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Tom Bilyeu
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Trump locks in a massive trade deal with the EU that certainly puts America first. Sydney Sweeney's good genes continues to burn through the entire culture. Cory Booker blasts the Democrats for bending a knee to Trump An 8.8 earthquake rocks Russia and a resulting tsunami had people in Hawaii absolutely scrambling. MIT student created a device that lets you telepathically search Google and America is rapidly reemerging as a semiconductor tech hub, which is going to be critical for the decade ahead. Drew, your thing on Cory Booker is interesting. I did not have this take watching Cory Booker, but you have an interesting question. Why don't we play the clip and then let's talk about where we're headed here? I see law firms bending a knee to this president, not caring about the larger principles that those free speech rights that you could take on any client. Why are you bending the knee? I I see universities that should be bastions of free speech bending at the knee to this president. I see businesses taking late night talk show hosts off the air because they dare to insult a president. I see people who want mergers suddenly think that they have to pay tribute to this president. And what are the very people here elected to defend the Constitution of the United States saying? Oh well, today let's look the other way and pass some resources that won't go to Connecticut, that won't go to Illinois, that won't go to New York, that will go to the states he likes. That is complicity with an authoritarian leader who is trashing our Constitution. It's time for Democrats to have a backbone. It's time for us to Fight. It's time for us to draw lines. And. And when it comes to the safety of my state being denied these grants, that's why I'm standing here. Don't question my integrity. Don't question my motives. I'm standing for Jersey. Is gridlock the answer? And I think gridlock has served America for a very long time. I've been very pro gridlock. I've loved the fact that our democracy, the way that it works is we basically get this tension between the two sides and we can sort of stop each other from doing anything really crazy. I think that it's breaking down now that we're in a tribal moment, and there is no, like, oh, here's the thing that we all agree on. And those are the thing that gets moved forward the very second it's being brought to you by the other side. It's the devil incarnate. We could never do that. Like, we can't be seen as being on their team. People have called me a Trump apologist, are now calling you a Trump apologist, but you also get accused of being a communist. It's like. It's madness. When I look at the comments on my video, which we'll talk about later for the taxing, it's like everybody is trying to filter the world into friend, not friend. I forget who it was. Forgive me, because it's someone who's in the feed all the time. And they were like, wake up, Tom. Destiny is not your friend. And I was like, what does that have to do with anything? So it doesn't matter if Destiny is for or against me. He is able to help me see the world from a radically different point of view. And the fact that I can sit down with him and have a civil conversation and enjoy my time with him, like, I don't that use that. That is how humans operate. That's how you get something done, is it does not need to be somebody that you agree with top to bottom. It doesn't need to be somebody that you consider a friend. But you're still looking at them going, is there something here? Is there something high utility? Can we be of benefit to each other? Reagan used to talk about this. He's like, we'll be on the Senate floor and I'll be arguing with, you know, whoever. I forget who it was that he had this relationship with. But we'll argue like cats and dogs when we're on the clock. But then we can go have a drink, we can go have a meal. And that sense of, like, this is A real person, he's got a family, there's people he loves. Like, he wants what he believes is best for the country. We just don't agree on how we're going to get there when you have that, when people can break bread, when they can come together, when they can say, okay, we disagree on 80% of this stuff, but these 20%, like, bipartisan, no problem. Because these are the values that we stand for, that we agree on. Let's move this forward. In a polarized, populist moment, all of that ceases to exist, and we are spiraling into madness. Now, the reason I say that this brings in a conversation about China is China does not have that problem. Xi will literally kill anybody that disagrees too much, or he'll disappear them, or he'll kidnap them, he'll re educate them. And the question we're going to have to answer is, are we going to try to out China, which would be a mistake. You will lose. Like, that is a guarantee. I'm happy to do a full episode if people want to talk about how that is a guaranteed fail state, or do you find your way? What I'll say is back to an American identity, but we do not have a shared American identity right now, and that is absolutely going to make it impossible for us to move forward. So I've been thinking a lot about, okay, what am I trying to do? Like, what. What is the. Why do I find myself so compelled to engage in politics, culture, world affairs? And the answer is, much like, I was able to use social mobility to completely change my life, to change my family's life, all of that. And I'm like, oh, I want to make sure this is available for other people. So when you do it, it's like, I mean, I guess some people have the impulse to pull the ladder up. I do not have that impulse. I'm like, okay, like, let's make sure that everybody has a shot at this. And then when I was such a beneficiary psychologically of the view that people had of what America was back in the 80s, that it set me up to be aggressive, to be entrepreneurial, to realize I could have anything that I wanted, I was gonna have to pay a price. There was no doubt about that. But that, like, it just set me up in a way to be so optimistic about my future. And in being optimistic about my future, it just became this guiding light for my life. And I'm like, we have got to get people back to that. So I'm going to be beating that drum I'm going to give people something that they can think about that is pure execution. It is go learn, understand, build a worldview that is utility based. Figure out how to deploy this. And right now, the Cory Booker thing is the exact opposite all of politics. This is not a Cory Booker problem. Trump talks in the exact same way. They all like, the other side is evil. But that, that is going to make us lose to China. So boys and girls, understand. So I'm going up against Tim Sweeney, okay? That's the CEO of Epic Games. He is a formidable opponent. Do I want to win against him? Yes. But do I trick myself into thinking that he's a moron or that he's evil? No, I do not. I go, what can I learn? What is he doing that I should be looking at and emulating? Where are the missteps so that I can, like, make space for myself? But Xi, is that on steroids? People do not understand there are consequences to losing as a nation. There are consequences. And we have no sense of that. We think that, oh, like, if China wins, what's the big deal? The big deal is, motherfucker, that they will. All the things that you're angry at America for doing. Now imagine that you literally. That stuff, you don't have to, like, hide it or do it behind the scenes. That's just your mo. Motherfuckers get locked in their apartment for two years or whatever, and you arrest them. If they open the door, you board their door up like you do whatever you have. They're staying in their apartment. So I don't think people understand if China wins the AI race, that is how you get a totalitarian regime that you just can't get around because the AI is just always there. So this is a high stakes game, man. And people are playing like, like the. The good times in America will last forever and they will not.
