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Oct. 23, 2025 - The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters
01:33:24
The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters #1280
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Hello and welcome to the podcast of the Lotus Eaters episode 1280 and it is Wednesday the 23rd of October this 2025.
I'm Dan and to forestall any commentary in the chat like we had in the office all morning.
Yes, I have been experimenting with hair dye.
The reason is that I am very old.
Discuss amongst yourselves in the comments if you think it's a good idea or not.
I'd be particularly interested to hear from any vivacious young Phillies.
I'm also joined by Ferraz.
Hello.
Hello.
And special guest Josh.
Hello.
I did put in the description not so special guest.
Oh, it was you, was it?
It was, yeah.
I wondered if I needed to tell somebody off of that because I wrote special guest.
You did.
Right.
I'm back often enough.
I'm not that special.
Right, okay, fair enough.
So moderately.
I didn't notice the hair dye at all until you pointed it out.
So Harry had been talking about it quite a lot, and then he got Ferraz on the case, so I just thought, yeah, I just thought it was a nice circuit.
I didn't say anything about it.
No, that's true.
You did true.
You were very honest.
You came and said, you look good.
Which is, I admire that sort of honesty.
That is good, yes.
Oh, what are you going to be talking about?
We're going to be talking about how the White House has been destroyed, which may be of news to some of you.
Josh is going to tell us about the dumbest thing that has ever been created.
And you're going to tell us about how Ukraine is literally at war with us.
Yes, pretty much.
Good.
Pretty much.
Start on the first one, then, shall we?
So you may be interested to learn that the White House has been destroyed.
And we have very credible sources to confirm that it has, in fact, been destroyed, which I will tell you about after mentioning the course.
Have they recognized their rightful place as part of the British Empire, or are they still in rebellion?
You know, I believe the country is still in rebellion.
Oh, unfortunately.
Yes, they need to be brought into compliance.
This is true.
Very quickly, mention the course because you'll see an advoy, I'm sure, at some point, but it's very good.
And please buy it.
On to, yes, this.
So, Gavin Newsome, credible source, of course.
You know, he is the governor of California after all.
Donald Trump doesn't want you to see this picture.
He is literally destroying the White House.
This isn't, you know, the win that he thinks it is.
I mean, I see that, and I'm just like, well, I think if he was destroying Congress, that's even better.
People would be on the street celebrating.
But the White House, you know, as the seat of Imperial power, people might have some more natural affinity to it.
It was a nice-looking building, though, isn't it?
Yeah.
But if I saw this without any context whatsoever, I presume, okay, they're modernizing the building in some way.
You know, you want the presidential areas to be as up-to-date as possible because you want there to be no technological or infrastructural impediment to them doing their job.
So it makes sense that they're going to remodel it eventually.
Of course, he destroyed it, you see.
Literally destroyed it.
I think being reasonable is forbidden.
Okay.
It's not allowed.
It's 2025.
Please get with the program.
I mean, if I saw even Biden do this, I'd presume, okay, they're just updating the building.
This is not a big deal.
No, he's literally destroyed it.
And look, here we go.
And Republican Representative Eric Solwell.
He was the dude who banged the Chinese spy Fang Fang.
I was wondering if that was him or the other one.
Yeah, and I think I'm pretty sure it's this one.
He clears up the literally and figuratively confusion that you might get in this.
He is literally and figuratively.
So he's covered both options there.
Donald Trump has destroyed the White House.
And literally, rather than.
Like, if he was going for effect, it should have been figuratively.
I agree for sort of the composition of the tweet.
It would work better the other way around.
Yes, you're right, actually.
But the man is retarded, so it's okay.
Yes.
Senator Pocahontas, this is Trump's presidency in a single photo.
Legal, destructive, and not helping you.
Ron Filipkowski.
Lippowski.
Flipkrowski.
Likowski.
You could be that.
This is a desecration and an abomination.
First, he posts an AI video of himself wearing a crown, dumping shit on the heads of American.
Then he...
I didn't see that AI.
Did you see that AI?
I didn't see that, but I would like to.
It was a great video.
Was it?
He was dumping excrement on the heads of some opposition guy.
I can't remember his name.
Was it Harry Sisson or something, somebody like that?
Oh, okay.
Well, that's it.
It wouldn't surprise me.
Yes.
And it was being dropped from a fighter jet.
Ah, it was a bombing run on the news.
He was using the Indian Air Force, was he?
Right.
Then he starts tearing down parts of the White House.
Right.
So that isn't really good.
The real crowning one is this one from Will Stanceworth.
I don't know why, but some random statue of Robert E. Lee being taken down after public debate or the actual Congress passing a law changing the name of military bases control isn't the same thing as Trump unilaterally demolishing the White House overnight, you imbecile.
Oh, wow.
So Trump is unilaterally making changes to the president's house.
Maybe he should have consulted all the other presidents before he did this.
Now, for reasons I cannot explain, just about every response to this is this meme of, do be like that, Mr. I've no what does anyone have any idea what's going on here?
I don't know what this is all about.
The internet being the internet, I think.
Right.
I've never seen this before now, but I presume it's some sort of meme-y-targeted campaign against him.
Yes.
Because everyone knows he's a little bit annoying.
I mean, I quite like that.
Isn't he the guy who got decimated by Grok?
Yes.
Wasn't he the one that was Grock?
Yes.
I don't even, I have no idea who he is, but I just like the fact that he's been memed into a blue.
He's a bit like Kathy Newman.
If you remember Kathy Newman, to this day, she cannot post anything without somebody everyone underneath just going, so what you're saying is.
You know, which is very nice.
So let's.
What is actually being demolished?
Was that bit?
It was a very ugly part of it, to be honest.
A small extension.
I think it's like a carport or something like that.
Also, the West Wing is a relatively recent addition as well.
If you can add things, you can also take them away and rebuild them, right?
I would presume.
Oh, there is actually a whole number of additions.
We will come to that.
there we go so that's you see that little yellow bit there That's going to be where the ballroom is apparently.
So, I mean, to me, it seems reasonable.
It's actually a good idea, isn't it, to have a ballroom?
Because you're a president, you're hosting lots of important people.
You probably want to be able to throw presidential events.
And having something like this is obvious, particularly when you're the most powerful country in the world.
You want to project that power.
Having a fancy ballroom is how, you know, Colonel is the head of state, quite literally.
I think more to the point, it beats what Hillary Clinton did, which is literally tried to steal $200,000 worth of furniture from the White House when she left.
You say try?
Yes.
There is no try with Hillary Clinton.
No, no, no.
She took $200,000 worth of furniture and gave silverware and things like that.
So silverware, China, all kinds of things.
She screwed the light bulbs, no doubt.
And then basically she had to give some of it back or pay for some of it or what have you.
And I think she ended up only netting $70,000, $60,000, something like that.
And then she would want to become worthless.
So that's pretty good for a burglary, though.
It's not bad.
Yeah.
It's not bad.
I mean, as a sort of bit of symbolism, you couldn't do any worse than stealing things from the office you've been assigned to.
Yes.
Yes.
