Robert Stark and Co-host Pilleater talk to Reactionary Tree.
Topics:
Reactionary Tree’s political background in the Ron Paul movement and Tea Party and how he got involved with the Alt-Right
Why he uses Reactionary in his moniker
Reactionaries as wanting to return to the past as opposed to creating visions for the future and whether he will change his moniker to Futurist Tree Archeofuturism; the need for a futurist aesthetic that channels the romantic heroic visions of the past
Synthwave Artist Xurious and how his music is the essence of archeo-futurism
The Left Wing of the Alt-Right and how becoming an identitarian pushed his views to the left on economics and the environment
Identitarianism; Ethno vs. Civic Nationalism The Left Justifies Political Violence and the concept of Anarcho-Tyranny
The shutdown of the Alt-Right Reddit and Reactionary Tree’s banning from Twitter
Corporate Censorship and whether social media should be nationalized to protect free speech
Rejecting free market orthodoxy
Income inequality and the destruction of the middle class
The necessity of an alliance between the Alt-Right, Alt-Lite Civic Nationalist, and non-SJW Bernie Sanders supporters
The Black Pill vs the White Pill and signs of optimism for the future
Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Charles Marohn. Charles is a Professional Engineer (PE) licensed in the State of Minnesota and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Chuck is the Founder and President of Strong Towns. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute.
Topics:
How Charles’s background in urban planning exposed him to the problems of sprawl development
Charles’s books Thoughts on Building Strong Towns, Volume 1 & Volume II
The fiscal unsustainability of sprawl development
Charles’ point that the key factor in urbanism is Incremental Development
Charles’s point that cities must be viewed as ecosystems
The “build it they will come” fallacy, and how traditionally massive infrastructure projects were designed to serve existing population centers(ex.Roman Aqueducts)
How pre-automobile cities tend to be the most viable
Nassim Taleb’s Antifragile theory, and how it relates to urbanism The Density Question, Charles point that density should neither be fetishized nor seen as inherently bad, but must take into account incremental development
How cities such as New York and San Francisco have value independent of their economies, while places like the Silicon Valley would become unviable if their industries collapsed
Zoning laws and land use regulations
The movement to Retrofit Suburbia, how it’s a step in the right direction, but has it’s limitations
How cities will contract in the future, with people living in both cities and towns, but that it’s the space in between that’s unviable
Micro Apartments
Political divides, and how when it comes to planning issues on a local level, people tend to be more pragmatic than dogmatic
The Public vs. Private sector role in infrastructure, and how Charles’s point that things that are high risk should be in the private sector, and low risk in the public sector(ex. Wall Street baillouts)
The role of the government in historic preservation and protecting the environment
Housing and affordable family formation
Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Anatoly Karlin. He blogs at The Unz Review
Topics include:
Anatoly’s article at the Unz Review about his American Decade
Why Anatoly is leaving the United States and going back to Russia
How the United States is becoming more like Europe
T.R. Reid’s book The United States of Europe, where he argued that the EU was emerging as a superpower rivaling the US, but has latter been disproved
How during the Bush era Americans perceived Europeans as “Cheese Eating Surrender Moneys,” but latter Sarkozy became the architect of the war in Libya, and arming Syrian rebels
Another element of America’s Europeanization is the decline in social conservatism, the surge in support for gay marriage, and drug legalization
Anatoly’s political views, which are fairly socially liberal(except for rejecting political correctness, and radical feminism), economically centrist, and closest to Rabbit’s AltLeft U.S. Millennials More Likely to Support Censoring Offensive Speech, especially among university students who are the future elites
The decline in American fertility rates toward European levels
How American politics now resembles Europe in the sense that there are five distinct blocs: Clinton democrats, Sanders socialists, Rubio/Bush etablishment conservatives, Cruz Bible-bashers, and Trump nationalists.