Drew Manning
Every time we see Cory Booker pop a vein down in his neck. Oh, he's just a left. He has tds. This is the part that, like, I don't. We have to stop dismissing people because, Stevie, point time. If there's a North Star, if I want to get to the wizard of Oz, the Emerald City, right? I might not like the lion, but the lion is going to help me get from point A to point B. I might not like the Tin Man. The Tin man is not my brother. I don't have to get married to the Tin Man. The Tin man doesn't have to change the gender, but, like, I at least have to be with the Tin man, for the. You know what I mean? Like, what, we lost this. Let's just get in the car. I'll drive later, but at least you'll take me to the bus stop.
Tom Bilyeu
Here's the thing, Drew. I am telling you right now,
Drew Manning
the
Tom Bilyeu
earliest realization I had in business. So imagine I know nothing about business, and. But I really want to be a filmmaker. And I become convinced I have to get rich to become a filmmaker. And so I'm just in there every day. How am I going to pull this off? How am I going to do this? And I'm looking around at everybody acting a fool. Like, if the cat's away, the mice will play. People relaxing when the bosses were gone. And I was just like, some people need to be chased by a lion. Like, they have no sense of. Like, my life may not go where I want it to go. And I had such a palpable. Because it had already gone where I didn't want it to go. I was at, like, the film school of film schools. I was the Harvard of film schools. I really thought I was going to graduate into the studio system. And now it's going to be that next Spielberg. It's a wrap. And I graduated to selling insurance door to door, and. And not being able to pay my bills at the same time. And I was like, oh, shit, no cell phones, no YouTube. Like, just different world. How the hell am I going to break in? And so I'm. It just became abundantly clear to me these people are not afraid. And because they think everything is going to come easy, they are not going. I do this thing, and it has this outcome that either is or isn't the outcome that I want, and I need to adjust, but I didn't really understand what I was on at that moment. Now, whatever, almost 30 years later, when you almost can't, like, really fail, like, imagine you can get like a. I'm not saying it happens every day, but, bro, you can get, like, a fleece blanket if you're homeless. Like, you might be dirty, but you still got a fleece blanket. You're in a city where you can just lay a tent out. You can get a tent as a homeless person. So when that's like your worst, worst, worst, all of a sudden it's people just. They do not have the clarity of thought to say, we have a very formidable opponent that is focused, they're driven, they're determined, and if we don't play to win, and if we don't raise our kids to play to win, we will lose. And and losing will have tremendous consequences. It's a problem. We're hitting pause for a moment, but there's plenty more ahead, so don't go anywhere. When you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters. But when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Grainger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Grainger offers millions of products in fast, dependable delivery. So you can keep your facility stocked, safe and running smoothly. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Thanks for sticking around. Let's get right back into the action.
Drew Manning
This makes me want to jump into the Sydney Sweeney thing because I thought we were just talking about jeans. I thought it was going to be a bunch of titty jokes. Dude, that's what I went down the rabbit hole.
Tom Bilyeu
I was going to say, if you haven't gone down the rabbit hole, it is wild the number of people, like, legitimately. Because I thought, okay, this is going to be obscure. Where it's like you hear people saying, oh, people are saying it's Nazi propaganda, but then you can't find it.
Drew Manning
Yeah, exactly.
Tom Bilyeu
This was like real after real after real after real of people saying this is Nazi propaganda. Like actual Nazi propaganda. What you got to play the commercial.
Drew Manning
Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color.
Tom Bilyeu
My jeans are blue.
Drew Manning
Cindy's tweeney has for canes.
Tom Bilyeu
There is a phenomenal Shakespeare quote. There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. You only see 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum. You think you see everything. You don't. Your brain is shorthanding everything. And we live inside of this simulation, the simulation made by your brain. The simulation requires narrative. You have to explain the thing to yourself. And so you're constantly telling yourself a story about yourself. Now, I am here to tell you right now, as a psa, your life, the quality of your life will be entirely dictated by the narrative you tell yourself about yourself. That's it. It's going to control everything. Everything is downstream of what you believe is possible. This is why I call the only belief that matters. The only belief that matters. The only belief that matters is if I put time and energy into getting better at something, I will actually, from that one belief, everything else changes. Because if you don't believe that, then you're always on the back foot. Life is about playing the hand of cards that you were dealt. If you can get better, then it's like, I could make a new game, I could get a new hand of cards. I can do whatever I want. And the way that your behaviors will cascade down from that decision, and it is a decision, that decision that you make about which of those two things is true is wild. There is a Einstein quote where he says, the most important decision any man will ever make is whether he lives in a friendly or a hostile universe. And what I love is, as he said, it is a decision. Now what they're all trying to get at is it's a narrative. You're going to tell yourself a story. We have started telling ourselves a story about Europeans, about white people, about America that is all bad, all the time, from top to bottom. And good luck pointing to any culture where you are not going to find horrors, horrors upon horrors. What you will find though are people that tell them an empowering story about their culture and people who tell themselves a disempowering narrative about their culture. And America is destroying itself because we have allowed to take hold a disempowering narrative. There's just no way around that. But as Douglas Murray pointed out, do you really want to back white people into group identity? Does that, like, history doesn't show you enough that that game doesn't play out well? It is so dumb to back groups into race based identities. Any group can do it and it's just as stupid when they do it. I'm telling you, read about Xi Jinping. You just see how this is like behind the scenes. He's like, okay, we have to. First of all, propaganda is a must. Second, we have to tell a cultural narrative. He doesn't say regardless of truth, but that's his punchline, regardless of truth. That makes people feel good about China. That makes them understand that we are basically heaven mandated to be the center of the world. And when you raise kids believing the Chinese are mandated by God to be the center of the universe, that's a lot more uplifting than raising kids telling them you're evil. You've done bad things throughout history. And like, it's sort of an original sin thing. It can't be washed away. Sorry, like, which of those two people is going to grow up to do awesome shit? If you overcome the you're a bad person narrative, it's because you finally just go, I'm going to lean into it. I'm going to go all the way. I'm going to be more like evil than the most evil so that I can feel good about it. I'm. I am the one who knocks. To make a reference to Breaking Bad, you get that person, okay, that's no fun. Or you get the person that's like, damn, like, I don't feel good. It's somebody else's turn. And now you lose entire crops of people who are not pushing, trying to be better, who are not trying to do the very thing that evolution has set us up to do, which is to see how far can we take our own abilities. And man, if people don't think that that is going to have catastrophic consequences, they are out of their minds.
Drew Manning
Then it gets frustrating because then you see the Calvin Klein ad from the 80s and Brooke Shields did the same thing. So you can tell that this was a reboot of an ad and people don't even realize they're getting mad at a redone ad.