I don't think I've stolen much from here at all, to be honest.
No.
One thing I found interesting is actually the business end of this whole structure is over here in the West Wing with the Oval God.
I don't know why.
I always assumed the Oval Office was attached to this bit, but apparently it doesn't work like that.
That's just a whole load of bedrooms and an entranceway.
And then apparently the First Lady's got an office over here, which is as far away as possible from the Ovis Office where men get fucked up.
I did find this sort of helpful map.
So this middle bit is just the residence and it's, you know, it's quite quite interesting this.
There you go.
The library being where Hunter Biden's cocaine, presumably.
Or allegedly Hunter Biden's cocaine was found.
There we go.
So presumably the master bedroom is the one the president's in and then the Lincoln bedroom.
Isn't that the guest room or something?
But there's actually quite a few bedrooms and there's another floor on top with more bedrooms.
I'll quickly do the West Wing.
Here we go.
So this is the fun bit.
There you go.
You've got the over.
So I mean all of this is new anyway.
Newish anyway.
So there you've got the over office and a few other bits.
I do find it interesting.
I mean it's a real shortage of office space over here.
So I mean so even quite high-ranking officials with the diplomatic rank of a four-star general get shoved into a broom cupboard.
There's the executive building next door to the White House where a lot of White House staff actually work.
Yes.
So a lot of people.
Was it across the road or something?
I think so.
Right.
I do find it interesting, given the shortage of office space, that the press secretary gets quite a massive room, actually.
It's a very important position, isn't it?
Some might say the most important.
If you have a good press secretary, you don't need any other good people, do you?
Somehow I just think that's wrong.
But, you know, what I mean by principle.
So the bit we actually sort of want is over here on the East Wing.
It's just got some rooms which look from this full map, right?
They're not being used.
Maybe they're just, but we've all got a room like that in our house, haven't we?
We just stack stuff up in.
And then the First Lady's office and stuff.
And so they're going to add a bit on the front or whatever.
So I don't think that is actually a huge deal.
Let's see how it went when CBS tried to get an expert on to make it sound like this was some sort of war crime or something.
And there's always been this growing fascination about the White House and the details inside from the furniture to who dined there.
And this new ballroom, to put this into perspective, is almost twice the size of the entire White House.
When you heard about the plans for this new addition in the East Wing, what did you think?
I will be honest, I wasn't that surprised.
I thought like, okay, it's finally happening.
And the size is interesting.
I mean, the White House is truly on a human scale, which I love.
It really reflects America and how our leaders live.
And the White House is the only home really that acts as a home, an office, and a museum that's open for tours, but it is on a human scale.
So when you think about Buckingham Palace or Versailles, they're so much larger.
But I do think it's something that many administrations have been talking about.
I know for sure that the Clinton administration had really recommended to the Bush administration that they consider putting some sort of permanent pavilion up because they really learned to have the numbers of people that they wanted to to entertain.
They were constantly having to do tents on a long.
Well, that's interesting.
So the Clintons recommended to the Bushes that they do exactly this.
Right.
Because you needed this space.
But I think he's literally and figuratively destroying the White House.
Well, I think that's much more important.
Well, I mean, that is interesting, isn't it?
But, you know, the Clintons said, you know, this should definitely be done.
So let's check in on the Clintons.
Oh, here we go.
It's not his house.
It's your house, and he's destroying it.
No, it's not your house, Hillary, because you lost.
It is his house.
It is literally and figuratively his house, not your house.
Short memory, Clinton, here.
Yes.
There we go.
That must be why she forgave Bill.
Yes.
Yes, perhaps.
And actually, the White House has received quite a lot of work.
So, I mean, during the war, the whole inside was gutted because apparently they built the whole thing on sand.
Right.
And it's not great to build big things on sand, apparently.
There's a metaphor there, isn't there?
Yes.
The Wallace DC is literally in a swamp.
Yes.
So DC is literally built on a swamp.
It's terrible.
So when Trump said he was going to drain the swamp, everyone presumed he meant combat corruption, but he actually means shore up that infrastructure.
Yeah, it's quite possible.
Yeah, so they had to strip it out apart from the outer shell of that residence bit and then put in steel frames and proper foundations and stuff.
Construction experts can let us know in the comments.
So yeah, there we are.
Bit of foundation so the bloody thing doesn't sink.
So yes, there's been quite a lot of major additions that have come along.
And I wanted to run through them to just show how ridiculous this is.
And you'll catch the theme of this quick enough.
So Jefferson, he added colonnades and landscaping.
And that makes sense because he himself was an architect.
Roosevelt added the West Wing, which makes sense because he was a bureaucrat.
Taft added the Oval Office, which does make sense because he was an administrator.
FDR added a pool, which does make sense because he was in a wheelchair and he needed it for the physical therapy stuff.
Truman added a balcony, which makes perfect sense because he's a Midwestern man.
Of course, Midwestern men love standing on their balcony.
Nixon added a press room, which makes sense because he's a media conscious president.
Carter added solar panels, which makes sense because he's an environmentalist.
Reagan added a theater, which makes sense because he's a Hollywood actor.
You get the flow of this, don't you?
You do the next one, Josh, because I feel like I've been talking too long.
I've got to find it first.
I'll read it out.
I've got it, I've got it, I've got it.
Okay, Obama added a basketball court, basketball court, because he's a black guy.
That's what it says here in Dan's lists.
Well, you didn't have to read it, you racist.
It is true.
Well, it might also be true.
Yes, and I'll help you out the next one.
Feresh you can do this one.
Biden added an autopen desk.
Why did he do that?
Because he was the Autopen president and his portrait in the White House is represented by the Autopen.
Yes.
Was he also a fraud and a forger?
Yes.
Yes.
I would have said because he's senile, but yeah, all of those make sense.
And Trump is adding a ballroom, a big project, and that makes sense to me because he is a developer.
Right.
BBC, hot on the case.
They asked the question, is Trump allowed to demolish part of the White House to build a ballroom?
Do we have any constitutional experts on the panel?
Is the president of the United States allowed to make changes to his own house?
Yes.
I can't see how it would not be allowed.
I don't understand.
Yes, well, that's good enough for me, so we won't have to watch the BBC verify video.
Thank you.
Yeah, if every single president can make an addition, one can presume one can demolish a small part of it and build something else.
Yes, quite right.
Quite right.
So that answer is good enough for me.
Oh, no, I'll tell you what.
What is that?
What is that?
I'll give you a clue.
Let's go all the way back to where we started.
Where do we start?
We started with Gavin Newsome.
Yes.
Governor of California.
Trump doesn't.
He's literally destroying the White House.
Now, let's go back to the picture I just put up if I can find it again.
That is.
That seems like a photo from the 70s or 80s.
No, that is the Capitol Annex Replacement Project in California.
Yeah.
I thought it looked like California.
And you say it's an old photo.
It's literally Gavin Newsom's residence.
Yes, that was taken in 2021.
Ah.
And involved tearing down the 1950 annex behind the domed Capitol building that you see there and being replaced with new modern offices, visitor complex, and an area to house the governor.
Interesting.
