Category Archives: Environment

Robert Stark interviews Charles Marohn from Strong Towns

Architecture, Charles Marohn, Cities, Economics, Environment, Historic Preservation, income inequality, Los Angeles, Mass Transit, Nassim Taleb, New Urbanism, New York, Pilleater, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Strong Towns, Suburbia, Urbanism, Wealth, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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


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Robert Stark interviews Anatoly Karlin about his American Decade, Futurism, & Political Trends

aesthetics, Akira, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Anatoly Karlin, Architecture, Basic Income, Berkeley, Bernie Sanders, Brutalism, California, capitalism, censorship, Chicago, Cities, Colin Liddell, Conservatives, Culture, demographics, Diversity, Donald Trump, Drugs, Economics, Elections, Environment, Eugenics, Europe, Feminism, Free Trade, Freedom of Speech, Futurism, Gambling, Gender, Global Warming, Globalization, Homosexuality, Human Bio Diversity, Immigration, income inequality, Las Vegas, Leftism, Liberalism, Los Angeles, Mass Transit, Millennials, Nationalism, New York, Oligarchy, Pilleater, Political Correctness, Politics, Rabbit, Rachel Haywire, Radical Center, Richard Spencer, Robert Lindsay, Ron Unz, Russia, San Francisco, Science, Scott Jackisch, Skyscrapers, Transhumanism, Travel, Urbanism, Vladimir Putin, Wealth, Zoltan Istvan

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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


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Robert Stark interviews Animator John R. Dilworth

aesthetics, animation, Art, comedy, Consumerism, Culture, Environment, History, horror, humor, John Dilworth, Media, Memes, Philosophy, Pilleater, Salvador Dali, Social Media, Surrealism

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Robert Stark and co-host Pilleater talk to Animator John R. Dilworth. John runs the animation studio Stretch Films in New York City. Check out his work on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook

Topics:

John’s show Courage the Cowardly Dog, which aired on Cartoon Network from 1999 to 2002
Top 10 Most Disturbing (Scariest) Courage The Cowardly Dog Episodes
John’s unsold pilot Prudence
The decline in children’s horror shows
The dark aesthetic in John work, and how the culture has become softer
Incorporating adult themes into children’s shows
The role of marketing, and how it can conflict with art and important messages
Meme culture and public domain art
Mixed media and having the right aesthetic cohesion
The Surreal Comedy genre
The Surrealist aspect of John’s work and inspiration from Salvador Dalí
How to Dream Like Salvador Dali
Japanese Manga including Ghost in the Shell
Richard William’s The Thief and the Cobbler
John’s upcoming film Goose In High Heels, inspired by the disaster in Fukushima
John’s film Life in Transition, which he created after 9/11
John’s erotic comedy The Return of Sergeant Pecker
John’s short film the Angry Cabaret
John’s short film When Lilly Laney Moved In
The value of a  pure mind observing nature
The dynamic of the Aesthetic Arrest, and whether art posses a soul
Philosophical questions about life, human suffering, conformity, our place in time, and expressing ones self


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Robert Stark interviews Keith Preston about Donald Trump and the Return of Liberalism

Alternative Right, Bernie Sanders, Conservatives, Crime, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, Environment, Hillary Clinton, Immigration, income inequality, Keith Preston, Media, Nationalism, Neoconservatism, Neoliberalism, Police State, Political Correctness, Political Parties, Politics, Radical Center, Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, Taxation, terrorism, War, Wealth, welfare state

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Robert Stark and Alex von Goldstein talk to Keith Preston about his essay Donald Trump and the Return of Liberalism

Topics include:

The three waves of Liberalism, classical liberalism, reform liberalism, and neoliberalism
Neoliberalism, which is essentially a hybrid of capitalism and social democracy under the managerial state, starting under Jimmy Carter, and accelerating under Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., and Bill Clinton
Noam Chomsky: Richard Nixon Was ‘Last Liberal President’
How the election of Donald Trump represents a mass repudiation of Neoliberalism
Hillary Clinton as the candidate who epitomizes Neoliberalism, and neglected the working class base of the Democratic Party
How many people on the left such as Slavoj Zizek supported Trump over Clinton
Why Keith believes Bernie Sanders could of defeated Trump
How a recent article in The Atlantic, a liberal publication, admitted mainstream American liberalism has transformed into a kind of left-wing capitalism
How many mainstream conservatives and Republicans, simultaneously warned that Trump was a dangerous racist, sexist, xenophobe, and Fascist, and not authentic conservative enough
Keith compares Trump to a Nelson Rockefeller, who ran as George Wallace in the GOP primaries before reinventing himself as Ross Perot in the general election campaign
How Wallace was a symbol of right-wing populism, but also a New Deal Democrat and Perot was one of the most outspoken critics of neoliberalism in the in the last 30 years
How the New Deal (reform liberalism) under FDR involved an alliance of Southern segregationists (like Wallace) and Northern liberals who were advocates of civil rights
The decline of social conservatism, how Trump won that vot, despite his moderate social views, and how social conservatives are moving to the left economically
Trump’s Surprising Transportation Priorities
Trump’s climate change denial and interest in expanding the use of fossil fuels
The new political realignment, and Trump’s appeal to working class white swing voters with issues of trade, immigration, and preserving social safety nets
Trump’s economic policies include, labor protectionism, preserving the working to middle class social safety net,  reforming rather than abolishing Obamacare, new benefits to working women with children, and one of the most liberal reforms of student loan debt policy
However Trump’s tax plan is based on supply side economists
Trump Could Place Media In Antitrust Crosshairs
How Trump’s civil liberty stances turned off libertarian leaning voters, and his environmental stances well educated ones, and whether a hypothetical candidate to the left of Trump on those issues could build a successful new political coalition
The demise of Conservatism INC., and whether the future of the GOP is a “Centrist Nationalism,” similar to Marine Le Pen’s National Front in France
While not a Trump support, Keith is sympathetic to his anti-neocon views on US-Russia relations, his opposition to toppling Assad, and his criticism of the US alliance with the Gulf States
How Rudy Giuliani the Front-Runner for Secretary of State has a Neoconservative background, but is primarily a career opportunist, and has recently adopted Trump’s foreign policy outlook
Keith’s main disagreement with Trump is his support for the surveillance state and the militarization of the police
Why Keith thinks the Alt-Right might be disappointed with Trump, and that Trump may make compromises on immigration


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A talk with Luke Ford and Richard Wolstencroft about Occultism, Nationalism, and the Election of Trump

Aleister Crowley, Alex von Goldstein, Alternative Right, American Culture, Australia, Carl Jung, Christianity, Conspiracy Theories, demographics, Depravity, Donald Trump, Environment, Globalization, Immigration, Judaism, Luke Ford, Memes, Morality, Nationalism, Occultism, Orthodox Judaism, Overpopulation, Pepe the Frog, Philosophy, Psychology, Race Relations, relationships, Religion, Richard Wolstencroft, Sexuality, White Nationalism

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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

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Robert Stark interviews Bay Area Guy about the SF Bay Area and the FIRE Economy

aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, American Culture, Banking, Bay Area Guy, Bay Area Renters Federation, Bernie Sanders, capitalism, Cities, Corporations, Culture, Distributism, Economics, Environment, FIRE Economy, Hillary Clinton, Killing the Host, Lafayette CA, Michael Hudson, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, Radical Center, San Francisco, Scott Smith, Sonja Trauss, Suburbia, Taxation, Third Way Economics, Tobin Tax, Urbanism, Usury, Wall Street, Wealth

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Robert Stark, Rabbit & Alex von Goldstein talk to Bay Area-based blogger Bay Area Guy of  Occident Invicta

Topics include:

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


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Robert Stark talks about his trip to the San Francisco Bay Area

