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Host/Commentator
2025 continues its impression of a Twilight Zone episode as Stargate goes from science fiction to AI science fact. Elon threw up the Sig Heil heard around the world. Or did he? Trump has wasted no time in securing America's bag with SoftBank and others committing 500 billion to build out US AI infrastructure. Trump also dropped an abundance of pardons, executive executive orders and meme coins, all while promising to plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars. Do not hit pause on this one because we've got an action packed episode for you today. Drew, kick us off, man.
Co-host/Drew
I need some of that AI money, man.
Host/Commentator
Bro, it's incoming. It's incoming at 500 billion. There is going to be plenty to go around. That's crazy.
Co-host/Drew
Town CEO SoftBank said the commitment was 200. He's like I'm coming back with five.
Host/Commentator
It's crazy.
Co-host/Drew
500 million. So jumping right into it, Stargate, which is now the America's AI infrastructure, they have SoftBank financing it. Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, kind of as an advisor and then Sam Altman, Elon's boy, so that's going to be interesting. Is heading up the functional and operational aspect of it. They already have a 1 million square foot data center in Texas that's going up now and they already outlined their next project. So what do you say that what do you think this is going to do for the future of America's AI?
Host/Commentator
I mean this is a very big move and I think that in terms of places that you could be making an investment, making it into AI is exactly the place to do it. I didn't know that I was this on Trump's Radar when he was first talking with Masasan of Softbank, I didn't realize that this was the plan. I just knew that he was trying to get masasan to invest 100 billion in US companies, I thought. And so that he's targeting AI is really important. I mean, look, my whole thesis is that AI in the way that software aid the world, AI is going to eat everything, everything, including human souls. Much to my dismay. And I think that that really does begin in 2025. But just like I say, when it comes to America first, us staying at the top of the hierarchy is really critical right now. From what I've heard, China is really beginning to pull away on AI. They certainly have us on robotics, they have us on drones. I think that's going to matter a lot militarily. And then whoever wins the ASI race artificial superintelligence, it, you could get into a fast takeoff scenario where it does become winner take all. Now hopefully that's a low probability, but nonetheless, you cannot play around with AI. And everybody had their eye on the prize, which is the infrastructure is going to be the problem. And you see Microsoft spinning up Three Mile Island, I don't know if that trips people out as much as it does me. They are bringing nuclear folks facilities online for private companies. I mean, it's just absolute insanity. So very exciting to see the US making these big investments. And when I think of what America first means, it means being the strongest economic and military power on planet Earth. And we are not going to get there without a ton of energy, without a ton of cooling, which for people that don't really pay attention to computers, might not think about how important that's going to be. And then just the raw infrastructure of the data centers, the cabling, all of that stuff is going to be really, really important. And I think people will really begin to understand what this is when you realize that as far as we can tell, the only thing that separates say, monkeys from humans is compute, meaning if you stack enough neurons, it really does just keep getting more and more intelligent. So the size of the data center is the same as having a bigger and bigger brain. And unlike humans, who are limited by a woman's desire to walk upright, that is not a joke. The size of our head is limited by what we can squeeze out birth canal. And so computers just aren't going to have that limitation. And so as the data centers continue to get bigger, as our supply of energy continues to grow, theoretically there's no known limit to the level of intelligence that we can build.
Co-host/Drew
And that's exactly where I was going with it. We have a million square foot facility. We have a private nuclear reaction nuclear site going live. Is this what America needs to be number one in AI or do you think? Yes, period, full dude.
Host/Commentator
And more and more and more like this is really, this is really going to be a fascinating time because you're going to bring something online that theoretically will make life a lot better. It will extend all of our abilities. We're, we're going to go through a meaning crisis. There, there can be no getting around that. We're going to go through a jobs crisis. And I think there's going to be a super weird feedback loop between as AI comes online and more and more companies stop hiring first and then begin shrinking their workforces. That's going to create this need for money printing so that we can take care of people with either UBI or something like it. It's just going to happen so fast. I don't see a way around printing. So you've got AI creating this short term need to print money which will drive more people into technology driven things like Bitcoin as a flight to financial security. And so we'll create a flywheel in the short term that will be very, what do they call it, Creative destruction. So it will bring something better, but it is going to be rough, man. So I look at this and I'm like, it's the right play. And all the while I'm also holding my breath of like, I don't even know what it means for us. So it's not like, oh, I look at it and go, well, everything's going to be fine for us. I'm like, this throws everybody's cards into the air. But because it is, if you think of it as a weapon, which is unfortunately one of the ways you must think of it, you'll realize you can't slow down, you can't stop. So yeah, we need more, more, more, more nuclear, more data centers, more investments into the us and the fact that Trump is aggregating international support for this I think is really, really important. And I'll trust you to stop me if this fractal gets uninteresting. But when you look at Japan, they've really stagnated for a long time. And only Masasan at Softbank has been taking these huge swings. He's going for it, dude. And look, he's had some huge catastrophic misses, but he hits just enough that this guy continues to be one of the greatest investors of all Time and this, like, if he's really planting a flag and saying, we, Japan, who have real beef with China, like there is crazy historical friction. We're going to plant our flag with America. That. That's a really good sign. Especially when it's 500 billion.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah, that's definitely a win. And to your point, this is the Runway that we asked for. Trump said he's going to come in and do something for AI. He took regulations, he gave us a blank check and said, okay, now go. So from Sam Altman's perspective, at this point, it's just a matter of weeks, months before AGI.