Now, the difference is, is Trump's project is 250 million of privately raised money.
Right.
This project that you see before you here is 1.1 billion of taxpayers' money.
1.1 billion.
Yes.
Seriously?
Yes.
An extraordinary amount of money.
Well, if he's going to be staying there, certainly Newsom wants it to be absolute pucker.
Well, presumably he also wants to pass some money to his friends.
I mean, the extent of corruption is legendary.
Everything they do in California enriches Gavin Newsom's friends.
I'm sure there is contracts to be awarded this.
Isn't he also related to Pelosi somehow?
Aren't Newsom and Pelosi related?
Yes, they're related.
I know that.
They're related.
Try and figure it out.
I'm relatively sure that I think it's Newsom who's related to Pelosi.
I just find it interesting.
Second cousin twice removed from musician Joanna Newsome.
There you go.
And aunt Barbara Newsom and married to Ron Pelosi.
There we go.
Right.
Okay.
Slightly lose connection, but very distant.
Somebody's putting a poll in the chat.
We ignore that for now.
Actually, the plans for the White House have been quite grand.
So this is from 1912, and this was a proposal to turn the White House into the White Palace.
Aha.
I think they should have gone with it, to be honest.
It looks quite cool, doesn't it?
It looks really nice.
It looks very 19th century, which is only a positive.
Like that little pavilion at the front there reminds me a little bit of almost like some of the great big greenhouses you get in London that they built with the Victorians.
I mean, this is more fitting for the seat of the head of state of a country like America, something like this sort of palace.
So they really should have done it.
And if they can't do that now, and if you don't like the glass thing at the front and you want to make some changes, Trump ought to really just...
He ought to just go for it.
Why not?
Crazy.
Why not?
Go big or go home.
But my point here essentially is that the reason I bring this up as an example is that the way it works is not that you do something outrageous and then people get outraged.
The point is, there is a fixed and constant flow of outrage.
Yes.
And irrespective of what you do, if you do something really, really outrageous, there's still going to be that fixed amount of outrage.
If you do nothing at all, or just quite mundane things like get a bit of building work done, you're still going to get that same flow, fixed amount of outrage.
They've decided that they want to lose it every time Trump does anything.
And that decision has been made and established.
Yes.
And it doesn't really matter what it is that Trump does or doesn't do.
They're still going to lose it in equal.
They're still equally going to lose it even when he does something good or bad.
Yes.
The quality of the topic is of absolutely no relevance.
Yes.
And this kind of really is my key point.
If you're going to get the outrage anyway, and this performative, you know, screeching outrage for doing something mundane, you might as well spend all of your time doing the most radical things possible.
Yeah.
I mean, just lining up and shooting all of the antifur, you know, and the bad judges.
And, you know, just do all of it.
Look at the now the whole Trump team is on Blue Sky and all they're doing on Blue Sky is literally shit posting.
Yes.
With the explicit objective of driving the left more insane.
And if you look at how they're replying to journalists, I mean, one journalist asked a question about one thing or the other, and the reply was, your mom.
Yeah, very good.
It was, you know.
Oh, he asked who suggested Budapest.
Are you aware that in 1994, this and that happened in Budapest, and that's a great betrayal?
And the answer was, your mom did.
And then a second press officer replies with, your mom.
Very good.
And but this is actually bad because the political discourse has completely collapsed.
Well, it is Blue Sky, though.
Nobody takes it seriously.
No, no, no.
This was like a sort of person, like a person.
Genuine, genuine journalist sending an email to the appropriate officers, blah, blah, blah.
Rather than a shit post on Blue Sky.
Then they posted it on social media just to sort of emphasize the point.
Right.
But political dialogue in the United States does not exist between the two parties.
No.
It's one side of the corner.
Well, it always used to be the left hated us and then we sucked up to them.
Yes.
But Trump has just changed that.
He's like, no, we hate them too.
Yes.
Let's just own it.
Well, the thing is, criticism is like currency, isn't it?
If you inflate it, it becomes increasingly worthless.
Correct.
Correct.
I also wanted to talk about the other reason that I really like this, why I really, really like it.
And I'm going to ask Eric Cartman to explain it for me.
Before that, I am talking about the oldest threat to America, the greatest enemy America has ever known.
you can't possibly mean.
So, so, so what I like, and I've gotten in so many ways, So what I like about this most is that it is reminding everybody of this.
First, Trump's mob attacked the Capitol for the first time since 1812.
Well, I mean, it wasn't actually Trump's mob that attacked in 1812.
I mean, I'm sure that...
Yeah.
Well, no, they were us.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
Under the British MP.
And now Trump is doing more damage to the White House than the British did in 1814.
So yes, any opportunity to remind the Americans that the British and the Americans have only ever gone to war once and we won it and we burnt down your White House, that for me is a good day.
So thank you, President Trump, for all your good works.
Yeah.
I was thinking more along the lines of how to bring them back into the empire as opposed to that.
Well, one of two things should happen.
One, they should end this silly independence thing, or two, we should join them as a 51st state.
I don't mind which, as long as we reunite the Anglosphere.
Either option is fine to me.
I've been talking about reuniting the Anglosphere for a decade, and I have friends who can testify.
And by the way, if they do rejoin the British Empire, I'd be perfectly content with them supplying Baron Trump as a king.
That would also be an acceptable action.
I mean, we could get Australia involved.
We could get India, sorry, Canada involved.
Yes.
I mean, Canada would need sort of flushing out first, then it can come back.
We can introduce some infrastructure.
It'll be fine.
Yes.
Right.
The use of flushing there was simply artistic.
Oh, I'm supposed to do comments.
I'm saying I'm dumb in the chat.
I bet it's an American, that pristine aura, whatever it is.
I've got my eyes on you.
Right.
Oh, yes, we have got comments.
Chris says, I haven't paid any attention to the Q-tards in a long while, but I know based on this, they would be posting something about secret tunnels and the plan.
Yes, you got to.
When you're doing the when you're doing the foundations, you've got to check for Yiddish coming out of the floor, haven't you?
So Ian Thomas, the Clintons stole the W key from the keyboard.
Yes, they did as well.
This is actually true.
Yes.
They took the W one of the keyboards just to mess with George W. Bush.
It was inspired.
That was funny.
Well, I thought that was a good idea.
Objectively, that's funny.
The left used to have something.
It wasn't Obama's people took it, not the Clintons.
No, no, no.
It was Clinton, then Bush, then Obama.
Yes, no.
Meaning that it must have been the Clinton.
Yeah, fine.
George Lloyd says perhaps an all-glass White House will be great for the government transparency.
Yes, that'd be interesting.
I mean, especially if Bill Clinton gets back in again on the show.
And the week says the East Wing was built after a division to the diversion to the mask, the construction of the Presidential Emergency Operations Centre bunker built beneath it in 1942, which will remain.
And the Hapsification says our Zut has become a meme and taken down on loafers of its own.
That guy must have been our Zut then.
Yeah, and somebody said, I like this.
Somebody says Britannia rules the waves.
Yes.
Very good.
Okay.
I think I have finally found the dumbest thing ever created.
