We finally conclude our "accepting the world as it is" multi episode discussion by addressing a question from a listener wondering what the purpose and benefit of this outlook actually is. From toasting Teslas to war in Gaza, we examine how people avoid working on themselves by latching onto large scale causes and boogeymen - permanently delaying fixing their own lives until the rest of the world operates the way they think it should. Focusing on changing the world first is merely a feel-good guise for a deep desire to avoid the one thing that actually might change the world: self-improvement.

We're back after a long travel hiatus to keep talking on the recent theme of accepting the world as it is - this time focused on Ted Kaczynski's ideas around self-propagating systems and the inevitable race to doomsday created by unrestrained technological advancement. We begin with a rather lengthy discussion of the nothing burger of the first Epstein release and what the purpose might actually have been - and conclude with an uncomfortable truth about the reality of the Epstein blackmail operation.

Episode notes:

Price inflation by good type:

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/inflation-chart-tracks-price-changes-us-goods-services/

Uncle Ted's paper on self-propagating systems:

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ted-kaczynski-why-the-technological-system-will-destroy-itself

Finally getting back to our philosophy roots - the third episode in this recent series of crash-landed conversations picks right up where we left off, using Snowpiercer as framing to discuss the philosophical implications of the current events we talked about in the prior two episodes.

Learning to accept the world as it is means two things can be true at once: our current group of elites are garbage, but also, what's actually necessary to keep society functioning isn't pretty, fair, or easy.

Failing to get back to recording fast enough to continue with part two of the prior episode, we once again feel the need to address a host of current events including the "terror" attacks, MAGA's H1B in-fighting, and Lugi again. Conveniently, these events are all relevant to the continuing conversation; so we use our analysis of them to bring us full circle back to the conclusions of prior episode - now yet again ready to move forward on the discussion of Snow Piercer and the issues with populism as a "solution" to the issues we've spent the entire podcast discussing.

We're finally back to talk Luigi Mangione and the reactions to the UHC CEO murder as a major signal of a captured shift in the national zeitgeist. This episode is intended to tee up foundational ideas for next episode, namely: the importance of maintaining a minimum functional trust level in society, systematized bad behavior as protection from idiosyncratic bad behavior, and the intended (or claimed) purpose of institutions versus what they're currently, actually delivering.

After too much enjoyment of the circus of cabinet appointments in the last episode, we address a listener comment (quoted below) from the same episode that we felt was a good opportunity to clarify our position on Trump.

As mentioned in this episode, anyone interested in coming on the show and discussing some of these topics without the 500 character comment limit - feel free to DM me on Reddit u/awdstylez

Comment from Xan on the prior episode:

"Beyond the obvious bad faith talking points, is there anything you would find objectionable about Trump? The narcissistic rage, his explicit desire to use the government for revenge against his "enemies", and his plan to deport millions, and Project 2025? Is your support of Trump just vibes deep down or is there some motive behind it?"

Trump has been lambasted as "literally Hitler" for the past eight years, almost entirely for imaginary reasons. Now that MAGA is adopting almost word-for-word Third Reich policies - no one seems to be capable of making the connection.

In this mostly political and more casual than normal episode, talk centers around Trump's cabinet appointments, which continue to further confirm our predictions for what the future holds. We tie these current events back to POSIWID, the Victoria/Victor/Julie Andrews construct, and go into more detail on our "Lisa" addition to that framework.

Episode Corrections:

Tyler incorrectly references "Revolt of the Public" as "Revolt of the People"

Episode Notes

"Always has been" astronaut meme

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/255177692/astronaut-meme-always-has-been-template

Complete lack of relevant food/drug experience of the current HHS secretary

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Becerra

Hawk Tuah baseline test

https://youtu.be/gEtdfRO_YqA?si=MjSXRQu2c-dfVyJJ