1980's, aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, Alternative Right, American Culture, Anatoly Karlin, Architecture, Asian Culture, Berkeley, California, Consumerism, Crime, Culture, decentralization, demographics, Diversity, Environment, Futurism, Gender, gentrification, Grow SF, Historic Preservation, Immigration, John C. Portman Jr, Lafayette CA, Laura Foote Clark, localism, Los Angeles, Mass Transit, Mount Diablo, Neon, New Urbanism, overdevelopment, Photography, Police, Political Correctness, Rabbit, Race Relations, Radical Center, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Travel, Urbanism, Vaporwave, Walnut Creek CA

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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

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Robert Stark interviews Paul Bingham about Aleister Crowley

aesthetics, Aleister Crowley, Aristocratic Individualism, Art, capitalism, conformity, Consumerism, Culture, Distributism, Economics, England, Environment, Erotica, Futurism, hedonism, Homosexuality, Liberalism, Literature, Morality, Occultism, Paul Bingham, Religion, Sexuality, Wyndham Lewis

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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

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Robert Stark interviews James Howard Kunstler

aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, American Culture, Architecture, Banking, Consumerism, Corporations, Culture, decentralization, Donald Trump, Dystopia, Economics, Environment, Futurism, Globalization, Historic Preservation, History, Immigration, James Howard Kunstler, Literature, localism, Mass Transit, Mid-Century Modern, New Urbanism, New York, overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Peak Oil, Rabbit, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Urbanism, Wall Street, Water, Zoning

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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


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Robert Stark interviews Scott Jackisch

aesthetics, Architecture, Basic Income, California, capitalism, Cities, Consumerism, Dystopia, Economics, Environment, Futurism, Human Bio Diversity, income inequality, Philosophy, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, Rabbit, Realpolitik, Retro Futurism, Robert Heinlein, San Francisco, Science, Science Fiction, Scott Jackisch, Skyscrapers, Social Isolation, Social Justice Warriors, Socialism, Sociopaths, Transhumanism, Urbanism, Utopia, War, Wealth, Zoning

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Robert Stark and co-host Rabbit interview Scott Jackisch. Scott is an IT consultant located in Oakland, CA. He blogs at The Oakland Futurist and runs the East Bay Futurists meetup.

Topics include:

Scott’s interest in futurism and science fiction writers including Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and William Gibson
Scott’s futurist meetup and how there is a strong interest in futurism in the San Francisco Bay Area
How in the modern era people are isolated, and how meetups can fill in that void, and create new communities
How the meetup itself is not political, but rather an open discussion on futurism
The different political factions within futurism including liberals, libertarians, and Neoreactionaries
Scott’s critique of Neoreaction, how his main disagreement is over their rejections of progress, but can sympathize with their reaction to extreme political correctness
Rabbit’s point that he got interested in Neoreaction because the idea of people being able to form their own societies appealed to him, but was turned off by the extreme traditional views
Scott’s political views, and how he is basically a Centrist and Pragmatist
Why Scott accepts Realpolitik, which is a system of politics or principles based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations
Transhumanism
Scott’s series The Robot Lord Scenario, which he plans on turning into a novel
Trends in warfare,  how the invention of the gun leveled the playing field, but that automative weapons will enforce inequality
Daniel Suarez’s novel Kill Decision
Economic automation and it’s implications
Economics, whether capitalism is necessary for innovation, and how a functional economic needs both capitalism and socialism
The Bay Area’s housing crisis, NIMBYism, and where to build new housing
Vertical Living and urban agriculture
Retro Futurism, dystopian and utopian visions of the future
How science fiction writers can provide narratives for engineers to build their visions(ex. Elon Musk and the Culture series)
The role of sociopaths in society, and how power generally gets concentrated by sociopaths
From a realpolitiks perspective how do you take power away from people in power that are causing harm?
Scott’s message for people to listen to each other instead of demonizing the other side


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