And I know there's been a lot of competition over the years, and I think that this well might be it.
So this is a map of the world's indigenous peoples designed by.
I'm going to butcher this, but I don't care because she doesn't deserve respect.
Babna Banerjee, I think.
Babner Banerjee.
If you say that three times in front of a mirror, who knows what comes up?
And published by the Visual Capitalist, whose graphics I've actually used before and have sometimes been okay.
And it was based on data from the International Work Group of Indigenous Affairs.
What is this?
Is this one of those IQ maps or something?
No.
You might be remiss to believe that, but with China having the darkest colour here, but also, may I remind you, India is also a similar colour, and that can't be true.
But anyway, yes, it's just one map.
That's true.
But this represents the prevailing view of indigeneity that many people have been trying to propagate.
And I think that this view that some people are more worthy of being considered indigenous than others is actually quite politically pernicious and actually a very important thing to nail down.
And so although I'm talking about the map, I'm talking about this broader thing as well, which is actually very, very important because, of course, if you're not considered indigenous, it's easier to disenfranchise you in your own country.
But I mean, superficially, it seems to make sense.
I mean, yes, there are indigenous people all over the place.
The only question I've got is what's going on with Europe there?
We will get to that, don't worry.
So my thingy doesn't work.
Oh.
Sorry.
Would you like to do a little trick?
Thank you.
I thought you'd never ask.
Here we are.
Here's a bit more of a zoomed in view so we can see it a little bit better.
So you might notice at the top left there, it mentions that indigenous peoples has no official definition by the UN, and yet it is using data from organizations like the UN to do this.
And so it doesn't really make sense.
They're treating it.
Oh, sorry, go ahead.
Sorry, modern understanding of traits, including self-identification.
I mean, that sort of settles it, right?
Yes.
I'm indigenous to Britain and South Africa.
I've decided.
I self-identify as indigenous.
I think it's within how each country deals with it internally.
So there's no standardized thing.
So each nation might have a different policy.
So what this map actually is showing is ethnic minorities, because, of course, China, the Han Chinese...
The ethnic majorities.
No, ethnic minorities.
Like, look at China.
It's not a population of 125 million, of course, because the Han Chinese are 1.4 billion people and are indigenous to parts of China.
Yet they list their 125 million, which is the number of minorities in China.
And of course, they're conflating the categories of these indigenous minorities as well.
They could be colonized indigenous peoples, like, say, the Navajo.
You have to be indigenous and a minority at the same time to go on the map.
It seems like it, even though, of course, you can also be an indigenous majority.
But funnily enough, you know, countries like Poland, which is 97% ethnic Polish, and they have ancestry in that area that stretches thousands of years, is not mentioned.
It's funny that, isn't it?
Because actually, at the bottom of this graphic, it has countries with the largest share of indigenous peoples, and it's got Greenland.
Well, surely Poland should be higher than that, because it's like 97%.
Are there actually indigenous people on Greenland?
Apparently.
Are Germans not Germany?
Apparently not.
I mean, British.
They're always told that their ancestors came from Germany somehow.
But just Europe is just not a problem.
Even in Anatolia, the Greeks there are not acknowledged as an indigenous minority to the Turkish invaders.
But there are also other groups here.
There are tribal groups like the North African Berbers you can see here in North Africa and ethno-linguistic minorities as well.
Mentions, I think it mentions the Basques and the like, which of course are native, but they're just a minority.
Who are the 300,000 indigenous in Israel?
I would imagine that might be the Palestinians.
I don't know.
There's much more than 300,000.
I don't know.
How did that one go?
Why does India only have 104 million indigenous people?
I don't understand either.
It makes no sense, does it?
Like, the more you look at this, the more it is insane.
Like, Israel, for example, like, it's not the Israelis and it's not the Palestinians that are being represented there.
It's not the Sumerians who have a very strong claim.
Not the Sumerians, the Samaritans, I mean.
But do not number 300,000.
The number may be...
Is it possible there's 300,000 Romans still in Israel?
Well, they should make contact because then I'll sort of go and join the crusade.
But I'm not aware.
But many people have pointed out of Arian Stelios here that Europeans must have descended from the heavens, apparently.
Like the elves in Lord of the Rings.
They just come from over the seas, the immortal lands.
And Harry replied exactly what I wanted to, but shortly before I posted it, this, but unironically, yes.
And let's go back to the map, shall we, and look at what it says about Europe, because it's a little bit silly.
I'll zoom in a bit here.
So it talks about the Sami of Finland, and they arrived in Scandinavia from the east starting around 500 BC.
It's worth mentioning that the ancestors of Scandinavians began settling around there 12,000 years ago following the end of the last ice age.
So actually, they're sort of colonizers, aren't they?
By this time.
Aren't the Celts older than 500 BC?
Aren't the Celtic peoples older than 500 BC?
The Germanic peoples that went to colonize Scandinavia as well, much older.
They don't get a mention?
Nope.
It's funny that, isn't it?
The Inuit in Greenland arrived 300 years after Europeans as well.
They mentioned Greenland there.
Greenland's total inhabitants, 89%, are the Greenland Inuit, mostly referred to as Kalalut.
Is being non-white a prerequisite to being indigenous?
I think you might be onto something here.
And don't worry, I'll reveal who's behind all of this sort of stuff, the data and the construction of this sort of thing.
And it will all make sense.
Are the people behind it counted amongst those 300,000?
No.
Right.
They're counted amongst the 104.0 million, or at least the nation that represents it.
But I'll get to that, don't worry.
So there's also, yes, no mention of the Greek minority in Turkey, as I mentioned before.
They also seem to focus on people here who've had some form of colonial rule, yet they mention the Basques and the Crimean Tatars, which doesn't really fit with this.
They're just minorities in an ethnic majority area, sure.
But that doesn't make any sense.
Aren't the Crimean Tatars descended from the Mongols?
I think so, yeah.
So they're actual invaders.
But they're indigenous?
Apparently so.
I didn't realise Mongolia was so close.
I'm losing my mind here.
I don't understand.
It's very confusing, this.
It's almost like it doesn't make any sense.
But let's go to Asia and Australia, shall we?
Well, that's a good idea.
Because this, I think, is actually the most insane part of the map, if you know your history.
So one thing I immediately noticed is the segregation of Papua New Guinea there.
So one part is indigenous and one part is not.
The part that is indigenous is the part that was colonized by Indonesia, but the part that hasn't been colonized and is its own independent nation is not indigenous.
And these are, of course, tribes that still use bow and arrows to this day.
So here is...
I think there should be another link there, Samson.
But anyway, here's the Indonesian military.
And they're a modern military.
They've taken West Papua.
It was formerly Dutch, of course, a Dutch colony, and it's granted to Indonesia, which was also a Dutch colony in 1962.
It'll be this one I've got there, Samson.
And there's been multiple attempts to basically ethnically replace the Papuans.
And so the fact that they're recognizing the Indonesian side as indigenous and not the Papuan is antithetical to their own objectives here.
Here we are.
So according to this map, these people are indigenous.
Right.