Host/Commentator
I feel like I can't figure out what to think about Sam Altman. I don't know if that. He's so quiet and unassuming. Like, is he an evil genius? I literally asked this earlier. You were here when I said it and one of our teammates here was like, yes. And I was like, oh, he is. He's doing crazy moves. From taking a 501C3 company and turning it into a. A for profit company is already crazy and we'll see if that ends up happening. But I think the most interesting thing with the Sam Altman connection is you've got Trump now connected to Altman in a huge way, connected to Elon in a huge way. But Elon and Altman hate each other. And that is going to play out in very interesting ways, but shows me that Trump is doing what he thinks at a minimum is good for his legacy. And as long as he ties America thriving to his legacy, which does seem like his play, we're all going to win. And he is so far, and it's so early. So, you know, play this in six months and it may look ridiculous, but so far it really does seem like he's able to get these guys to join him. Either because he's telling Elon what he wants to hear about going to Mars, or who knows what he's promising Sam. But it is right now I'm seeing very encouraging signs of somebody who's getting very disparate people to work together. And that is super encouraging.
Co-host/Drew
100%. It's hilarious because last week we showed the Will Smith video of spaghetti 12 months ago, spaghetti now. So now imagine two years from now with a 500 million dollar. 500 billion dollar with a B investment. Who knows what happens next?
Host/Commentator
So, yeah, also the models are getting way more efficient. This is where China is really flexing its muscle, is it's showing. Look, you can train these with a lot less need a Lot less compute need by getting the models way more efficient. And so if you're building these gigantor brains and they are dramatically more efficient now, all of a sudden, you know what let's say would have been a one to one at the size of computer brain that we're building now could be 100 to one or a thousand to one. And so that's the same as making that facility a thousand times bigger. And so, man, this is just, just going to, it's going to get so interesting, but it's going to move so fast. The rate of change is just going to be blinding. It's going to be blinding. And this is going to be, it's going to be mixed. It's going to be mixed. There's no two ways about it. I'm as anxious as I am thrilled.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah, I'm curious to see what happens. But Trump has not been slowing down. On his first day, he had a slew of executive orders. We're not going to cover all 200 of them, but we'll cover a couple of the top ones. There was some that highlighted civic, civic pride. That's the beautiful architecture, the restoration of merit. He ended some DEI programs. He had some where he covered fiscal responsibility for the emergency, price relief, putting people over, fish flowing the water down in Southern California with hiring and regulatory freezes for the government until his people are in. And he also kind of moved first his America first agenda. Emergency situation at the southern border ended, birthright citizenship, 90 day pause on foreign aid. And he did some major energy initiatives to build so we can produce energy locally as well as withdrawing from the parent climate agreement, the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization.
Host/Commentator
So he has been busy, so very busy. And it's interesting to see what's going to happen. So I think it is really fascinating that Trump had four years on, did not know what he was doing, way in over his head, loses, now comes back and has had four years to plan to realize what this game is, come back way stronger and now only has four years to cement a legacy. And you're seeing him move very fast because he understands what he can do with the four years, but that they have to be incredibly organized, incredibly focused and to come in with such a clear mandate from the people is, it's just really created an interesting vibe that I'm really excited to see what comes to fruition. But with the executive orders, it signals to people exactly what he's moving towards. And so you alluded to this as you just went through those. We went through and we bucketed them into what I think they should be grouped as people will group these, I think in very different ways. But now let's go through each of these buckets in the way that we didn't again go through all of them. But I think he's signaling some very interesting things. The idea of civic pride, which is the first one, which were the ones that we put into that.
Co-host/Drew
The beautiful architecture, the restoration of merit.
Host/Commentator
Merit, that's, that's the big one. So I want to combine this idea of merit with the notion of we want to make civic buildings architecturally beautiful. Those two things to me feel like they belong to the same grouping because rather than talking about merit based stuff as like this exodus out of DEI or we're trying to move away from the woke mind virus. The reason I don't like that framing is because I think people have to understand. You want the tension between the left and the right. I think they are evolutionary mandated, necessary things in humans to get us to function together as a cohesive society. And so you need people that are no man left behind. Like, we have to be compassionate towards each other. And this goes back to, from an evolutionary standpoint, you, you didn't have refrigeration. So the only way to store calories that you couldn't eat right in the moment was to give them to somebody else. And so you're rewarded tremendously by taking care of the people in the group. Because one day it's going to be you this down, you need to be taken care of. So we, we have that impulse and there's been so much focus on the DEI way that that plays out, where it's like become sort of toxic and no longer merit based. But the impulse from an evolutionary standpoint I think is really important. And if you think about it, manifest the military with the no man left behind. Like, I will go into enemy fire to try to save somebody that's been injured. They'll even try not to leave a dead body behind. And that impulse, like, if you think about it manifesting in such an honorable way like that, it will stop people from wanting people on the right wanting to throw people out on the left. So I think that that's really, really important. So instead, if people can think of it as, all right, merit and civic pride, those belong together and what they are is merit matters a lot. And the only way that we're going to get ahead is if we look at it and say, look, hard work works. It should be celebrated. We should venerate that, and by the way, these institutions which are meant to help us all thrive as one big community, if we take pride in that, if we don't let litter be on the streets, if we don't let homeless encampments be everywhere, and instead say not only should these buildings be functional, but they should be things, they should be spaces of reverence, that they should have a sacred element to them. And as religion has died, that sense of the sacred has gone with it. And if you go to Washington D.C. it just feels different when you're there and you feel very much like you're in an outdoor museum. And I mean, museum in it is a space of reverence. And when you go in and you read like Lincoln's words in the Lincoln Memorial, first of all, that fucker could write like that shit just is so inspiring. But it's so laden with religious language and words and references. And so as that has lost its way, so has this sense of making these hallowed places and this executive order to me tied to merit, that points at that impulse. And this is the right's way of saying, this is the part that we bring the personal responsibility to venerate hard work and success. And I think just as one should really be embracing how important it is to think about the whole group and to not want to see people struggle and to want to elevate the whole group, you should also understand the free rider problem and that you want these hardcore and to be like, yo, they are the best of us. They are the most accomplished. And we want to elevate that anybody who's striving for that. And we want to acknowledge and recognize when people achieve something extraordinary, okay? Because we are about to be back on a world stage where this stuff is going to matter. And for the last, whatever, 70 years, it's been in the west relatively calm. I think that period's over. And so if we don't re. Embrace all this stuff, we're going to be in trouble. So this is the right asserting that side again, There should be a balanced tension between the left and the right. So I really like that. And if people hear those executive orders that return to merit the celebration of all that, the beautification of public and civic spaces, I think they'll. They'll be moving in the right direction. I don't want that to be a left, right, divide thing. I want to see everybody get behind that.