Anatoly’s pre election prediction article US Elections 2016: Let’s MAGA, Not War, and Trump’s support in the rust belt
Trump’s economic policies as a hybrid of supply side economics, and economic nationalism, and the similarities to Putin’s economic policies in Russia
The GINI index of income inequality
The pros and cons of economic automation, and the basic income
Transhumanism, Zoltan Istvan, and his book The Transhumanist Wager
The Bay Area where Anatoly spent most of his time in the US, and how it’s pretty much ideal, but also the most expensive macro-region of the US
California is also home to Ron Unz, Steve Sailer, as well as the “Alt Left” movement(the tiny group of thinkers combining leftist economics with HBD, sane views on gender relations, and a penchant for futurism )
The futurist scene in the Bay Area including Scott Jackisch’s Bay Area Futurists meetup, Health Extensions Salons, Mike Johnson’s Qualia Research Institute, Effective Altruism, and the “techno” faction of NRx
Mass Transit, Bay Area Rapid Transit, how older cities tend to have more integrated transit systems, and why conservatives oppose mass transit
Global Warming, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius who discovered climate change, debunking climate change deniers, and whether it will benefit arctic regions such as Russia
Observations on other American cities including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh
Anatoly’s experience ridding across the nation on Amtrak
Architecture: Skyscrapers, Brutalism, architect John Portman’s 70’s Neofuturism, and Rabbit’s ideal city based on the film Logan’s run
America’s great wilderness and National Park System
Robert Stark and co-host Alex von Goldstein talk to fellow Aussies, blogger Luke Ford and filmmaker Richard Wolstencroft
Topics include:
Meme magic and the and theological significance of KEK Pepe, Kek, and the Rise of an Elder God
Hillary Clinton as the whore of Babylon
Richard’s film The Second Coming, based on the apocalyptic poetry of W. B. Yeats
Richard’s exposure to occultism, and how he came to the conclusion that it is something real, powerful, and potentially dangerous Jack Parsons’ the Babalon Working, inspired by Aleister Crowley
Wikileaks revealing John Podesta’s involvement in Occultist “Spirit Cooking”
Luke’s point that elite cosmopolitan Jews who are not involved in traditional Judaism, turn to things such as occultism, and how many of the individuals he met in the porn industry dabbled in Satanism
Richard’s story about getting a liver sepsis at age 27, when he was exposed to black magic Carl Jung’s concept of Shadow Work
Richard’s relationship with Christianity, rebelling against it as a youth, and how his exposure to occultism brought him back to Christianity
How Luke came to Judaism
Luke’s background in porn journalism
Luke’s point that most people crave spirituality in their lives, and if they are not exposed to a traditional religion they will look for that transcendence in other places
Richard porn documentary The Last Days of Joe Blow
Luke and Richard debate sexual morality and promiscuity
Andy Nowicki’s book Confessions of a Would-Be Wanker, about the corrupting nature of sex The sexual Theories of Wilhelm Reich, which viewed sex as a positive force Andy Nowicki” Trump, THE PROVIDENTIAL LOUT: GOD’S DEMAGOGUE? When Did Luke Ford Board The Trump Express?
How Richard became a Trump supporter, and his article TRUMP AND THE METAPOLITICS OF WINNING Trump’s win may be the beginning of a global nationalist populist wave, and the blowback against the globalist elites The Way Forward for Trump
Jewish attitudes toward Trump, and how 71% of Jews Voted for Clinton, while 24% Backed Trump, with the exception of Orthodox Jews who supported Trump
Prediction of a white baby boom during the Trump presidency, and how birthrates rise when people have economic stability and a sense of optimism in the future
Richard’s point that overpopulation is the key environmental problem, that we need an economy that is not based on growth, and that humanity should ideally be reduced by 80%
Why Luke see’s Nationalism as the key issue, and all other issues as secondary
Charles Murray’s book Human Accomplishment
Why Luke rejects objective morality of good vs. evil, and see’s different groups in competition for scarce resources
Bay Area Guy’s article The Bay Area and the FIRE Economy, which reviews Robert Stark’s interview with Laura Foote Clark of Grow SF
How as a renter in the Bay Area this issue personally effects Bay Area Guy
The role that Banks and the FIRE sector play in driving up the cost of real estate
Bay Area Guy’s point that he does not want the Bay Area to become like SoCal: an environmental eyesore characterized by track housing and strip malls
However Bay Area Guy does endorse Laura’s proposal of having Silicon Valley become more urbanized
The role that mass immigration plays in the housing crisis on top of the FIRE economy
Bay Area Renters Federation’s Sonja Trauss: Advocating for Housing Development in San Francisco San Francisco Bay Area Renters’ Federation‘s lawsuit against the city of Lafayette over a development