But the people on the right are not.
Why are they wearing potatoes on their willies?
I don't know.
I suppose when you're in a jungle and there's lots of things that are bitey and lots of sharp plants, it might be good to have a bit of protection.
Yeah, but rather going to the effort of maybe they're carved antlers rather than going to the effort of carving a bit of antler, which must have taken bloody days to protect your Johnson, why not invest that time in just making clothes?
It's very hot, though, I suppose.
Also, I feel like there's a little bit of exaggeration going on.
I don't think they need all of that, do they?
But they're just making themselves look silly, to be honest.
You think they look a little bit silly?
Well, yeah, I think my opinion is that they look very foolish indeed.
You're not wrong.
But anyway, thanks for getting that up, Samson.
So here's the modern Indonesian military.
And let's have a look at the Papuan rebels that are fighting the Indonesians.
You can see, sure, they've got some pretty fancy guns, but also there's some proper tribespeople with bows and arrows.
Well, also, they've captured that poor white chap.
Yeah, they killed him.
So they're not good people either, by the way.
Aren't they famous for, among other things, cannibalism?
Yes, the Papua New York Times.
Some Papua New Guinea.
Some Papua New Guinean tribes do eat people, yes.
Yes, they are some of the worst people in the world.
So there are conflicts in the world where there are no good people and bad people, just bad people.
There is one good person.
He got eaten.
I don't know whether they ate him, but they definitely killed him.
It's horrible.
Their justification was that he was flying a helicopter, ferrying people around.
And because it was an active war zone, they're like, this is a war zone, therefore you must be a spy and we're going to kill you.
I think their justification is the same as the people who made the map.
I would say so.
Yes.
But of course, the divide is very arbitrary.
There are lots of different language groups here and ethnicities and tribes.
And so just having a straight line from the middle doesn't make sense and is missing the history of the area.
We can also go back to this map and look at Australia and New Zealand.
So the Maori ancestors arrived in New Zealand from East Polynesia between 1320 and 1350.
So of course, long after many Europeans had been in their lands for thousands of years, as well as many Middle Eastern countries there as well.
Like the Egyptians apparently are not indigenous for some reason.
Also, if you're from Madagascar, no, apparently not.
Also, is that Somalia, they're not indigenous for some reason.
Who knows?
I mean, the Hindu angle suggests that they decided to treat the Muslims all as invaders everywhere.
Yes.
Which might be a little bit of an oversimplification because a lot of them are actually converts from whatever they were before.
So Saudi Arabia, you know, I don't think Saudi Arabia has changed that much in thousands of years, ethnically speaking.
One of the least changed places in the world.
Yeah, exactly.
So it's very similar.
Arguably, the Gulf is the least demographically changed place in the world.
In the Middle Ages, did their princes not marry European girls?
You're confusing them with the Turks.
Oh, right.
So Australia did not exist as a nation until Britain colonised it.
Of course, the Aboriginals were still living in the Stone Age.
And so Australia has been entirely created by people who migrated there of European stock.
Of course, you've got some migration from other parts of the world these days.
But here's a graphic of what Australia used to look like under Aboriginal rule.
These were all the different nations.
I think it's fair to say that Australia was built by European settlers because this is not modern Australia, is it?
Not in any way.
And I mean, you're talking about people who were literally living in the Stone Age.
Exactly.
It's ridiculous.
They have a political claim that they can't even articulate.
It's just weird.
And also, it's sort of a strange thing to describe Aboriginal Australians as Australians, because as we can see here, they had separate tribes, and Australia is an invention of the evil white man, is it not?
As a concept, because this is their original tribal areas, right?
So to call them Australian in the first place is strange.
I didn't realise there was so many.
I just thought there was just like one lot and they wandered around and stuff.
I didn't realise they had their little nations.
So the only way they could have got to that nation as a very strong tribes, not nations.
Tribes.
But the only way they could have got to that point by having these very defined, identifiable territories, is by incessant border warfare.
Yes.
That's what happened.
Right.
As did with the Native Americans.
It was good with Papua New Guinea, which are still ongoing.
Yes, of course.
So they were killing each other quite commonly then.
Yes.
Right.
There are reports of people having large scars all over their body and things like that, and they used to ritualistically scar each other on purpose.
I never remembered learning about that at school.
That is interesting.
So it's also just missing the nuance.
So here is an ethnic Tasmanian.
You may notice they look similar to someone from another part of the world.
Here is an ethnic Aboriginal.
You can see a difference in the hair in particular, can't you?
I could have sworn I saw that second guy when I was walking through Swindon earlier.
I think he might be about to this day.
He's got a long life, that fella.
But they look a little bit different, don't they?
Yes, because they're different ethnicities.
But according to this map, they're all the same.
There's no nuance here.
But anyway, back to the map.
Let's talk about China, shall we?
They present it as some sort of multi-ethnic success story here.
They say China recognizes 55 ethnic nationalities in addition to the Han Chinese majority who form 92% of their population, which is true.
They also constitute the largest ethnic group in the world.
So this is sort of skirting over something that the Han Chinese are from a very specific area of China.
And the borders of modern-day China are not the borders of China before.
And of course, it doesn't necessarily look at that part, although it does talk about the ethnic minorities.
You can talk about the suppression of the Uyghur Muslims in the, I suppose it would be the Xingzhang province in the farm.
Exactly, yeah.
And here's all the different peoples here unified under the Chinese banner.
But what it ultimately is, is a dictatorship by the Han Chinese, isn't it?
Where did the Han start off?
Are they the Red Bits?
I'll show you that in a second.
So, of course, Tibet is a great example of where they've subsumed territory and they're interfering in it in a way that is undermining their ethnic minorities, right?
To be completely fair, modern Chinese rule is much better than traditional Buddhist rule.
The Chinese have got their act together.
To be completely fair.
I must say, I once had a look at Chinese history and decided I'd want to stop looking because it is utterly horrendous.
Yes, it's speaking of which, here's the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Yes.
And you can see that it does not occupy all of modern-day China.
But you can also see that these are various warlords.
I know this period of history very well.
But you can see that even in ancient times, they're slowly conquering both each other and surrounding areas as well.
By the means of brutal butchery.
Oh, yeah, it was one of the most violent periods in Chinese history.
Like, it was warlords fighting each other endlessly.
And you can slowly see them expanding.
Like, you can see the Zhongnu there.
They're basically the sort of Mongols or sort of horse archer nomad people.
And the green bit, the Han, they're the ones who basically won it all in the end.
Well, Liu Bei, who was leading the Shuhan, was actually up in the northeast in the more Hannic areas, and he migrated down there in a sort of colonial expansion.
But in the novels and in the history as well, they expand south to the Nanman areas, which are basically South, which is a different ethnicity.
Yeah, they got taken over.
Spoiling an excellent book here.
Hang on.
How can the Han have taken over all of China?
They lost that bit.
Because they still called themselves the Han people, but it was the Jin Empire.
Because they're still the Han people to this day, right?
So back to the map again.
Let's have a look at the Middle East Africa and the Americas.
So I think the Americas is probably one of the fairer ones here.