Tom Bilyeu
Like the secret of life lies hidden in the genetic code. Genes are fundamental in determining the characteristics of an individual and passing on these characteristics to succeeding generations. Occasionally, certain conditions produce a structural change in the gene which will bring about the process of evolution. This may occur in one or more
Drew Manning
of the following ways.
Tom Bilyeu
Firstly, by selective mating, in which a single gene type proves superior in terms of. And P.S. here's. Okay, this ad admittedly has issues in my mind because she's 15 when she filmed this, but they're talking about beauty, they're not talking about race. You could put Beyonce in that ad. Hey, she is beautiful. What does it matter that she's not white? This is about being attractive. This is about, yeah, some people are more beautiful than others. I hate to break it to all of us, myself included, but that's just the way it goes. That is the way it goes. But if we're going to tell ourselves the narrative that we are bad people for being white, this is not going to play out well. This is really stupid. Next topic.
Drew Manning
Drew Trump got another investment. Let's go to Fox News and get the announcement. So Those things are 750 billion, 600
Tom Bilyeu
billion opening up the country. We are agreeing that the tariff straight
Drew Manning
across for automobiles and everything else will
Tom Bilyeu
be a straight across tariff of 15%.
Drew Manning
So we have a tariff of 15%.
Tom Bilyeu
We have the opening up of all of the European countries, which I think
Drew Manning
I could say were essentially closed. I mean, you weren't exactly taking our autos, you weren't exactly taking our agriculture.
Tom Bilyeu
And then you would have smaller things, but for the most part it was
Drew Manning
closed and now it's open. It's open for our companies to go in and do a good job with. And I think you'll like them. I think you'll like it. 15% across the board. So that's UK EU down. We talked about a deal with Japan. We had some other deal for smaller Asian countries. So we're, we're getting through the bingo board. But the big one, China is still kind of missing. We still haven't heard anything.
Tom Bilyeu
Yeah, until you lock in China. But EU's big, so he's certainly, I think begrudgingly getting a lot of credit for this one. He has basically opened the entire EU market to us and gotten them to with virtually no tariffs whatsoever and gotten them to agree to paying tariffs on sending stuff to us. So it, I mean this one is very one sided. It's a pretty big win. So you can't knock that now again, the whole game is China. So we shall see. And some people in the chat are so curious as to why I'm obsessed with China. Man. I have, I have tried to express myself over and over and over. Sorry Mike, if you feel like he's a troll, people are saying I'm feeding the trolls.
Drew Manning
Yeah, I see a lot of people are talking about the increase in costs that this will eventually lead to.
Tom Bilyeu
It could, there's no.
Drew Manning
Larry kind of grounded it when you talked about the VAT tax example. And I think that is something that.
Tom Bilyeu
Well, okay, so let's look at the good and the bad. So the way that a VAT tax works is the government is saying that like if you're making a leather jacket that you get the raw goods, the raw goods is bought by the person that tans the hide or whatever. And so they did a thing to add value to the leather that you got from the cow. So they're going to pay a tax, the value added tax. You were taxed on the value that you add because let's say that you bought the rawhide for $50 but you double its value by tanning it. So now it's worth $100. So you're going to get taxed on the $50 increase. So every step somebody adds a button. How much did the button add? They get taxed. So it's a way for the government to make sure that they get their piece whether or not you end up selling it in the retail store or not. So now you can, everybody gets to reclaim the step before them. But anyway they end up getting their, roughly call it 10% of the value that was added to the object at the time of Sale. They've been getting it all along the way. And the reason that people get weird about a value added tax, the reason that we have avoided doing it, is it's a consumption tax. Consumption taxes are going to hurt the middle class and the poor the most because they have the biggest. Everything that they buy is a bigger portion of the amount of money that they have. So it's like we've always shied away from that. Uh, but we've gotten to the point now where people understand if you keep taxing the rich, you're actually going to take in less tax. That's wildly unpopular, but it's just mathematically true. So people can squawk and squeal all they want, but what will happen is just a, it's on repeat. It happens in history over and over and over and over. And the only way to stop it is to put capital controls. And when you put capital controls, you kill your desirability. So if you want to look at the countries that have done it, people stop investing. So that's even dumber. But hopefully we don't go down that path. Okay, so we have wanted to avoid a value added tax because it's a consumption tax. But the good news about a tariff based consumption tax is it is almost always shared between the exporter and the importer. So people always think, well, the price is just going to be passed on to the customer directly. And it's usually not true. First of all, both sides will absorb as much as they can because they set their price for a reason, so they'll absorb as much as they can. So you really are getting it from the business. So people that have beef, I don't understand. Because you want businesses to be taxed more. Well, here it is. And then the consumer will possibly take a slight increase, but they only pay that increase if they want to buy the good. So there are certain goods where you'd be up in arms if you're being charged a tax on. So essentials, that's why you want to make essentials in your own country, so that you can avoid that. And then if somebody prefers the thing from the country, well then you accept, I'm willing to pay this premium on this thing. And if you're not, you've got your option there in country. And this is why globalism, it hurts to go from globalism to protectionist, going from protectionist to globalist, which will happen again in whatever 30 or 40 years. So hang tight. But going this way sucks. But you do need to reshore some of Your manufacturing so that you can stop having the tariffs. But this is the game, so it won't be just entirely passed on to people. That's the punchline.
Drew Manning
Yeah. And we have had reports now that that tariff number is at 160 billion. Money that we have been coming in through this. So for money that wasn't there at the beginning of the year and that has been generated through these actions, although aggressive and without our biggest trade partner. So we can only see that number going up. That is looking promising. If that could be a sustainable amount. And just like you said in the tax video, like, the amount that people are actually paying in income tax isn't nearly as much as we think.
Tom Bilyeu
Dude, it is wild. The bottom 50% only pay 3% of tax.
Drew Manning
It's crazy.
Tom Bilyeu
Say that one more time. The bottom 50% only pay 3% of the total taxes taken in by the US government. 3. I was shocked by that. That. That is wild. Now, that also speaks to the horrifying inequality. So I do not want anybody to think that I've somehow changed my tune. Inequality is not only terrible for people, terrible for the country, it's dangerous. It kills social mobility. Like, it is literally bad from top to bottom. There, there. When inequality gets this bad, there's no benefit to point to. So you have to find your way out of this. We all know my stance. No more money printing, no more debt.
Drew Manning
Okay. We were talking about this off camera. And this kind of shifts to, like, tariffs and social mobility. But I'm thinking now of almost global mobility and how, you know, you're from a worldly family. People in Britain, they come to the us. People from Greece came to Britain.
