Restoring We the People
A few months ago did the above interview with long and dear friend, ecologist, historian, and Tree Media founder Leila Conners. Video is on Tree+.
Leila knew Gorbachev. Gorbachev allowed the peaceful dismantling of the Soviet empire, doesn't look like any lesson learned. The US seems determined to bring everything down with us.
Leila introduces,
"My friend, Joe Costello, came out with a book, The Politics of Ape and Machine: Power as Organization (2025), so I did an interview with him November of 2025 about his thesis. I am just posting this now, and given world events, this conversation is more urgent. We, as a people, need to meet together and find common ground about how to move our country forward, together, given the very palpable collapse of the people’s purchase on the direction of our country. I will let this interview speak for itself. I look forward to your thoughts."
Thanks much to Leila.
In addition, Chris Whalen has a fine piece on Private Debt and Public Banks, a putrid relationship soon to cause greater misfortune. However, sure seems apparent from reactions to Trump's War, finance remains fairy dust pixilated. Case and point, the WSJ writes today,
"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump’s planned meeting with China’s Xi this month could be postponed so the president can stay in Washington to coordinate the war effort."
The president to coordinate, funny, funny stuff.
Almost as good as the other day this generation's greatest Tech shyster, Sam Altman, saying, “We see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.” Right up there with his Dyson Sphere proposal.
These are fantastical times, but reality's coming hard and fast, the first wave arriving with gasoline prices going up 27% and diesel up over a third since the bombs started dropping. That two-dollar gas the president's been promoting over the last year, that's gone.