The argument that white NIMBY’s oppose development because of diversity, and Bay Area Guy’s article, “Diversity” is Simply Code for “Non-white”
Bay Area Guy’s review of Killing the Host by Michael Hudson
The FIRE economy, which is an economy based on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sectors
Michael Hudson’s proposal to tax unearned income(ex. Tobin tax)
The goal of a fair tax policy should not just be to redistribute wealth, but also to punish predatory behavior, and incentivize productive behavior
How Michael Hudson invokes the arguments of Classical Liberals such as Adam Smith, and John Stewart Mills, who distinguished between earned and unearned income
Unearned income is any wealth not generated by production or labor
Debt and living paycheck to paycheck is the road to serfdom
How the majority of people’s income goes towards unearned income(ex. rent, insurance, mortgages)
How lower wages are bad for the economy, because consumers have less money to spend
Wikileaks: Hillary Clinton Calls Bernie Sanders Supporters Basement Dwellers, and that she viewed Wall Street as best to manage the economy
The Calvinist mentality in American culture, that your worth is based on your wealth
What makes Hudson’s book so brilliant is he points out that the ultra rich make their money through unproductive or predatory ways
Examples of countries that have moved away from the FIRE economy include Germany and Japan, who have a high end manufacturing base
In contrast the FIRE economies of the United States and the United Kingdom became dominant using protectionist and mercantilist measures, but liberalized their economies later on
Why Universal Healthcare and Public investment in infrastructure benefit the economy
Michael Hudson debunks supply side economics by pointing out the rich spend most of their extra income on products they already own, or lend their money out at interest
How the concept of a free market has been twisted from freedom from the rentier economy, into letting the financial sector do what ever they want
Michael Hudson’s point that the primary function of banking is not to fund business or stimulate the economy, but to bid up assets already in place, and attach debt to rents
Robert Stark, joined with Rabbit, and Alex von Goldstein talk about his recent trip to the SF Bay Area
Topics include:
Robert’s departing point Santa Barbara, which is a nice laid back coastal town, but under the cultural influence of LA Robert Stark’s podcast with Bay Area Guy about his last trip to SF
Robert met up with Bay Area Guy and Anatoly Karlin in Berkeley
How like Robert, Alex, and Rabbit, Bay Area Guy and Anatoly Karlin exist on the periphery of the Alt-Right(ex.The Radical Center, Alt Left)
The Cultural Leftist legacy of Berkeley, and how Anatoly Karlin spoke at Richard Spencer’s event at UC Berkeley
How places that are politically correct often produce interesting dissident thinkers
How Berkeley is on a scale similar to European cities(ex. small, compact, dense and walkable)
How transplants often adopt the stereotypes of cities
Demographic trends in the Bay Area, how the traditional white middle class is being pushed out, but also working class Blacks and Hispanics are being priced out through gentrification
Asian culture and immigration in the Bay Area, and Asian Majority Cities, including Daly City, where Robert stayed
The seedy Tenderloin District, urban grittiness, and how it reminded Robert of the film Taxi Driver
The film Dirty Harry
The BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) System, which has a 70’s futurist aesthetic, and has had issue with crime
The film Fruitvale Station about a Police incident on BART in Oakland
The 70’s futurist Embarcadero Center, designed by architect John Portman, and the importance of having urban oasis’s
How the Silicon Valley is a bland suburban region, which demonstrates that technology has limitation without culture and aesthetics The Shortage Of Women In Silicon Valley
How the area where the tech elite lives has wilderness preserves, in contrast with their support for mass immigration How the Bay Area has done a better job at Wilderness Conservation than Southern California
Robert’s observation’s about where to build in the Bay Area in response to his interview with Laura Foote Clark of Grow SF
How San Francisco has it’s own unique Aesthetic, and is the most scenic American City
How San Francisco is on a high level aesthetically, but the dominant culture is consumerism mixed in with some cultural leftist views
Robert stayed in Walnut Creek, which is a mid-century car oriented suburb in the process of being retrofited into a walkablle New Urbanist community
Walnut Creek aslo has BART access, and owns more open space per capita than any other community in California 80’s Vaporwave Architecture in Walnut Creek, how historic preservation has neglected 80’s Kitsch, and the occultist origins of Kek in California 80’s culture
Nearby Lafayette, which is an idyllic semi rural town, with quick BART access to the city(the best of both worlds for those who can afford it) The San Francisco Bay Area Renters’ Federation lawsuit against Lafayette, and the debate regarding development and diversity
