Defense Contractors and U.S. Policy in Ukraine
On Ukraine. You emphasize the eagerness of the White House and Congress to repeatedly approve military aid to Ukraine combined with the absence of voices calling for a diplomatic solution. I’ve heard you list general hawkishness and historical amnesia as some of the reasons behind this stance, but what about a third factor: the military-industrial complex. With the ending of the war in Afghanistan, wouldn’t defense contractors be working overtime to exploit every opportunity to continue justifying our obscene defense budgets? Are we underestimating just how much they have captured our entire political establishment? Wouldn’t Biden and his Raytheon Secretary of Defense be under tremendous pressure to appease this sector after the Afghanistan pull-out- with Ukraine being kind of like a “don’t worry, defense contractors, we got you” prize? How should we measure the size of their financial interests as a factor in keeping the Ukraine conflict going?
Presidential Selections
For Saagar: I'm a bit perplexed as to how often our presidential races bottleneck into a select category of candidates who are the closest to previous presidents. For 2020 we were given a grand buffet of Democratic primary candidates, but it still boiled down to Biden, a prior Vice President. Same can be said of dynasties or those serving as a cabinet member in a recent administration. These are apparently the more "electable" choices according to elites. Is there a precedent for this in our history of presidential elections, or are the waters getting more stagnant and muddy in recent years?
Nuclear Idea - Why it would fail?
Hi K&S, Don't know where else to put this but I'm quite interested in your thoughts. It is an idea I've had for some time after listening to y'all (yes, I'm from TX) talk through seemingly unrelated topics - 1) alternative/ sustainable energy 2) defense budget 3) Ukraine-Russia 4) perception on nuclear power and likely others. The idea is a strategic nuclear power system built and operated by the U.S. military. We entrust the military to look after some 5400+ nuclear weapons. Why not have them look after nuclear power plants built and operated on existing or new military bases around the country that can take us to >70% nuclear in the energy mix. We can use the advanced military tech, the military's experience and the inherent security should help in public acceptance, and it could be a huge economic boom. For Krystal - maybe only use union based construction/contractors? Maybe you follow on to the infrastructure bill or make it part of DHS budget? Maybe you could compare it to the highway system effort to gain political momentum - lot of options. Sorry so long. Now, poke holes........
Promise of Bitcoin
I've never understood how any crypto currency could have value without it being widely accepted in exchange for goods. I certainly couldn't see how it could fulfill it's promise of being a hedge against inflation if it is just tied to the US dollar/stock market. Why haven't any of the crypto currencies made a significant push to be accepted by mainstream retailers such as Walmart or Target?