They're saying, you know, there were Native Americans there, and you had natives before the Spanish went to Mexico and South America.
However, I think Brazil's a bit of a conflation because there are lots of different peoples there.
I mean, it's a lot more diverse, dare I say, than they're presenting it.
And indigenous just means who's politically useful to us, right?
Yes.
And then we can also look at Africa and, of course, the Bantu expansion.
Interesting that where the Bantu expansion started in West Africa, they're not indigenous.
But this is where they migrated and colonized the rest.
So they've got all of Africa here, you know, particularly these parts, still being colonized by Bantus today in South Africa.
They've got their own native ethnicities.
I mean, if anyone's going to pay reparations, it really should be the Bantu.
I know.
That's what I facetiously pointed out.
And you cannot believe the number of Africans who are calling me like pink skin and pig skin and the like.
And I was just like, listen, I'm doing this to point out the absurdity of calling for reparations in Britain.
I don't actually care what you do.
Do what you want.
So, any last thoughts about this map before I reveal who's behind it?
Well, I just think it's underbolts, to be honest.
It is, yeah, of course, it is.
What about the Middle East for us?
I mean, they don't count anybody in Lebanon as indigenous, which is kind of weird because Lebanon is mentioned in the Bible probably more than any other country, maybe comparable to Egypt.
Nobody else is mentioned more frequently than Lebanon.
And the Lebanese have been there forever.
And that's who they are.
Maybe they're just too light-skinned or something.
I don't know what it is.
I don't understand what's the grievance here.
Syria and Iraq are mentioned there.
I have no idea what they're thinking, but it's been a like Damascus is probably one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, probably the oldest still-inhabited city in the world.
So, the idea that it's all non-native is a bit misunderstands how Islamic expansion misunderstands Islamic expansion fundamentally.
And the whole story there is just a series of absurdities.
I mean, the Sudanese, are they indigenous?
Aren't they indigenous?
I don't know, and I don't care.
But Sudan literally means the land of the blacks.
Like, it's supposed to be Sudanistan.
It split means Arabic.
It split from Sudan to South Sudan along ethnic lines as well.
Yes, very much so.
Or like slightly, yes, to a large extent.
None of this seems to make any sense.
I mean, Saudi Arabia, so the western part of Saudi Arabia is very ethnically mixed because everybody from the Muslim world sort of had people go to Hajj and stay.
But the center of Saudi Arabia is very, very indigenous.
The east is also slightly mixed with some Persians and Indians and thrown into it.
This whole thing is just very, very strange.
Also, are the Afghanis not indigenous there?
Also, Iran, the Persians mentioned by the ancient Greeks even before the Bible was written.
There you go.
Not indigenous to Iran.
The whole thing is just absurdity on absurdity.
Of course, lots of African nations there, not apparently native.
That's interesting.
I guess we don't need to feel bad about the slave trade and colonialism because they're invaders as well, it turns out.
Well, that's nice to know.
They mentioned some parts of Nigeria, which is a Niger.
Very strange.
Well, I am keen to find out who's behind it then.
Okay.
So.
Here is the Visual Capitalist who published it.
This was all the way back in March of 2023, but it's only just started circulating now, and everyone's getting angry at it.
So apparently, it was by Planet Anomaly, which is interesting.
I'm not entirely sure about that.
Who counts as a planet anomaly?
I don't know.
Oh, wait.
It's this person.
Is this person again?
So under a pseudonym, apparently.
But let's have a look at who she is, shall we?
Here she is.
I think she might be from the Indian subcontinent, as a little bit of a guess.
So the Indian subcontinent is a planetary anomaly.
Apparently, so.
Right.
You learn something every day, don't you?
And the thing that I found interesting about this was this part of what I cover.
I seek out underrepresented voices and emerging perspectives on the climate crisis with a particular focus on public health, migration and displacement, and environmental justice.
And I found something else on Inside Climate News.
She is based in Stanford, California.
It's all coming together.
Hang on.
So this entire thing is that meme.
Let me tell you about your country and why it includes me.
Yes.
Yes, it is.
Oh, I get it now.
Yes, I get it now.
And it was based on data from this organization, the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, which is, as it describes, it's an NGO that you bet that it's UN-funded.
Yes, it is.
Ties in very nicely with the liberal global order, doesn't it?
And it also describes itself as a global human rights organization, which is about as liberal NGO as it could possibly sound.
So it's as honest as it could be because it's clearly based on the distinction between two categories of human beings, those whose political claims we accept and label indigenous, and those whose claims we do not accept and label colonizers.
Well the interesting thing is, someone actually reached out to me when I said I was going to cover this on the podcast and they said, you do realize that the UN can give you special treatment and funding if you register as indigenous, but it's just that the UK government in the 1980s didn't want to do it and has resisted it since.
But in theory, a government on our side could register the British people as indigenous and get special privileges from the UN to protect us.
That would be one hilarious way of breaking the system.
It would be, wouldn't it?
Yes.
And if anyone's watching that can make that happen, please do.
And of course, you can do this for your own countries as well, the UN.
There is a lot of funds and loopholes to exploit there.
They're normally used against us, but why not use it against us?
I want to hear the argument why the Germans aren't indigenous to Germany.
I want to hear somebody argue that.
You know, all of recorded history says there's this bunch of barbarian tribes beyond the Rhine waging war against everybody and nobody can touch them.
But actually, they're not indigenous.
Yeah, it's absurd, isn't it?
I want to hear that argument.
And of course, they were also funded by the World Bank.
Yes, this also makes sense.
Which is unsurprising.
And fundamentally, different countries use vastly different criteria for recognizing indigeneity, you know, legal recognition, self-identification, ancestry, and linguistic heritage.
And therefore, these sorts of things of data, as well as their agenda, basically makes maps like this completely obsolete.
You can't trust NGOs because they have their own agendas and they don't want to represent this.
Honestly, the truth is that there are many people that were not featured on this map that are indigenous, and there are many people on the map who are featured who have a much weaker claim to indigeneity.
So it's absurd.
And if you have a good understanding of history, you can combat these sorts of things.
Good stuff.
You want to read a couple of your comments?
Sorry, that went on a bit longer than I intended.
Oh, it's fine.
We have some time.
Okay.
Let's have.
The Shadow Band says, you joke that Europeans descended from the heavens, but in Anglo-Saxon chronicles, many royal families are descendants of Wodan, meaning a lot of Europeans are very slightly demigods.
It all makes sense now.
Bullet market is a lot more than slightly.
You've got 100% of your ancestry from British Isles.
It's just Woden all the way down.
I've got 1.2% Germanic.
I put that down to my slightly more orderly ways, you know, rule following.
Good at queuing and stuff, yes Manjik says the East Wing was built Oh no, we've already read that one And YouTube comments, do we have any new ones?
I don't know which one.
Yes, we do.
Do you want me to start in here?
They still fight over shit thousands of years ago when there are stories of mobs that are still fighting with each other to this day.
That's very true.
Correct.
They're still fighting on those islands.
Luke Stewart says, G'day.
I thought white people were made by magnets from a black guy with two brains.