Whether the Bay Area should be it’s own separate country, state, or broken up into a bunch of small independent city states
Robert Stark and co-host Alex von Goldstein talk to Paul Bingham about Aleister Crowley
Topics include:
Today Aleister Crowley exists either as an icon of occultism, used by subcultures, derided by others, but few are familiar with his political and philosophical ideas
Kerry Bolton’s series on Aleister Crowley as a Political Theorist, Part 1 and Part 2 Political Platform based on Crowley’s ideas Julius Evola on Crowley James J. O’Meara’s reivew of Richard B. Spence’s book Secret Agent 666
Crowley’s religion Thelema
Crowley’s fascination with power structures
Crowley transcended politics and did not fit into either traditionalism or the left
Crowley did not fit into the left for rejecting egalitarianism and mass democracy, and the right for rejecting free markets and traditional morality
Crowley’s Aristocratic individualism, and his belief in an Aristocracy of the creative class Wyndham Lewis‘s book The Art of Being Ruled, which like Crowley advocated the rule of the creative class
Crowley viewed the masses as spiritualy inferior
Crowley saw capitalism as degrading genuine cultural elitism
Crowley rejecting Marxism, but supported a social safety net to free up the creative class
Crowley’s value of leisure
Crowley came to the same conclusions about economics as the Distributist and Social creditors, who were Traditional Catholics
Distributism and Social Credit are the economic systems most compatable with Aristocratic Individualism Homo economicus
Crowley’s critique of democracy
Crowley’s environmentalism
Crowley’s interest in Mountaineering
Crowley tested the limits of human nature and practiced what he wrote about
The futurist philosophy is about testing what works
Crowley’s view of the future was that things will collapse and a new brighter future will emerge
Crowley’s erotic poetry series White Stains, and how he practiced the sexual acts he wrote about
Crowley used sexual experimentation to further his intellectual state, but did not advocate it for the masses
Why the individual must have freedom to exist within their own personal boundaries
Crowley’s advocacy of youth colonies, how the elites practice youth camps, and the importance of controlling youth
How male bonding and inter generational relationships are stigmatized for the masses
How Crowley often took the passive role in sexual acts with both men and women
Paul’s point that most people are either sexually dominant or submissive, but that being a switch is a uniquely Anglo trait
Crowley as the original Troll
Paul’s point that if Crowley were alive today he would be disinterested in western politics
Our upcoming show with Paul on Italian Futurism, and how Crowley, Wyndham Lewis, and the futurist had similar ideas, but were fiercely independent from one another
Robert Stark, Rabbit, and Alex von Goldstein talk to writer and social critic, James Howard Kunstler
Topics include:
The history of suburbia
James’ theory of history that things happen because they seem like a good idea at the time
How our auto oriented petroleum based society is unsustainable
How bad urban planing has negative psychological and cultural implications
The role of zoning laws, and how zoning can both encourage and prevent suburban sprawl
The future of suburbia, how some will be retrofitted into walkalble communities, while others will be abandoned
The New Urbanist Movement
Mass immigration and overpopulation
Why James does not view skyscrapers and hyper density as viable alternatives to suburbia
Robert’s point that tall structures can have aesthetic value, and how James acknowledges that the early wave of skyscrapers(ex. Singer Building, Woolworth Building, Manhattan Municipal Building) were beautiful structures but historical flukes
How European cities provide the ideal model for urbanism
Examples of sustainable American cities include Portland, Oregon, Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia
Mass Transit, and why James favors investing in existing rail infrastrusture over new high speed rail
The Streetcar suburb, and how they provide a model for New Urbanism
James’ point that even with alternative energy and technological innovation, we still have to downsize and localize our society and economy
How peak oil will lead to economic and political decentralization
How Peak Oil will make Globalization unsustainable
The future of China and the Arab Gulf States
Pre-War Japan as the best example of an advanced civilization without industrialization
The scarcity of water in the future, and how the inland water system will regain it’s value Historic Preservation, how the movement was started in the 1960’s in response to the demolition of Pennsylvania Station in NYC, and the debate about what should be preserved
Rabbit makes the case for mid century modern
Capital scarcities in the future, and how mass development is dependent upon the financial system
James’ four book series set in a post economic collapse America, the World Made by Hand