's stupid. Stupid. However, pretending like Beijing could just be Beijing like they were, you know, 15, 20 years ago, where it was like breathing one big cigarette your entire life. That's also an atrocity. So, yeah, I'll leave it there. This one needs a neutral button, but, yeah, this is.

[Interviewer]

I'll say this is the first one that surprised me. Like your answer, but having that lack of neutral button, I guess, where it breaks. Making peace with the establishment is an important aspect of maturity.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes, the iron law of all of oligarchy. So I'll agree, but not strongly.

[Interviewer]

Astrology accurately explains many things.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

You cannot be moral without being religious.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Charity is better than Social Security as a means of helping the genuinely disadvantaged.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah, strong. I'll go with agree, but not strongly. There's nuance, but the reason that I say agree is that charity tends to be more at the local level. They're more likely to know the person and whether they actually need it or not. A big part of the problem with social systems is that it becomes anonymous. The bureaucracy then wants its own survival. And so you fund and fund and fund homelessness, only to get more homelessness, because that organization needs the more homeless people to grow, and so it ends up not solving the problem. But again, going back to what I was saying earlier, having no social safety net is brutal. There are times where people are going to have a legitimate need, and we, as people trying to build an awesome society, would do well to catch them. But you do need means to.

[Interviewer]

Some people are very. Are Naturally unlucky.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I mean, sure, in a random universe, but I'm gonna say strongly disagree because I don't think while luck is a real thing, it's not like, ah, ha ha ha, that person is chronically unlucky. It's not like that.

[Interviewer]

It is important that my child. School instills religious values.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

Sex outside of marriage is hugely immoral.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

A same sex couple in a stable, loving relationship should not be excluded from the possibility of childish adoption.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

Pornography depicting consenting adults should be legal for the adult population.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

What goes in, what goes on in a private bedroom between consenting adults is no business of the state.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Strongly agree.

[Interviewer]

No one can feel naturally homosexual.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Huh? The reports do not indicate that that is true. Strongly disagree.

[Interviewer]

These days, openness about sex has gone too far.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I agree.

[Interviewer]

Oh yeah, that's a, that's another.

[Tom Bilyeu]

I don't think it should be curbed. Like, I don't think the government should get involved. But if you want to know if I think that Bonnie Blue is on the right track, I do not. I, I think that is gonna be a bad day for her.

[Interviewer]

Now, let's see where you stand.

[Tom Bilyeu]

So I'm super far from authoritarian. That is absolutely true. And I am ever so slightly to the right. This is pretty accurate for me.

[Interviewer]

Center right.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah. But also just to be very clear, I would like the record to reflect how far away from authoritarian I am on the economic.

[Interviewer]

We have usual suspects. AOCs over here. Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, Zoram Hamdani.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Those guys are the most authoritarian and how dare you?

[Interviewer]

This is on the world map. So, you know, world authoritarian is different than us.

[Tom Bilyeu]

And anybody who's a democratic socialist is ultra authoritarian.

[Interviewer]

But when you look up here, there's actual dictators. Kim Jong Un, super left, super authoritarian.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Xi Jinping, being. Vladimir Putin. I thought that was being.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Those guys don't like, max that out.

[Interviewer]

Then of course, on the authoritarian right, we have Donald Trump, J.D. vance, Benjamin Netanyahu, Victor Orban, who just got voted out. Marine Le Pen.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

This is interesting.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Pretty accurate.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Tom Bilyeu]

Well, to me that feels very on point. There were some of the questions that I was pushed in one direction or the other that didn't feel quite right. But overall, the rating of where they put me, I think feels pretty real. I am from a temperament perspective, ever so slightly right. In terms of like classic old school evolution type, personal responsibility versus communal, if you will.

[Interviewer]

Was there any questions that keeping you up at night that ones that stuck out to you that you're still like.

[Tom Bilyeu]

The honest answer is there were a lot of them where you could really get nitpicky about what they mean by a given word, ones that like, stood out and I really felt uncomfortable with. My answer is nothing that, like, sticks in my craw, if you will. Finding out exactly where you stand on something like that I think is incredibly useful. Know thyself is the first rule. And, and I think so often people mistake the way that they think for being objectively right. And I have learned very aggressively in my marriage that it isn't that I'm right, it's just that there are things that I want to do my way and that I reduce dramatically the friction in my life once I realize, oh, I have a way that I like to do things, it is not objectively right. And if you can learn to work with other people who are also trying to do things their way isn't objectively right, but it is their way. And if you can come together with that and find out what that compromise is, where you guys can actually share values, then we could get some momentum and moving forward. Right now, everybody is so hell bent to be on a team that if somebody doesn't end up in your quadrant, you want to throw feces. And so be very careful about focusing on the things that make you different and really, really try to find a way to come together in the middle. That is when the world has always been at its best, is when we're choosing between two sides that are relatively close to each other in the middle.