Also, mob is the term they use for an Aboriginal tribe, family, clan.
That's good to know.
Thank you for the money from down under.
Normal man, nice name.
It's weird that people like the Basques and Armenians are left off the map when they have histories longer than all native groups in North America combined.
Yes.
That is true.
Wuxia Games Central says, since the King of England is recognising and giving back ancestral land, can us Gaels get Alba back?
I mean, you've also got a complicated situation because you've got, you know, the Gaels and the Scotty and the Caledonians.
I mean, I've got a lot of ancestry from Scotland and it's from all over, you know, the Scottish Isles and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
And so you've got a messy situation of your own there.
Interesting stuff.
So let's move on to Germany, the European economy, and the lovely way in which Ukraine and the United States are absolutely wrecking Europe.
So starting off, I think this is from late, let's see, this is in September of this year.
We heard that there were going to be 3,500 layoffs at Volkswagen, 40,000 at Mercedes, Audi, Ford, Daimler.
So basically, pretty much every major German industrial group is laying off stuff.
And this is very obviously one of the consequences of the collapse in or of sort of the explosion in energy prices that has been happening in Europe.
And the direct cause of that explosion in energy prices is the Ukraine war.
The European economy depended on Russian gas, no Russian gas, much higher energy costs, higher energy costs, manufacturing loses competitiveness, especially at a time when China is more and more competitive because its economies of scale keep on growing.
Germany is just such an amazing case study in self-destruction.
Yes, absolutely.
They came out of the Second World War, and yes, there was a bit of Argybargi then, but they had coal.
Yes.
And they thought, okay, well, we need to diversify into nuclear.
And from the eastern half, they had a lot of Russian oil flow, Russian cheap energy flowing into the eastern half.
So after reading UE unification, they had to think about this and said, well, let's get rid of the coal because that's a bit smelly.
So we'll get rid of that.
And so we just have the nuclear and the energy that's flowing in from the USSR connections.
And then they thought about it a bit more and said, right, let's get rid of the nuclear and go all in on Russian energy.
And then they got rid of that as well.
Well, the Americans blew up Nord Stream using Ukrainians.
Yes.
Meaning that energy was crippled.
And VW has been talking about layoffs since last year.
This is from 28 October 2024.
Of course, Germany had such a head start because, you know, following the Industrial Revolution, Germany for a long period of time had some of the most advanced industrial areas in the world.
The whole Rhine Valley, the Ruhr area.
It was ridiculously rich.
Well, and really ruhr, of course.
I mean, a lot of that was sort of power generation.
Yes.
And Germany just shows how you become an industrial superpower.
You get as much cheap, abundant energy as you possibly can.
Yes.
And then you can do stuff.
Especially if you're conscientious like a German.
You can get stuff done.
There is no prosperity without cheap energy and cheap food.
Yes.
Like the keys to prosperity or cheap energy and cheap food.
Who are the enemies as far as the EU, the liberals, and the British government are concerned?
Cheap energy and cheap food.
So basically, this has been a long time suicidal policy, but now it's getting considerably worse.
And you have to remember that after the closures of Volkswagen plants and after the layoffs of Volkswagen plants, there was a political effect.
So in North Rhine-Westphalia, Westphalia, one of the key industrial areas of Germany, that and Lower Saxony, the SPD, which was the traditional strong party in the area, pretty much collapsed.
The center-right, the Christian Democrats did okay, but the AFD tripled its share of the vote from around 5% to around 15%.
And this was the result of this stupid economic policy.
And you see this dissident vote in Germany growing.
And you see, and one of the things that the AFD wants is reconciliation with Russia, reasonably enough, because that is critical to restarting the German economy.
And now they're struggling with electricity costs because they have the higher electricity costs in Europe.
I'm surprised it's not us.
Aside from Britain.
Oh, okay, fair.
Aside from Britain, like in the EU.
Aside from Britain.
And then they decided to, the Europeans decided to seize a Chinese chipmaker that was based in the Netherlands.
But the company was in the Netherlands.
The manufacturing was in China.
Right.
So that she just seized the administrative and marketing bit.
Exactly.
And so the Chinese said, right, we are banning all exports then from the chip maker that you just seized.
Which is a reasonable response, really.
Which is a reasonable response.
And the consequence is that Volkswagen has stopped producing its electric vehicles.
Isn't Germany one of the countries that has an EV mandate?
Yes.
Okay.
Right.
And they are full-on committed to expanding electric vehicles.
And Volkswagen made massive investments.
And in the previous round, in 2004, they announced that they were shutting down three plants.
Now they've shut down another two factories that mainly build electric vehicles because now that the chips from the Chinese are gone, they have to go through the whole testing and configuration of new chips.
And they have no idea how long.
This is just German government all over again, isn't it?
It's like step one, introduce EV mandate.
Step two, launch trade war with China and get all of your EV chips turned off.
Yes.
Well, you're not characterizing this correctly.
Step one, shoot yourself in the foot.
Step two, screw up your foot hurting.
Step three, blame the Russians.
Yes, and then shoot again.
And then shoot again.
Yes.
So in terms of the order of things, first you start by doing an enormously destructive policy, then you complain about the consequences.
That's what you do if you're not.
I remember the first year of the Russia thing where they decided they're going to shut off all the Russian energy.
Yes.
This was even before Nord Stream got blown up.
But they shut off all the Russian energy.
and then it was like, oh shit, how are we going to get through the winter?
And they spent something like, oh, it was a ridiculous, it was like, it was like five trillion euros I don't think that.
They went absolutely insane trying to fill up their storage tanks in the summer of 2020.
It might have been like 800 billion.
It was some enormous number.
I remember at the time, working it out, it would have been enough to build so many nuclear power plants, they could have had basically free energy for the next 30, 40 years.
They basically, they are engaged in industrial sabotage at the behest of the Americans, who are laughing all the way to the back, because every time this kind of thing happens, they end up, firstly, American car companies do better, especially under the tariffs.
And secondly, Europe becomes more dependent on the United States.
Well, now that's the theme of the Ukraine war.
Yes, exactly.
That's been the constant theme of the Ukraine war.
You are damaging your own economies and then you are paying the Americans for the privilege of destroying your own economies.
So I've got to say, as an economist, if I simply looked at the economic data and not any of the narrative, any of the battlefield stuff, I simply looked at the economic narrative, I would be convinced that the Ukraine war was a roar of America against Europe, specifically Germany.
So I've been arguing this since Trump took over, that the policy, in fact, is to consolidate control over Europe more and more effectively.
That the objective of the Trump administration isn't to beat China, it isn't to beat Russia.
Really, the actual objective is to make sure that Europe and Latin America, the parts of the American Empire that must remain parts of the American Empire, are fully under control.
And if you look at what they're actually doing in terms of the trade deals that they're making, the Europeans sign, von der Leyen said that she had no choice but to sign that trade deal, which accepted enormous new American tariffs on Europeans, and had the Europeans commit to buying 750 billion worth of energy from the United States in four years.
I think the total production is something like 200, 300 billion.