Co-host/Drew
Be proud to be American.
Host/Commentator
Exactly. And look, everybody should be proud of their team. So if you're from Yugoslavia, I want you to Be proud of being from Yugoslavia. If you're from Japan, be proud of that. And of course, if you're in a state that is our enemy, I would still expect you to be proud of your country. So. But understanding this is how we're ultimately going to get the best out of each other. Now, as always, there is pathology on both sides, and so this can go too far, and that's why you need that balance. But that bucket is particularly exciting to me. I'm way prone to somebody who grew up in the 80s and knows what it's like to be super proud of America. And when you hear the national anthem and you see the flag waving, that is so rad. It was so jarring for me to watch the American flag become like a thing that people frowned on or they tear down. At least in la, if you hung it outside, that was so weird to me, just having grown up with, you know, the Schwarzenegger era, the. Just like America is the best anyway, that makes me sad. The next bucket.
Co-host/Drew
Physical responsibility.
Host/Commentator
Yeah. So this is where the rubber meets the road. So I love all the civic stuff. Yay. It's like, it's reverence, it's seeing things as sacred. It's spiritual. This is the rubber meets the road. And at some point, like, you gotta run a balanced budget and you have to have a way to actually fund all the things you want to do. And you can't keep robbing from the future, which is what we're doing. Right. As somebody who has kids, I hope that you really internalize that we can live well now at their expense, but that seems evil, if I may be so bold. And so a return to fiscal responsibility. And look, I don't know if he's going to be able to achieve it. I expect virtually all of his executive orders to be fought against tooth and nail. So I'm speaking only to what I think these signal and what they represent and why I hope people get behind them. Because whether you're running a company, whether you're running a household, you need to say, this is how much we make. This is how much we can spend. And it forces people to prioritize. And I really believe one of the great derangements of modern society is an inability to define your values and let your values determine your priorities. And when you're not forced to do things in priority order, you end up with a message. And so fiscal responsibility is really about forcing everybody to say, we think this is more important than this other thing that is also incredibly important. And when I look at entrepreneurs. So I coach entrepreneurs a lot from people that don't know that about me. And one of the things that I find that they're almost universally terrible at, and I'm talking about people with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue annually, and they're still absolutely terrible at this, is prioritizing. And if you let everything be important, nothing's important. So. And you know, I know I use this example a lot, but it's because both of these things are incredibly important. And so being able to rank order them is a sign of my value system. So America first as staying the world's greatest economic and military superpower, that's America first priority number one. America first priority number two. Also very important. And I get why this really matters to people is just making sure that Americans are doing well financially, critically important. Totally understand. But if I have to bring in some people from India or China or wherever to make sure that we stay number one military number one economic, I'm going to do it because I think that is the thing that serves the most Americans. But you should be able to articulate what it is you're fighting for. Hold tight. We're going to take a quick break.
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Host/Commentator
We're back. Let's dive right in. All right, so that was Bucket two and his executive orders, Bucket three.
Co-host/Drew
America First. That's the emergency at the southern border and Bertha. Right. Citizenship, 90 day pause on foreign aid, energy initiatives, withdrawals from the parent clim, the Paris climate Accords and the World Health Organization.
Host/Commentator
Yeah, so this one is probably the one that I'm the most like, okay, we're on A slope here. And we need to be very thoughtful. There is a reason that societies fluctuate going back and forth between global minded to isolationist minded. And you're going to see that over and over and over throughout different countries, different time periods. And so we very much are in a populist moment where we ran the, I won't even say the globalist experiments. I have a feeling it's always going to work this way, that when everything is stable and there is a knowable world order within that sphere of influence, you're going to globalize as much as you can. And given that we had this opportunity where both China and India were on the come up, up, it was like, man, going global was thrilling because you could get things at way cheaper prices. And I'm talking as a consumer, not just as an entrepreneur that you were just able to get so many incredible things for really a fraction of what it would have cost to do it here in the U.S. however, you strengthen China, China was very shrewd during all of this and they were like, thank you very much for the economic power. Now we're in economic power and we're building all these other alliances. America is making the classic empire mistake of you're spread out all being the world's policeman. You're spending money left, right and center. You're having to print which every reserve currency ever in all of human history has done and done to the point where ultimately they lose that status. It's just, it's so historically predictable that, that you're going to be in that loop. So I get the retreat back to wanting to be protectionist and take care of yourself. And I actually think it's the right play because you can't ignore that China's become a superpower. You can't ignore that they make like 70% of the Dr. That we use in our own military are made in China. So much of our stuff is made in China or other countries. And at a moment where we begin to re atomize down into our individual nations, that is a huge point of weakness that will be leveraged against us, I think would have already been leveraged against us had China not hit economic hard times. So let's all be grateful for that. So I think it's good, but it, there's pathology on both sides. So if we go too far, isolationist, protectionist, then it becomes us against the world. And so I think Trump, given what I see if with just Elon and Sam Altman, Trump is more than happy to go to different parties who don't like each other, but try to bring them together. Now, look, Trump is bringing them together for the glory of Trump. Trump and hopefully America. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not delusional. Trump wants to secure his legacy, but for now, his legacy is married to making America great again. So cool. As long as there's no friction there. Yay. You can always trust people to be selfish. And as long as the most selfish thing that Trump can do is make America strong economically and militarily, I'm here for it. So securing our border, I think is hugely important. Making the cartels a terrorist group, I think hugely important. At, at the headline reading level, I have a feeling that's a bigger problem than we think it is. That may start rearing its ugly head in the coming years. Native born or native launched is probably the right way to think about it. Native launch terror attacks. I have a bad feeling we're going to see more of that. So all of that stuff feels like, okay, while I am. Yeah, a little paranoid. I think it's the right play and so we'll just see if he tempers it.