Tom Bilyeu
As a side note, that was one of the most glorious things about going to this wedding. Traveling multicultural, it's dope, man. This is why I love being in America. But we gotta find that unifying narrative. Anyway. Marriage brings people together in a beautiful way.
Drew Manning
Yeah, but seeing like that the world is bigger, that there are other industries, other cultures, other societies and things like that, just in general, is there a way that we can increase global mobility? And I'm trying very hard not to
Tom Bilyeu
sound like in this moment.
Drew Manning
Yes. Like, it's just because we have to get through this moment that won't. That's not a release valve we can let go. Like, I.
Tom Bilyeu
The only way for me to stay sane and to step in front of a camera is to understand that the things that I say now will take a generation to play out if I keep my eyes set on that, which is the very Thing I'm trying to get America to do, you were up against a formidable foe worthy of your respect that thinks in 20, 30 year increments. And they're constantly dialoguing behind the scenes because it's just the political party. They talk to each other and I guess, I mean, there's thousands of people, but they communicate, okay, look, this is what the next 10 years is. And then after that we're going to do this for the next 10 years. And so they've got these really long reaching visions that they just plan for and then they execute. And so what I want people to start doing is contribute in a way where you will plant a tree under whose shade you will never sit. While I would love to live an extraordinarily long life and sit under all these trees that I'm planting, I'm okay if I don't. I want to help. I want to help every country find their mojo. But obviously, because I live in America, I want to see America get its mojo back. And we have to understand that when you're raising a kid, they're going to be a three year old and there's nothing to do about that. You got to go through the terrible twos. You got to let them throw tantrums in their threes, right? To get to the 7 and 8 where it's like really kind of beautiful for just a second. And then they get to 13. They are going to reject you. It is, it is known before it happens. They're going to reject you. And then they're 25 and they're going to come back and they're going to realize if you raise them well and you weren't abusive, blah, blah, blah, they're going to realize, whoa, you were right about a lot of things. Thank you for giving me this platform. So this is all predictable. Populism is predictable. Inequality is predictable. This is a math equation. The debt makes it impossible. It creates the wild inequality which people can see. So it makes them feel bad. We're wired to hate that. It also makes social mobility very difficult. And so when you have moments of tremendous debt, tremendous inequality, you are going to end up in a populist moment. When you're in a populist moment, everybody is on a tribe. Everybody thinks they're fighting for their lives. And the only way to unwind that is by austerity and a whole beautiful de leveraging. But the part that everybody can't swallow is the austerity part. So you have to go into austerity, which means you just Give people less money. Which means, yes, some people that you don't want to have to see go to work, they're going to have to go to work. Some people are going to struggle. Some people are going to lose their house, are going to be homeless. Yep. That. That is what ends up happening when you get into this dire circumstance. Now, I wish that this were avoidable. History has proven it's just not. If money can be printed, you will find yourself here. The way back out is unfortunately just as predictable. Look at what's going on in Argentina. He's literally going, oh, you look back at 500 years of history, we know how to get out of this. People don't want to do it, but we know what to do. And then he is just. Melee is just running the playbook and it's working. It's wild. So all of this is all physics of money stuff. So I don't think there is any way for us to be like, hey, let's try to be globalist again right now. Right now is not a globalist moment. Right now is protectionist. People are mad.
Drew Manning
Down. Yeah.
Tom Bilyeu
Yep. People are mad. The world really is rigged against them and they're going to unrig it no matter what they have to blow up, destroy, no matter who they have to kill. And so. So that, like, sense of, ooh, we have to go through this. Like, I don't think there's a magic sequence of words that I can utter to save adults. I'm back on my. This is all about the kids. So, one, I'm trying to reach the 2% of adults that are actually swayable, in my opinion. And then I want to do something for the next generation. And then the next generation, I hope, will just grow up being like, ah, this is an amazing place. Yeah, I can control my destiny, but I have to work very hard if I'm going to do it. That the human existence, the reason that we became the most dominant apex predator the world has ever seen is because I can get better at something. And so, oh, I'm the ultimate adaptation machine. Got it. I have to put myself in a position where I'm going to adapt. And you're going up against Chinese kids that work around the clock. Literally around the clock. And so you either want it or you don't. Taking a short break, but there's more impact theory after. Stay tuned. Thanks for staying tuned. Now let's get back to it.
Drew Manning
Tom wanted a standing ovation earlier today for this video. Let's actually watch it now.
Tom Bilyeu
Yeah, this is Wild.
Drew Manning
We'll jump into it.
Tom Bilyeu
What is 45,689 divided by 67?
Drew Manning
Sure.
Tom Bilyeu
He silently asked the computer and then hears the answer through vibrations transmitted through his skull and into his inner ear.
Drew Manning
6.
Tom Bilyeu
8.
Drew Manning
1.925.
Tom Bilyeu
Exactly right. 1 more. What's the largest city in Bulgaria and what is the population? The screen shows how long it takes the computer. He's literally just thinking this. I'm guessing it's picking up like the impulses that he's sending to his vocal cords or something, because it's. It's not reading his brain waves. I can tell that by where it's placed on him. But it is very interesting that he's able to both ask and receive the answer without anybody else hearing. This is crazy. The stuff that is available right now today is very impressive. So you can. It looks ugly and it looks awkward, but you can right now, today, telepathically ask Google a question and telepathically receive the answer. Like he's hearing it, but nobody else is. That is. This is. Yeah, Femboy is scared. Understandably so. Understandably so.
Drew Manning
It's.
Tom Bilyeu
It's cool.
Drew Manning
But I think that's where I kind of end up is like, what's. What's the factor outside of the coolness,
Tom Bilyeu
like, in terms of what's it gonna.
Drew Manning
Why. Why do I need to telepathically taught the Google. But I guess it's the implication of a telepathic device.
