U.S. Full Spectrum Dominance: Nuclear Risks and The End of Empire
The Great Simplification #140 with Jeffrey Sachs
As the United States continues to play a major role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the risk of a direct engagement, possibly leading to a nuclear exchange, may now be higher than ever.
In this episode, Nate is joined by Professor Jeffrey Sachs to discuss the escalating tensions between the United States and other world powers - and whether there are possible avenues towards a more peaceful world order.
Has the U.S. taken on the characteristics of an imperial state - under the pretenses of security at all costs? As the world continues to become more globalized, how should we change the way we govern within and across borders? Is it possible to transition from foreign policies focused on dominance and control to those emphasizing interconnectedness and the sovereignty of all nations?
In case you missed it…
Last week, I was joined by Daniel Christian Wahl, a leader and activist in regenerative living, for an exploration into what our lifestyles and communities could look like if we aligned human systems—like agriculture, economy, and community planning—with the natural ecosystems of a specific bioregion to create more sustainable and harmonious ways of living.
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Well, the time has come, Nate, to talk to you directly. I hope you do read this. However, in my behavioral stack, I hold no anticipatory expectations.
I may have watched all the episodes. I appreciate the expertise of each of your interviewees; why I watch.
From time to time I reached out to one or another of them and in most cases have received a response. I have joined the activities of some and followed others to thread me through the forest of possibilities. There is one glaring possibility that seems particularly yours to explore, given your reminder at every turn of your own experience with 100million plus money sinks and energy.
You are the most likely to appreciate that the use of currency, money in all its abstract and practical forms, is the most formidable technology devised by our species. So many of the graphic representations interviewees have used are in relation to the metabolic gradient in particular. To be specific, the one used in the Geoffrey West interview.
In my fluid thinking process I overlaid that metabolic representation over Lyn Alden's curve of energy use since her fathers time (likely mine as I am over 80) as it relates to the growth of "money". The one drives the other and boosts the waste gradient. We are in a desperate place...given that our flawed failed use of the growth of money is not connected to the growth of waste.
There is something to work on here...and work is what we can do.
Unfortunately it seems in the US that even if 100M people agreed with Jeffery explicitly - nothing would really change. I think that was a Biden quote at one time. Or was it Hillary? They all blend together. This is how embedded and corrupt the security state has become. It will take nothing short of a miracle to dislodge them from their obvious power and goals. JFK wasn’t wrong about the CIA and paid the ultimate price for it. Does each new incoming president get a sit down and real time footage of what really happened and asked if they want to challenge them? Obama was never the same after his inauguration.