Co-host/Drew
These were the ones that jumped out to me for that reason because it's a slippery slope between we have a problem at the border, let's secure it to. Now we're doing mass deportations. And I know that everybody should beef with mass deportations. I think there's second order consequences we're not thinking about. So yes, let's get all cost.
Host/Commentator
Or are you just worried about people get caught in the net that shouldn't have been sent back and now their lives are going to be horrific.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah, I'm worried about the people. I think that they're going to get a end of the deal when this is all said and done. Because the deportations are not like, I'm taking you to your house. It's like, okay, line, get out, figure it out. But for even some of the rhetoric that like they're taking jobs, if we're looking at how is it going to affect the agriculture industry, how is this going to affect the construction industry? There's certain industries.
Host/Commentator
It will. For real? For real, bro.
Co-host/Drew
If they're deporting at the numbers that we're talking about, I think that it's. You're not going to just be like, okay, I just lost 10 workers today. I'm cool. Like, I think there's gonna.
Host/Commentator
Oh, man.
Co-host/Drew
So you calling on that? You think we'll be good?
Host/Commentator
Here's how I think it will work.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
When Obama just deported the. Out of everybody.
Co-host/Drew
Everybody. Yeah.
Host/Commentator
Millions. Yeah, I didn't notice. You know what I mean? Like, so the reality is, I think that there's a, there is a heartstring pull of like, oh, I guarantee some people are going to get caught up that if you look closely you're going to be like, oh shit, they sent a family back and they had like a seven year old and they all get murdered when they go back home. There's going to be shit like that and it is going to be grotesque and horrifying and it is going to really rip at the heartstrings. But the reality is you get into this mess because you don't accept that there is no utopia, there's only trade offs. And so there is human tragedy all the time, every day. And you have to do things at the level of policy, knowing God there's going to be horrible things that happen and it just, there's, there's no way, man. So this is where like Thomas Sowell and everything is trade offs. There are no solutions, there are only trade offs. And so you just can't step back and go, we've got a whole bunch of criminals just to keep it easy. Right. And we caught them. We know they're here illegally and we know they just did a horrific criminal offense. We know that they had a horrific criminal past before they got here, but they're here and so we're going to let him stay. You can't.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
So you got to deport. And here's like I believe the number is there is one thing you can do to a family to increase the likelihood of violence by 100x I'm almost certain this is accurate. If it's not, if it's not to the number accurate, it is so directionally close it might as well be. Do you know what that thing is?
Co-host/Drew
No.
Host/Commentator
To have a step parent.
Co-host/Drew
Really?
Host/Commentator
Dude, Step parents beat the shit out of their kids. This is why you've got Cinderella, wicked stepmother. Like that whole thing is just, it doesn't mean that every stepparent is bad. I'm sure, I'm sure the overwhelming number of them are amazing. But the unfortunate reality is that the in homes with stepparents there is a hundred x more a higher chance of abuse. So it's like, yo, so what I bring that up to say, let's say that you deport court a father who commits a crime was here illegally and let's really make it horrible. It was like kind of a petty crime. And so but you had A policy. And the policy is like you commit crimes, we're sending you back. And now that kid, their dad is gone and a new dad comes into the picture and all of a sudden they're getting abused. There will be just an unimaginable number of stories like that. I want to be very clear. I am not saying by default adult step parents beat their kids. I'm just saying there is a statistic. So there will be story after story after story like that. But you, you have to have a policy, you have to draw a line in the sand and it is going to cause some bad things. Because it's a trade off.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah. And the numbers right now definitely aren't sustainable. So we have to make a change. So we'll, we'll see, we'll monitor it. And the Obama thing is a good bring up too because people forget that he was the most deportation happy like. Yeah, yeah. And the economy did thrive under Obama. So maybe it is a big old nothing burger.
Host/Commentator
Go nothing burger because there's emotional realities. But yeah, yeah.
Co-host/Drew
From an economic perspective. KPIs.
Host/Commentator
Yes.
Co-host/Drew
Speaking of economic perspective, did you get on this Trump coin?
Host/Commentator
Oh Jesus, I hate meme coins.
Co-host/Drew
Full stop. You don't have a single meme coin?
Host/Commentator
No, no. So really, really none. Zero. So I have some meme NFTs but no meme coins.
Co-host/Drew
Got you.