Tom Bilyeu
Well, now you just have the answers. Like once this is at the speed of thought, you just think, what is this thing? And it's as if your own brain hands you the answer. So now what will be the consequences? Where you have augmented memories, you have augmented knowledge. I like to think it plays out like the Matrix where you've got a thing that you want to do in real life, but you need that knowledge. But the knowledge is really just meant to facilitate a thing. It's not like I have the knowledge and I'm this passive zombie. Like when I'm writing the Deep Dives, I'm learning the topic, but I'm engaging with AI. AI speeds up the learning process by, I mean 5x 10x True. It's unbelievable. If you go back to when I was in high school and you had to drive to the local library. Now I'm like trying to go through newspapers and books and stuff. Like, oh my God, everything laid on. Yeah, like you're getting the. The microfiche and you're like scanning through, like, dude, it. Compared to that, it's A hundred times faster, a thousand times faster. It's unbelievable. And so it's upping the amount of things that I can do. And so when I even gaming just is always such a stark reminder for me. What we're able to do with Project Kaizen versus what somebody would have been able to do back in the 80s or 90s is like games were pixelated for a reason. The technology just didn't exist. And as the technology improves, it unlocks what people are able to do. So it's the same people. It's probably more people working on the game, but it's people of the same intellectual capacity. But now with all these tools at their disposal, they're able to push things and push things and push things. Even just the updates that have been added to the Unreal Engine in the three and a half years that we've been developing, it's been like night and day different. We've been able to get so much more done. It's unbelievable. So yeah, this is yet another technology that if you're pointing it at something that matters, it's going to unlock human capabilities the likes of which we can't even predict yet what it's going to allow us to do. Is it going to give some people brain rot? Of course there are people that abuse everything. But if you look back, somebody posted about this yesterday and it was like every major entertainment revolution was blamed for rotting kids brains. So it was like when novels came out, there was this headline that was like Teen chops his own head off Novels to blame. So it's like, look, for sure people can get addicted to video games. People will. There will be some terrifying stories exactly. About all of it. But they are incredible tools. And I don't see people like getting rid of it. I see people striving to have a way healthier relationship. And I think that is very wise. But the things that they let you do are just incredible.
Drew Manning
Marisha Dark says even Socrates was blamed for riding kids brains.
Tom Bilyeu
It's so true. He was killed.
Drew Manning
Exactly.
Tom Bilyeu
That's wild.
Drew Manning
I think the most I'm excited for is the overlap between a device like this and neuralink where we're not actually able to talk. Help. Add mobility, add clarification, add societal cues to people who are quadriplegics, who can't move, who have some type of learning disability. Like what would somebody who's on the spectrum, how would they use this device to articulate their thoughts more clearly or that's really interesting. Different ways.
Tom Bilyeu
So I mean look, that will come out in the wash, whether it works in the way that I'm about to describe or not. But I could certainly see it being something like where the AI is picking up on the facial cues. And so the AI, which can read very subtle cues, is telling you they're happy, they're sad, they're frightened, they're withdrawing, whatever. And so you get some sort of vibration pattern that, you know, oh, that's the happy one. So it's like, oh, I'm making them happy. Ooh, they're, like, withdrawing. Whoa. Like, we would all get that from queuing off of somebody's face, but if they are blind to that and they don't understand. But the thing is, they can learn to recognize the 17 vibration patterns, and all of a sudden they're like, really? So it's possible. Again, I don't know. That's how it would play out. But that is certainly one way where I could see, because I know they're already using that. There's a guy named David Eagleman, former guest of the show, incredible guy, who's created this device that does that allows deaf people to hear, blind people to see through vibration patterns. And the vibrations can be so specific that they can be like, oh, that's. That's Tom, whatever that just walked in the room. That's Drew. That just walked in the room. Based on the vibration pattern, they know what you quote, unquote, look like. So. And they say that over time that they experience it as sight, which is crazy. So it.
Drew Manning
The vibration is being experienced?
Tom Bilyeu
Yes. It's not occupying the part of the brain for feeling, it's occupying the part of the brain for vision. So they feel like they're seeing the person, which is really interesting.
Drew Manning
Keep going. In AI news, a new study found that 33% of teenagers use AI chatbots for companionships, conversation, practice, and romance. They found talking to AI easier than talking to real people and use it for emotional support. It's funny because, you know, remember back when we were younger, they used to be like, the sleepovers. It's, like, super taboo now, but, like, girls will all have a sleepover and they'll teach each other how to make out, and they'll start kissing on each other and things like that.
Tom Bilyeu
And I always thought it was pillows,
Drew Manning
but, you know, whatever. You're kissing on things, you. You, you get a group of friends and you say, we don't know how to do these things, so let's all have our bad ideas and see what's the best way to do it. Yeah, dudes, got together. Oh, yeah, this how you have sex. All that advice was terrible, but we. It was just the best advice out of the five of us. That's what happens. It's interesting now with the, like, introduction of AI into those conversation circles, where are we going to still get that kind of coming of age renaissance or is now everybody can be kind of reclusive and go into the closet and Google what they want to know. Sort of have that. So I just think that the AI chap, I think for teenagers doesn't surprise me, but I just hope that it's not the sole purpose and it's just one of the sources.
Tom Bilyeu
Listen, I don't love that parents are going to have to go out of their way to create moments for kids, but if I were raising a kid right now, I'd be thinking, okay, I've got to get a group of parents together that have kids that are roughly the same age. And we're going to get them to have phone free time and they're going to spend whatever on Saturday. They're going to spend four or five hours in a space, you know, playground, whatever. But it's like, you guys are here, make up your own games, have fun. You're not going to be on your phones under any circumstance. I mean, this is like the default stuff. Me and my cousins went to swim lessons together and it was just like you were riding in the back of the car. I mean, back then it was wild. No seat belts in the back of an El Camino. And all we did was pull a blanket over our heads. People would have a stroke today. But that kind of stuff where you're forced into groups. I was picked on relentlessly because I was the youngest and had gigantic years. And you just have to learn to deal with it. And it's like, well, it's either going to break me or I'm going to figure this one out. And you need to put kids in that space. So I don't mind them. In fact, I think it's awesome that kids can have relationships with these characters. There's IP that is profoundly important to me, that helped me build my values and all that stuff. So we are a storytelling species. But I don't want that to be the only method that people have to interact. Partly because, man, some of it is just the things that you do as a kid. They are going to be so meaningful to you as an adult. Like, there's just no way to recapture that. I think about this with parents where kids had parents that were abusive. It's like that sense of being unmoored that you don't have a positive memory about somebody going to the wedding that we went to over the past weekend and seeing, like, my wife around her parents and the people she grew up with and her siblings, like, there just really is something special about, like, the brain development that you're going through is so profoundly different when you're a child. And it locks things in in a way that can never be replicated as you get older. There's a great line in the Stephen King novella the Body, which was turned into Stand By Me, the movie, and he says, you'll never have like the friends you had when you were 12. Now, whether he knew it or not, he's referring to a brain development cycle known as the age of imprint. And so you push away from your parents for the first time and you, like really bond with your friends and you start learning about culture from your friends. Your parents are never going to teach you about, like the specific culture of the here and now. And so that kind of thing is exceedingly important. And so I wouldn't want all of that to come from even games, as much as I believe in games and how amazing they are. Like, you wouldn't want all of that to come just from that.
Drew Manning
Elon Musk tweeted. Samsung's giant new Texas Fab will be dedicated to making Tesla's next generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate. Samsung currently makes a 1 4S. TSMC will make a 15, which just finished design initially in Taiwan and then in Arizona. Excuse me. Then in Arizona, Samsung also agreed to follow Tesla to. To allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency.
Tom Bilyeu
Do you know how gangster that is?
Drew Manning
I feel like that is Elon Musk saying, yeah, I'm gonna put it together, bro.
Tom Bilyeu
Read the next sentence.
Drew Manning
This is a critical point. Cool point. As I will walk in the. I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not too far from my house.
Tom Bilyeu
Okay, listen, that I am obviously an Elon fanboy because I don't know of a human in history that has been able to be more efficient than him. It's crazy. It is possible that there isn't another human that knows as much about manufacturing high tech manufacturing as he does because he's done it across so many different industries. When Samsung is like, yeah, bro, here you go, come on in. Yeah, like, yes, please. It's it. That is very impressive. You want to talk about up leveling Your skills. It's very impressive. By the way, if we have any budding entrepreneurs in the house, let me give you one piece of advice that changed my life. It is one of the core things that I think made me wealthy. Anytime there was something in business that I absolutely hated, like contracts, there was always somebody else that I could give the contract to, but I didn't. I would either do it with them, so I would co read it with them and be like, what about this? What about that? Why'd you want to make that change? Because I knew one day I might need to do this myself. It will only advantage me to understand this, do that, lean into this stuff, find out the cause and effect of like every important thing. Don't chase nonsense, but figure out what the important things are and chase it. And so that is exactly Elon. Getting to the engineering of things, sleeping on the floor of the production facility, learning how these things connect so that you can get to the point where you can walk into your partner, one of the biggest companies on planet Earth, and say, don't worry, we can help you be even more efficient. It's incredible, by the way. And that's also how you make American manufacturing more the place that people will come to get things manufactured because you're passing that knowledge around now. Guaranteed he was doing that in China with the Tesla factories, but now doing it in America. This is a good thing. It's a very good thing.
Drew Manning
I'm looking forward to it. I think domestic manufacturing has been huge. ASMC is officially opened up in Arizona. There is a bunch of jobs open and stuff like that. So we are. This can be a chip act. This is also TSMC's commitment with Trump earlier this year of investing in the U.S. so it seems like we're going to have two bonafide chip manufacturers, at least for the major players.
Tom Bilyeu
That's huge, man. That is huge. Reading a book about Xi Jinping, I'm like, yeah, probably good that we start getting these chips here sooner rather than later. Yeah, I really want to get the author on. I think it'd be very interesting. He's a ambassador to see the Australian ambassador to America right now. I think he is. He was a prime minister to the president. President, prime minister of Australia and then lived in China at one point, I think was the ambassador to the Australian ambassador in China. And so he lived in Beijing for a while. So the book is very much an insider's look at. It's very interesting.
Drew Manning
All right, shifting gears. The west coast was under a tsunami alert after the large 8.8 magnitude earthquake that happened in Russia. This is footage from Japan where whales were actually washed on shore because of some of the high waves. There were some that crashed in San Francisco this morning that was reported, but the highest one was like three feet. So it seems like things while they're juicy, they're not. Nothing crazy.
Tom Bilyeu
Yeah. Thankfully there was a little bit of damage in Hawaii, but nothing insane. There are no deaths reported, not even in Russia. So yeah, this one could have been bad. Thankfully was not. The earthquake that was huge. 8.8. That is wildly destructive. But I did some research this morning on what ends up causing the whales to get beached is because the ocean currents become so violent, it sucks the water first out to sea and then slams it back. So as it's getting sucked out to sea, they will often get trapped under debris. And remember, they're mammals, so they have to breathe.
Drew Manning
Yeah.
Tom Bilyeu
So they can get trapped underwater and drown. They can get drug across the bottom and just like literally lacerated or it can push them so far forward that they end up getting trapped in the shallows. And so which of those things happen to these guys? I don't know, but. And often because they travel in pods. Once it gets one of them, it's going to get the whole pod and so they're toast. Yeah, it's rough. It's rough. Being in the ocean is not risk free even when there's a tsunami. Because at first I was like, wait, how do they. Cause it's. The energy is passing through the water, but the water itself isn't really moving. But it moves enough that it can create that problem.
Drew Manning
Yeah, yeah, it was the deadliest earthquake, or not deadliest, the largest magnitude earthquake in like the last like 30 years or something like that from like a 9.0 that happened. I want to say it was in Chile, but so it's just nice that there was no deaths. And the tsunami watch was crazy to land in la and that's the first thing you see in the news is like, oh yeah, by the way, there might be a tsunami, but luckily it hasn't been as bad. And we'll be with those whales. Hopefully they get back in the water.
Tom Bilyeu
No, I think those guys are tapped out.
Drew Manning
It's a wrap.
Tom Bilyeu
They did not look like they were making an effort to get back in the water.
Drew Manning
This was the video that some guy was partying on the beach that you said, what's happening over there? And he got yelled at by his wife on vacation. And because you just came from vacation, I Wanted to get your take on. If there's anything.
Tom Bilyeu
It wasn't quite the kind of vacation I was on. This is your vacation, but.
Drew Manning
Okay, let's see this.
Tom Bilyeu
Happy birthday. I don't think so.
Drew Manning
I don't think so.
Tom Bilyeu
She got the right one today. What just happened? Was there something that happened off camera or. She's literally got beef with him resting up against her.
Drew Manning
Yeah. Her husband talking to a stranger in the pool, singing, hey, birthday. And then.
Tom Bilyeu
Dude. That is a level of insecurity that is so unappealing. I don't get this. I'm not wired for that. Like, if I saw Lisa with a jacked guy with $250,000 with a jewelry around his neck that flew in on a private jet, like, richer than me, bigger muscles than. Dude, if my wife is having a good time, I am not about to freak out now if she's groping him.
Drew Manning
You are way too cool. They gotta be alive. Okay.
Tom Bilyeu
Of course there's a lot.
Drew Manning
Okay. Okay.