Host/Commentator
So here's my take on meme coins coins. God bless you. It's just gambling. So you know, my whole thesis, I want to be very clear. Meme coins are because people want to gamble and people want to gamble one because I think humans just like the instant gratification of a big win. So I think there's a dopamine feedback loop which is why if you, if you have Parkinson's disease again, directionally, this, what I'm about to say is all directionally correct, if not literally correct. But I believe with Parkinson's, because it's a dopamine deficiency, when you start taking the medication, people will develop like gambling addictions and other crazy. But at the same time I think that you also have the youth that have a lot of pent up frustration that they've been iced out of the financial system, they can't afford a house, all the things that their parents told them, go get a good education, you're now going to be hugely in debt, go buy a house. I can't because they're way too expensive and I'm hugely in debt. And so all the lore that they've been given is really just out of reach. And so we're now beginning to slowly update that. That's actually not going to be the way that this generation gets wealthy. And on top of that, you're creating this moment where things are going from analog to digital. And so the rate of change is so fast, the regulators can't keep up with it. So you have the Wall Street, Occupy Wall street vibe, Wall street bets from Reddit vibe with a moment in time where they can create these mem. So much lack of clarity around what you can and can't do, and it allows them to just gamble on culture. And so I have a thesis that the. I'm going to round it to stock market, but it's, it's really the entire ecosystem of investing. If you stop calling it investing and you start calling it gambling, then you will understand what it really is. But because it's a system created by incredibly smart people, like really scary, smart financial minds. And so it's like reading a legal contract, you don't understand it. So as a regulator, you're like, I don't really know what to do here. And so they've gotten all kinds of shit passed that. Everybody's just like, oh, yeah, options trading. There's nothing weird about that, dude. You're. You're just betting whether a company goes up or down. What's the difference between betting on a sports team? In my opinion, literally nothing. Except the financial markets have a dope cover story. And the COVID story goes like this. By letting people gamble on these companies, you allow the companies to aggregate capital. And with that aggregate, aggregated capital, they build the, the economic engine that has made America so great. Okay, that's amazing, man. And as long as everybody just goes, oh, cool. We let people gamble on this because we like the side effect of allowing these companies to do ipo, raise all the capital, and then let people gamble whether it goes up, whether it goes down and all. I mean, just all kinds of crazy derivatives and all this like crazy that I don't understand 90% of it. But no matter who I talk to, no one has disproven that. It's that all just fancy gambling. Okay? So really smart guys make this thing up. People don't understand it well enough to say, you can't do that because they just don't understand it well enough to regulate it appropriately. So then you get, get something like sports, where people get it, oh, that's dumb. And there's no cover story. It doesn't add up to anything. So we're not going to let you bet on that. So you get this moment where there's the frustration about the current system that we have. Current system is being used by the elites to basically continue to make money while the average person can't get ahead. And so they create these meme coins and just YOLO and just gamble. And it is exactly like sports betting. So. So I don't think that in the long run that people are going to win. I think that they will have fun just like they will have fun at a casino. But on a long enough timeline they're most people are going to lose money. It is not going to be the normal person that is going to go in and you know, be betting like even 52 or 55%. Right. And so they're just going to miss just enough that they're never able to get ahead. But they had a great time. So if the youth want that financial system them, they're going to get it because the youth will ultimately get the world that they want. But that's why I don't with it. It's just gambling. There's no additional knock on effect of well, at least I can do long term investing because of this secondary effect if it really does build a company. But I want to remind everybody, even though it's really building a company, it still is just gambling. Like when you own the stock, you're just gambling that someone down the line will be willing to pay more for it than you. So it's just gambling unless it pays dividends. I always have to caveat that. And so look, this stuff is very complicated and that's how we get these divergent systems. And so you're seeing the fancy version of gambling and you're seeing the just straightforward meme coin gamble.
Co-host/Drew
I resonate with that though because that's the, that's the way to shoot your shot. That's the way to get big. That's the way to get rich. I compare it almost to the.
Host/Commentator
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That's the way to get rich meme coins.
Co-host/Drew
Think about it from a wild, wild west perspective and how some people used to go out west to kind of try to find gold or some people used to try to dig wells to try to hit oil. Like there's that level of.
Host/Commentator
And what do people always say about the gold rush? Who got rich in the gold rush?
Co-host/Drew
I thought it was the country dudes with the hat, the prospectors.
Host/Commentator
No, none of those all went broke. All of them. It's always in the picks and shovel. Always in the picks and shovels. The only people that are going to get rich on the meme coins because they'll even say, well, it's the people that pump and dump. Those fools are going to try to do it over again and over again. They're ultimately going to lose everything. Like none of those guys were tied right off into the sunset. And if they do, it will be the smallest number of people. The reality is it's going to be the exchanges. They'll make out like bandits because whether you win or lose doesn't matter. So Coinbase is going to make bank think off of this stuff. But I really, I just don't see it, man. The reason that the stock market has worked is because you could just put money into an index fund and just say, basically, I'm just betting on the US economy. Cool that that gives people like you. You have to do it. Let's be very clear about that because you have to beat inflation. But people are not going. Some people will get rich in meme coins, but the people that have really gotten rich in crypto are bitcoiners, probably some ethereum people. The things that you can buy and hold for years and years and years. That's going to be anything where it's a long term trend. But meme coins are betting on culture. You're literally just saying like, let's take the Trump meme coin. Meme coin. Here's what's going on. Hold tight. We're going to take a quick break
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Host/Commentator
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Host/Commentator
And we're back. Let's take the Trump meme coin. Meme Coin. Here's what's going on. Why does Trump make such a great meme coin? Because culturally nobody has more focus than him. So you're going to get this ultra high volatility. Remember, people Want volatility because they're gambling. So they're saying, if the price doesn't change, what are you betting against?