Tom Bilyeu
But it's, like, to be playful or flirtatious like that. That is so. That's insecurity. It is not a good look. Like, if you want to take your husband to the side and be like, hey, I just want to express. I didn't love that. Here's the thing. Remember, my wife and I speak in insecurities. So I'd be like, listen, I'm getting older. I see you with somebody who's younger, more attractive. It just triggers a thing in me. It's not. I get it. You were just having fun. You were being playful. I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but it does make me a little uncomfortable. So next time, if you could just, like, a little space. Okay. You may say, listen, I don't like that. That boundary doesn't make me feel good. But obviously, I'm not making you feel beautiful. I'm not making you feel desired. I'm going to address that because. Because I find you beautiful. Ah, right. It's. You can have that moment, but, like. Yeah, I don't get it. I don't get how people can't see how that comes across. Yeah.
Drew Manning
Is okay. You said it'll have to hit, like, a certain threshold. Is there a, I guess a unwritten rule or, like, a conversation that's kind of like, all right, when we're in public spaces, just don't do this thing 100%.
Tom Bilyeu
Lisa and I have talked about this, like, up, down, like, every way you can talk about it.
Drew Manning
Got you.
Tom Bilyeu
And I have. We've looked at videos like that together and I'll be like, I would not care if you are having fun and you're singing and goofing around or I'm like on a business call and I come back and you're dancing with somebody but you're not like doing the lombarda. Like you're dancing like normal people dancing on a dance floor. Like you're doing your thing and you're. If he's grinding on you, I'm going to have a beef, basically. If you know whether he's circumcised or not, I have beef. If you don't, then like, dude, I. There's nothing to trip out about. So I don't know. I'm not. I don't have the jealousy gene like that.
Drew Manning
So Marisha Dart was like, she got good genes, the woman in the video. So.
Tom Bilyeu
Yes, she does.
Drew Manning
Yes.
Tom Bilyeu
Let's go.
Drew Manning
I would also like that commercial.
Tom Bilyeu
You can't be mad.
Drew Manning
I would like that one. The number one app on the App Store was the T. This is wild, dude. So the T is a woman only app where users anonymously share info and warnings about men to spot red flags and get feedback.
Tom Bilyeu
This post has 42.3 million.
Drew Manning
And I want to say I've seen this, I've seen this original post. Since then, people were getting hacked docs, the profile pictures were leaked. Like the company women of the women. Yeah. Some anonymous screenshots were released. So people have been coming at this app trying to see what's on the other side of it. So definitely not for doxing or exposing personal info. So if there's anything like really shitty that it got to that point, I
Tom Bilyeu
mean, that's basically all it's for. So what do you mean it's not for that?
Drew Manning
No.
Tom Bilyeu
Like people are now taking profiles on men and saying.
Drew Manning
So then people are now going and taking the profiles of the women and saying, okay, these are where they are
Tom Bilyeu
and yeah, you're saying, I don't condone it, I don't want them to do it.
Drew Manning
Yeah, it's talking about it. Cheering is not a condone.
Tom Bilyeu
Yeah, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Yes, very true.
Drew Manning
It is interesting though how this app was received. I'll put it there.
Tom Bilyeu
Say more. What do you mean? Do you think this should have been received well and wasn't or should have been received poorly and was. Was received well?
Drew Manning
I feel like to me, I didn't understand the big. The fuss of it because to me this is digital gossip and women gossip. Yeah, I think it's the, the women only thing that kind of triggered some people that they wanted to be a part of it, even though it was about them. Like there's, there's this thing sometimes when men aren't included at the table, they get like, well, how come I should be there? I should be allowed to be there. It should be my, like people are fighting to be a part of it. Even though a lot of people that I think were upset probably weren't even being featured. So it was like this, like outside looking in and then not understanding what's actually in there.
Tom Bilyeu
It's interesting. I have a very different take on this. So I think this is a symptom of men and women are adversaries now in the same way that we are in a populist moment from a political standpoint, we are in a similar tribal standpoint with men versus women. And it's not everybody, but certainly there's a large contingent of people that actually see the opposite sex as the enemy. And it is so toxic and so anti evolution. This is going to continue to go wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. This is like the reddest of red flags for me that this is happening.
Drew Manning
That the app was even created.
Tom Bilyeu
Yeah, that the app was created. That men and women view each other like this. As they say anybody who trades freedom for safety will have very little of either. So I get that women want. Women understand that men are predators, some men. And that just is true. And women understand that they need protection from men. Some men, again, that is true. But women seem blind to the fact that their form of violence is reputation savaging. And they have created an app that I think is far more designed to get back at men. Or certainly that's how it will be used, designed to get back at men in a punitive fashion than to actually be like, hey, watch out for this guy, this guy's lovely. Whatever. Remember, people break up because something went wrong. And so this is all going to just be an endless stream of all the bad things about that guy. And so also women would be in a terrible position if they were like big upping a guy who's legitimately at the top of the sexual market value because he's already got his pick of women. So that's already going to piss people off. So he's going to have access. Literally a 10 guy has access to all one through 10 women. But seven woman does not have access to like the full range of guys. She's only looking up over and up. Right. Because of something called hypergamy. So it's like this creates this really weird imbalance where a huge portion of guys have access to very few men. Women. Excuse me. And then women are all fighting to get the top guys to commit, but they won't because they have access to all 10. You know, just on a scale of 1 to 10. So women would be in a better position to try to isolate a guy so they can get him for themselves. And once you understand, this is how women have learned to move on evolutionary timescales in a society, by playing these games. So there have been studies done. Women who find other women to be a threat to them sexually will try to convince that woman to cut her hair short part. Sit with that for a minute. So she is doing things that she knows lowers your sexual market value, all the while being like, yeah, yes, Queen, you look awesome.
Drew Manning
So, but just so that way I can have a better chance at getting the part I want.