Co-host/Drew
What's the point?
Host/Commentator
Right? The only thing to bet against is price go up or price go down. That is the bet. And so if price static, no bet. So we need something with a ton of attention so people are really paying attention to it so that the price will swing wildly. So literally, hours before we recorded the this Trump said, oh, I don't know much about my meme coins. Price dropped by 30%. Okay? Now people are going to squawk and they're going to freak out, but the reality is people want that volatility. And so people are going to be laughing, saying, ha ha, I bet against all these fools that didn't realize the price was going to go down. So I bought the second I heard about it. And when it spiked up, however much it spiked up, I got out immediately because greater fool theory, okay, that's the meme coin game. And so it's going to be all these private groups where, where people are talking. What do we think? Do we think it's going to keep going up or are we going to get out? It's just on and on and on and on and on. And so these guys bet on culture. It attracts the same people that poker attracts. And in the final analysis, man, I'm obvious. I'm guessing, I'm guessing, but I'm going to guess. 5% of the people make the money. 5%, 95% are all the greater folks fools. And they're the exit liquidity, as they're known lovingly referred to as dumb money.
Co-host/Drew
So you're saying there's a chance. 5% saying there's a chance.
Host/Commentator
I'm saying there's a chance. Drew.
Co-host/Drew
Hey, man, I'm just trying to get this oligarchy money because Trump had a trillion dollar inauguration. There was. Bezos was in there, Zuckerberg was in there, Musk was in there. David Sacks didn't even get a picture. He was somewhere in there. Like with banks.
Host/Commentator
Yeah. Why didn't we see.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah, we didn't see Saxon there.
Host/Commentator
So, okay, so I oligarchy strong with this one. Look at this image. Look at this image. I admit I felt some kind of way. I was like, oh, my. Yeah, there's. There's a lot of, A lot of wealth there. Okay, so one people should be paranoid because oligarchy simply means that a small number of people rule over the majority authority. Now they can rule over them because it's a caste system. They can rule over them because they're in the right religion. They can rule over them because they're wealthy. So oligarchy is real. Money is extremely powerful and it's very easy to get people's attention. And so this could of course, slide into oligarchy. I don't think we're there yet. I think that's very delusional to say that we are. Um, but I like that people are paying attention. I like that they're paranoid that this could become that. I think that's very wise. The reason I'm not, even though it does hit me, I would be lying if I said it didn't. The reason that I'm still optimistic is I think there's two things happening at once. That these guys are there because they're insanely good at capital allocation, at building businesses, at identifying trends, at being early movers. And so they get it. They know how to play this game. The reason they have the money is because they're very good operators. They are incredibly smart. And so I want the smartest people whispering in the President's ear about how to make the country great, great. And as long as they all understand the single most selfish thing they could do is have a thriving middle class, because ultimately that's who buys their products. And anybody that's paid attention to world history knows when inequality gets too much, they literally come and kill the rich. They, they murder you.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
Okay. Not, not metaphorically. They actually separate your head from your body. So you're already seeing people cheer. The UnitedHealthcare CEO getting killed. You saw people cheer when the Pacific Palisades, which happens to be a very expensive neighborhood, burned to the ground. Nobody talked about the trailer parks that burned because that doesn't fit the narrative. But if people can see the signs, it's like boys and girls, just be selfish. Yeah, just be selfish and protect your long term interest by making sure that we have a thriving middle class. So these guys, guys, everyone in that picture, as far as I know, is self made. So we want the most successful people running businesses to be talking about how to execute. Well. What we don't want is them shoveling money towards all the things that they care about. Now anybody that's like, it shouldn't be business owners, it should be politicians. I will point you towards what's her name. Everybody follows her investing. Nancy Pelosi. Thank you. So it's like, like kids. It's not like politicians. You don't have to worry about them. So. But we have to be vigilant because this can go bad very, very fast. But for now, I would remain optimistic that we have wildly mismanaged the government that every 100 days. I think it's actually a little faster now we add a trillion dollars to the debt. So you, you have to do something. And with the looming threat of AI and us going into a cold war with China, you need the best and the brightest. And there is like something going on with the best and the brightest now are actually interested in being in government. That is fascinating.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
Then there you said, who was saying this? That now I think it was Pomp. Anthony Pompliano pointed out that now going in like, if you get on the Doge committee, that that would be like having a Stanford or a Harvard MBA where people go, oh, damn. Yeah, like, okay, you must really be bright to have gotten on that group. And now that it's, it's high status to be in the government, more and more really bright people are going to want to go to the government and that's huge. That will resound to our benefit.
Co-host/Drew
No, that's definitely a game changer. I had like a mentor one time tell me that, like, to be a millionaire, you could do that by yourself. But to be a billionaire, you have to create a certain level of value. So as I look at this picture and I see that everybody's kind of nervous and upset it, I always default to that. So I say like, okay, Elon Musk, yes, he's his big bad car, but he's this big bad guy guy, but everybody loves his cars. Or you see the CEO from Google, it's like, yes, he's this big bad guy, but you use his email. Everybody hates Bezos, but they need their packages there two days later. Everybody hates Zuckerberg, so they rant on his social network. So it's like these people have incorporated themselves into your lives to a sense that you operate with most of them, minus Elon, probably every day, every other day. So it's like to then make them the villain, even though you directly benefit from their invention, is a little bit of a, a oxymoron. Like, it's a weird kind of way
Host/Commentator
to like, have you read an Rand? Oh man. Atlas Shrugged is interesting. It's. It is like a, a young adults book. The writing itself isn't great, but the core thesis is like, hey, there are people that can build businesses and it is ridiculously difficult. And if you think that they're the parasite and that taxes aren't the parasite, like, what do you tax if you don't have people that are able to create that stuff? And it, I mean, look, I'm obviously wired that way, which is why I pursued entrepreneurship. But man, there's a really great quote I'm going to paraphrase that says communists believe that redistribution is the miracle, not the generation of the capital in the first place. Place. And people need to wrap their heads around. The hard part is generating the capital of doing something that people value so much that they will pay you more than it costs you to create that. That is so hard to do. Oh my God, it's so hard. Taxing is easy.