Tom Bilyeu
So look, dude, whenever. If you look at men and say all men are evil, that's. That's very stupid. Life will be very confusing. If you look at women and go, women are all good, that's stupid. Life will be very confusing. You have to understand the ways in which men are violent and horrible and you have to understand the ways in which women are violent and horrible and then go, okay, cool, I get it. We're evolutionary creatures. So the instant somebody does red flaggy thing, I'm not gonna freak out. I'm gonna be like, I. Okay, we all have red flags. There are going to be hard lines, like, if you get a sense of you lack safety, get out immediately. A thousand percent. Do whatever you need to to get safe immediately. However they're gonna. Guys aren't women. They process the world differently than you. They act differently than you, they think differently than you. And if you want a man, you have to understand, oh, they're going to be like that. If you want to be, if you're a guy and you want to be with a woman, you have to understand they're going to parse the world differently than you. The most frustrating period of my marriage was when I expected my wife to act like me. And I didn't realize, oh, wait, she actually sees the world differently. That's why she's making different choices. She doesn't see the world the way that I see the world and is making a different choice. She sees the world differently and makes a choice that's in alignment with that. Then all of a sudden I was like, oh, I need to learn about how women think. Obviously they're not all going to be the same. I understand that. But like, women have a nature. Once you understand their nature, then it's like, oh, my wife will deviate from this, but only so far. And now I have a much better understanding of how she's processing the world. So I'm not making just dumb rookie mistakes. So anyway, seeing my wife as an adversary would be a huge mistake. I see her as a partner who should not who is more valuable to the partnership because she thinks differently than she would be if we thought the same. We need to have the same core values. That's very important. And we spend a lot of time making sure that, first of all, that we started with roughly very similar core values. And over time we've shaped each other to make sure that we share core values. Moving into the future. But yeah, seeing each other as the enemy is wacky. All right everybody, it is that time. Thank you guys so much for joining us. If you are getting any value out of this content, please make sure that you subscribe and tell somebody, tell somebody, tell somebody. We want to grow this channel. All right everybody, we will see you on Friday. Until then, be legendary.
Drew Manning
Take care.
Tom Bilyeu
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Drew Manning
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Tom Bilyeu
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Drew Manning
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Tom Bilyeu
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Drew Manning
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Episode: Trump’s EU Power Move, Cory Booker’s Meltdown & AI That Can Read Your Mind
Date: July 31, 2025
Host: Tom Bilyeu
Co-host/Guest: Drew Manning
This episode of Impact Theory dives into the nuance and fallout of several major headlines, examining them beyond the memes and headlines. Tom Bilyeu and Drew Manning explore Trump’s dramatic trade deal with the EU, Cory Booker’s fiery stand against his own party, the astonishing pace of AI development (including a device that allows “telepathic” Google searches), and cultural anxieties from beauty standards to tech-induced isolation. With Tom’s trademark blend of realism and optimism, the discussion challenges polarized thinking and advocates for cultural and personal growth amidst an era of volatility.
[02:00-09:00]
Discussion opens with a dramatic clip of Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), criticizing fellow Democrats for capitulating to Trump and highlighting the increasingly tribal and combative nature of US politics.
Tom reflects on the breakdown of bipartisan cooperation and longstanding American gridlock as the “fail-safe” that’s now being subverted by populism and partisan identity.
Quote (Tom, 04:00):
“I think gridlock has served America for a very long time. But it's breaking down—now that we're in a tribal moment... The second [an idea] is brought by the other side, it's the devil incarnate. We can't be seen as on their team.”
Tom notes commenters now call him both a "Trump apologist" and a "communist," illustrating the incoherence of extreme polarization.
Importance of seeking insight even from ideological adversaries:
Quote (Tom, 05:30):
“Destiny is not your friend. [Someone told me.] I was like, what does that have to do with anything? ... He is able to help me see the world from a radically different point of view. That is how you get something done.”
Tom draws parallels to Reagan’s collegial relationships with political adversaries; laments that America currently lacks a shared identity, unlike China.
[06:45-12:00]
[09:00-11:30]
[12:29-18:44]
[18:44-26:00]
Breakdown of Trump’s newly brokered trade deal with the EU: mutual tariff of 15%, opening the European market, and a major victory (though China is still the biggest piece left).
Detailed explanation of VAT (value-added tax), global vs. protectionist economics, and why tariffs function differently from other taxes. Tariffs as potential revenue generators and tools for reshoring manufacturing.
Tom and Drew discuss tax burden statistics (bottom 50% of Americans pay 3% of income tax), and the realities and dangers of income inequality:
[25:28-29:27]
[30:38-37:16]
Demo and analysis of an MIT student’s device that lets the wearer “ask” questions telepathically and receive answers discreetly.
Explores how AI augments memory/knowledge, and the possible future of telepathically connected humans:
Speculates about the device’s life-changing potential for people with disabilities, referencing David Eagleman’s “vibration” devices that let deaf people hear or blind people “see.”
[37:16-41:06]
[41:06-44:37]
[44:37-46:49]
[46:49-52:41]
On personal and national optimism:
“I want to make sure this [social mobility] is available for other people... When I was such a beneficiary psychologically of the view people had of what America was back in the 80s, ... it set me up to be so optimistic about my future. ... We have got to get people back to that.” (Tom, 06:10)
On polarization and utility:
“You do not need to agree with someone top to bottom. ... Is there something high utility? Can we be of benefit to each other?” (Tom, 05:30)
Technology as force multiplier:
“AI speeds up the learning process by, I mean 5x 10x... These are incredible tools. And I don’t see people like getting rid of it. ... But the things that they let you do are just incredible.” (Tom, 34:30)
| Segment | Timestamp | Key Focus | |--------------------------------------|--------------|------------------------------------------------| | Cory Booker Clip & Tribal Politics | 02:00-09:00 | Partisan gridlock, need for cooperation | | Cultural Narratives & China | 12:29-18:44 | Self-narrative, optimism, national identity | | Trump’s EU Trade Triumph | 18:44-26:00 | Protectionism, tariffs, economic strategy | | Economic Cycles & Populism | 25:28-29:27 | Populism, debt, social mobility | | Telepathic AI | 30:38-37:16 | AI breakthroughs, future human-machine merge | | AI Companionship for Teens | 37:16-41:06 | Chatbots, social skills, child development | | US Chip Manufacturing Surge | 41:06-44:37 | Semiconductors, American industry, Musk | | Earthquakes & Natural Disasters | 44:37-46:49 | Tsunami impacts | | Relationship Ethics & “The T” app | 46:49-52:41 | Gender relations, digital gossip |
Tom brings high-energy realism, advocating for deep understanding, utility-based worldview-building, and a practical optimism about the ability of individuals (and America) to adapt. The show repeatedly warns against tribalism—political or gendered—and places a premium on narrative, self-belief, and disciplined action for navigating disruptive times.
Central Message:
Reject polarized thinking, embrace challenging conversations (even with adversaries), and build a culture—personal and national—where growth, optimism, and adaptability are the norm, not the exception.
For listeners seeking clarity on today’s world—and practical takeaways for thriving in it—this episode delivers a candid, in-depth exploration of the issues beneath the headlines.