Co-host/Drew
Well said. So if you had to like scale it 1. Being like we're pretty good was my
Host/Commentator
anxiety level for oligarchy. If 10 is we're in Russia and people are getting murdered in the background for saying something, something, we're at a two.
Co-host/Drew
Okay. Okay.
Host/Commentator
We're on the radar.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
We're certainly not a zero.
Co-host/Drew
Okay.
Host/Commentator
Okay. But, but yeah, we're. We're a very, very, very long way from that. We still have the tension between the left and the right. If we become a one party country, that would scare me.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
Because then people rise to the top of that political party. Party and they just dominate. And the only way to do it at that point is through either literal violence or political violence. You need look no farther than China. It's the. The story of how Xi Jinping came to power is pretty crazy.
Co-host/Drew
Hopefully we don't repeat that. All right, moving on. Michael Saylor doubled down on bitcoin again, doing another purchase. Could we pull it up? I believe it was like 1.1 billion, right?
Host/Commentator
Yeah. Homeboy just is gobbling. Yeah, 1.1 billion. For another. How many? 11,000 Bitcoin for a total of 461,000
Co-host/Drew
at a 60 average.
Host/Commentator
Goodness gracious. That is crazy. I really am. My brain melts when I think about what he figured out about the reality of our financial system. So remember, Michael Saylor is, was technically he's not anymore. He's the chairman, but he was the CEO of a publicly traded company called MicroStrategy. And he has a great business, profitable. All this money in the bank and he realized our stock price is getting punished because no one sees a path to us getting bigger and bigger and bigger, Bigger. So even though we have a profitable business, we're doing great. Something like $50 million in profit a year. I mean, like really making real money. And the street was just like, nah. Because again, what is it? It's gambling. Price go up. So the street's like, we don't like this. And so he's like, okay, wait, this is crazy. And because of inflation, the money that I have sitting in the bank is being devalued. Like crazy. So what do I do? Do I go buy a bunch of boats, yachts? Like, what do I do? I need to do something with my money such that it can't be inflated away. Way discovers Bitcoin and realizes, oh, my God, like, this is the perfect way to store your wealth. Not only is it going up in value, but he sees finance as having physics that bitcoin matches perfectly. And so he likens it to a waterfall. And he was like, once you realize that the laws of physics dictate that water evaporate, evaporates, collects in a mountain, runs down the mountain, collects in a lake. And as long as there is a gas gap that leads to an area that's lower, the water is always going to run through that gap into the lower area. And so he's like, that is the perfect analogy for fiat money moving away from being inflated out of existence into sound money, which is Bitcoin. And so he's like, as long as that reality exists, meaning as long as there's inflation, fiat money is going to flow into Bitcoin. It just is like, that's the physics that money seeks, that state. And he's not wrong. Like, as people wake up to, wait a second, I can put my money in there and it. It won't be inflated. Okay. More and more people are going to put their money there. And so. But that a lot of people get. In fact, he wasn't even early to that. Yeah, what he saw was, oh, my God, I can put it on the treasury of my company. And now I can pull a proxy for the entire financial gambling mechanism, the whole casino of the stock market. I can overlay it onto bitcoin via my publicly traded company. It is so fucking brilliant. And so he's got all these different derivatives that people can buy for either high risk, low risk.
Co-host/Drew
I was in a leverage one.
Host/Commentator
Oh, my God.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
So brilliant. So brilliant. And. And to me, at least makes it very clear to me that the real wisdom there is just accepting the financial markets are a gambling system. I can pull that gambling system over into Bitcoin and let people gamble against Bitcoin in this period where there's no other way to do it other than to just buy Bitcoin directly. But you don't get all the different derivatives. I mean, just brilliant is so brilliant. And he's been rewarded. He is, I believe, either right behind Nvidia, tied from video, or a little over. But in the conversation with Nvidia, dude,
Co-host/Drew
like, that's insane to like, the number four software like Company back in the day. And then now with this new ad, it's holding it down. But, hey, I'm one of the leveraged ones. He done bought me dinner a couple days. So. Thank you, Michael Saylor. I will take those swings. It's interesting, though, to your point about people go for the volatility. He pretty much was like, my stock doesn't move. Move. Add Bitcoin. And now my stock is moving with the violet. Like, correct. Literally just strapped a motor to it.
Host/Commentator
Bitcoin is volatile, and now his company is a bitcoin company.
Co-host/Drew
Crazy. Well done. And last but not least, we caught your boy Zuck glancing over.
Host/Commentator
So funny.
Co-host/Drew
So I thought it would be cool to ask.
Host/Commentator
Okay, this is AI. I want everyone to be very clear.
Co-host/Drew
This is the real one.
Host/Commentator
AI is AI, but Jesus, is it funny. So I so feel his pain. So, first of all, as a man, I just want to say evolution has created us such that the female form reaches inside your brain and squeezes dopamine centers, all kinds of fascinating neurochemicals. I am not above this. This is why I find this so funny. I am laughing partly out of anxiety, but a camera shutter can be like 1 1000th of a second. So this thought I can just sneak. The thing is, I bet he didn't even think about it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw cleavage. Boom. His brain says, look. Which there are evolutionary reasons why you would do that. He looks. He immediately looks away, I would like to believe. But the camera, boom, catches him. And they could have been doing that, and they just happened to get him that one second when he glances over un, like wittingly. And now it's just memed fucking death with this AI slow pushing to your point.
Co-host/Drew
He could have been looking for one second, and now it's immortalized.
Host/Commentator
Fraction of a second, it's immortalized. And because of AI the first time I saw this, your brain doesn't go, oh, this is AI. You're just like, oh, my God. And then, of course, it kicks in you like, this has to be AI, but that is high.
Co-host/Drew
Have you ever got a Zucked? Have you ever got caught looking?
Host/Commentator
I don't think so. First of all, my wife is, God bless her soul, and I hope she can hear my voice right now. We were once at a Pool party. And there were these two women, topless, making out. This is at the Roosevelt Hotel. This is not like some crazy, like Miami somewhere. No, literally, the Roosevelt Hotel. I could not have been more surprised that this was happening. I'm there with my, my sister in law, my brother in law, my wife. We're all just enjoying a pool party and all of a sudden my wife is like shaking me by the shoulder and she's like, you've got to see this. And so she pointed it out to me. So God bless. My wife is not weird about that at all in the slightest. But as an entrepreneur, I literally 15 years ago had to say, you've got to shut that part of your brain off. So when I'm in the office, I just fucking kill it, man. So I'm like, if I'm walking up the stairs behind a woman, woman, no universe, not a shot, not a glance, no look like, bro, you just can't because now you've got power dynamics that is so high risk.
Co-host/Drew
Yeah.
Host/Commentator
So yeah, you can't play that game. But that is you. I have to actively like turn that part of my brain off when I'm stepping into the office. You just have to kill it.
Co-host/Drew
It's hilarious. I used to work for a software company out in Phoenix and sales guys you've worked, they were getting killed with their numbers. They weren't able to convert.
Host/Commentator
Convert.
Co-host/Drew
They created a AI bot on LinkedIn. Her name was Alexis Kane, blonde hair, like busty, all those things. Their conversions like went through the roof. And I found out that there was like three iterations and they were like, if the women's name that they make up have an X in it, it like doubled it like really like. So that's why it's Alexis like Kane. It was like it had to be an X in the first name and like a short lasting, like they had this thing to a certain science and I'm like, you guys are really creating fake LinkedIn profiles. And like, yes. They would send messages to the sales guys. Oh yeah, I'm free for lunch. We can meet tomorrow and immediately.
Host/Commentator
So you ever see the show selling Sunset?
Co-host/Drew
I haven't, no.
Host/Commentator
Oh my God. You got to check it out. So it's the biggest, fanciest houses in LA and 98% of the salespeople are very attractive women of a certain age. It just is because you get the guy who's like, like first of all, most of the buyers are going to be men and you get the guy that's like, I subconsciously, if nothing else want to impress this woman. And guys can't help themselves. It. It is the ultimate signal to a woman that you can afford something like that. And women do not under. No many women do understand the power they have over a man who instantly becomes a fool for sexual attraction. It is.
Co-host/Drew
It's crazy.
Host/Commentator
Unbelievable.
Co-host/Drew
Stay safe out there, fellas.
Host/Commentator
Stay very safe, gentlemen. And keep those ladies safe by being a good gentleman. May it always be such. All right, everybody, if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe. And until next time, my friends, be legendary. Take care. Peace.
Date: January 22, 2025
Host: Tom Bilyeu
Co-host: Drew
In this high-energy episode, Tom Bilyeu and Drew break down the unprecedented whirlwind at the start of Trump’s new term, exploring major moves in AI infrastructure, controversial executive orders, meme coin mania, oligarchy worries, and how economic and social paradigms are shifting faster than ever. With their trademark curiosity and sharp analysis, Tom and Drew cut through the memes and headlines to examine what these changes might mean for America and the world.
| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:00 | Introduction - AI science fact, Trump, SoftBank, $500B investment | | 04:00 | AI infrastructure & global competition | | 10:27 | Trump’s flood of executive orders | | 13:00 | Civic pride, merit, and the tension between left & right | | 18:04 | Fiscal responsibility and economic priorities | | 21:51 | “America First” policies: border, foreign aid, energy | | 25:00 | Immigration debate: trade-offs, Obama comparisons | | 30:10 | Meme coins: TrumpCoin, gambling vs. investing | | 36:00 | Who “really” profits from meme coins? | | 40:08 | Oligarchy fears and elite influence | | 44:44 | Government as “high status” and the value of top talent | | 47:16 | Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy, and Bitcoin | | 52:04 | AI, memes, human behavior: Zuck’s viral glance, sales psychology | | 56:22 | Final reflections: tech, attraction, and society |
This episode is a rapid-fire, thoughtful, and at times personal exploration of world-changing issues at the intersection of tech, economics, and culture. Tom and Drew keep the conversation relatable, skeptical, and often humorous (“Stay safe out there, fellas.”), insisting on realism (“trade-offs, not utopias”) and balanced analysis. They urge listeners to stay vigilant, remain informed, and understand the difference between surface memes and deeper structural shifts.
Useful for anyone wanting to grasp the big moves in AI, economic policy, tech culture, and the evolving American—and global—psyche as 2025 unfolds.