So they can't physically buy that much because all of that, a lot of the stuff that's produced is accounted for to sales to other countries.
And they committed to investing 600 billion in the United States.
And now what's changed with the Ukraine war is that the Americans are no longer giving weapons to Ukraine.
The Europeans are buying the weapons and sending them to Ukraine.
So the whole policy is designed to bankrupt Europe.
And the Europeans, because they have Putin derangement syndrome just as badly or twice as badly as they have Trump derangement syndrome, are okay with it.
So that's a good plan.
But it wouldn't work unless the Europeans basically went along with it at every stage.
Which they do because of the Putin derangement syndrome.
Because they think that losing their industry and fighting a war to the last Ukrainian is less damaging than having a coffee with Vladimir Putin.
Because he's Butler, you see.
Yes.
And he's the current year demon as opposed to Hitler, who was the eternal demon.
That's the mindset that's animating them.
I've always had an opinion that a lot of the financial incentive to basically throw taxpayers' money into Ukraine as much as possible is that it's chips on the table for the people calling the shots in Europe to potentially make money for themselves and their friends and allies in other industries or get, you know, hand out contracts and then get favors out of office and the like.
If you want to do this and make money for your friends, some of your friends have to be industrialists.
That must include Volkswagen and Siemens, both of which are getting screwed.
And then you would use these car manufacturers to make tanks instead of cars or armored vehicles or missiles or something.
But if you're bankrupting your actual industries, then even that isn't working.
Oh, I'm sure the way it's going to work is the money is never going to leave the US.
Yes.
Because what happens is the Europeans will take out debt from the United States and then that money will be used for US defense contractors.
The goods will be sent from the US to Ukraine and the cost of it.
So, jobs are being created in the US or being sustained, and the debt and obligation is being created there as well.
And the Europeans are just going to funnel money to the Americans even more so than they already do.
Essentially, I mean, when Trump says you have to pay for protection, that's what's happening.
Yes.
The sensible thing to do is to get cheap Russian energy and build weapons and maybe reduce your freaking welfare bill.
Two-thirds of the people on welfare in Germany are you guessed it, foreigners.
Yes, I can believe that.
So, they could cut their welfare bill by two-thirds just by being a bit nationalistic, but that would remind them of Putin.
Yeah, well, I mean, Germans are weird about nationalism these days.
Yes.
So, the Germans are saying that it wasn't the sanctions on the Chinese company that sort of paralyzed their production, and they're saying that the production, that the pause in production was pre-planned.
I don't think so.
But I like tough sell.
I'm not aware of many factories that decide on short notice that no, no, now we're going to stop producing.
It's a very short-term business strategy, isn't it?
Ideally, you want to produce as much as possible for as much profit as possible.
You'd think so.
I mean, to be fair, the energy cost is probably a bigger factor.
The energy cost, well, if you don't have the chips to put in the car, that's it.
But the energy cost, you have to remember, they say that they are 25 to 50 percent above their targeted costs.
If you're 25 to 50 percent above the cost that you're aiming for, that means that you're going to go broke.
Well, because you can't make any profit.
So, there is a reasonable case to say we're going to shut down production and take the L until we get cheap energy.
Yeah, because I mean, in car manufacturing, that would wipe out the entire profit margin and then some.
Yes, you'd be selling them at a loss every time.
Yes, exactly.
Exactly.
So, they're basically falling apart.
Also, didn't recently, I mean, Volkswagen asked for something like 10 billion to keep going.
Yes, and the German government turned around and said, Okay, well, look, fair enough.
We're going to give 11 billion to Ukraine.
I mean, that's what you're supposed to do.
I think.
Is it?
Well, the Germans would say so, I guess.
And this is Volkswagen that's falling apart.
This isn't any old company.
But he's got the big man's name on it, isn't it?
I mean, that was his.
Exactly.
Yes.
There are two engines to the German economy: Volkswagen and Siemens.
These are the engines of the German economy, and they're sort of interrelated.
So, if Volkswagen does badly, then Siemens is going to sort of suffer, and so are all of the other manufacturers.
We saw that all of the car manufacturers are suffering.
But hold on.
If you're losing both, or if it's not just that these are the engines of the German economy, it's that the German economy is the engine of the European economy.
And you're in a situation where France is facing a debt crisis, which is the second biggest economy in Europe.
And Italy is a basket case, and Spain is a basket case.
Greeks aren't doing too well either.
But they're small and they're manageable.
So there is a scenario where you can bail out Greece as many times as you want to.
There is no scenario where you can bail out France once.
No.
And if German industry falls apart, France will follow.
I mean, they probably can't bail out Spain, let alone France and Germany.
Not a hope in hell.
I should also give an honorable mention to the chemicals industry, which used to be 30% of the German synonymous with their economy, isn't it?
Well, yeah.
More or less.
And the way the chemicals work is you get a whole load of precursors and then an enormous amount of energy and you end up with chemicals.
But the enormous amount of energy is the key thing.
And of course, when the cheap Russian energy was turned off, that just became unviable.
You can't have a chemicals industry without gas.
Yes.
Gas is not just the source of energy, but it's also a major input.
It can be a precursor.
It can be a precursor itself.
Exactly.
It is a precursor itself.
And if you buy that, buy LNG from the Americans, you might as well give up and relocate the plant to America.
And you've promised to invest $600 billion in America.
So Uncle Trump is going to come collecting.
Yes.
This is like the end of a very unfortunate game of monopoly where you're having to mortgage everything over to the person who's got you.
Yes, thanks for that.
In case you haven't watched it, check out our lad's hour from last year.
I like that one.
With a Monopoly game.
Okay.
In case you haven't seen that.
But to add insult to injury and to make everything even worse, Over two days, three refineries, one in Romania, one in Hungary, and one in Slovakia, blew up.
What, within a three-day window.
Within a three-day window.
Within a three-day window.
What a terrible coincidence that is.
And they were all supposedly undergoing maintenance when they blew up.
But they have one thing in common, which is that they all receive Russian energy.
Oh, what a remarkable coincidence.
Yes.
And, well, I think we, I don't think we need to look for foul play here.
I mean, there's a wild set of coincidences.
Yes.
It is completely accidental, I'm sure.
It has nothing to do with the fact that one of them is owned by Luke Oil and the other two receive Russian gas.
And it has nothing to do with the fact that Hungary and Slovenia have been resisting cutting off all Russian energy.
So, nevertheless, I feel they need to ask: was it a Ukrainian team or a US black op team?
Well, if I had to guess, I would say it was Ukrainians on the ground under American command.
Yes, that does make sense.
If I had to guess, because there's no way, I mean, as you pointed out when we were chatting, given the risk of triggering Article 5, like this, there's no way that this would have happened without American authorization.
And so, as the Americans try to put pressure on Russia to end the war on the current front line, which the Russians would never do because the current front line is collapsing and the Ukrainians are falling to bits, they're trying to apply more and more economic pressure by basically stopping Russia from selling its oil, except that oil is a fungible commodity.
And there's no way you can actually stop Russian oil.
If you can't stop the Iranians selling their oil, you cannot stop the Russians selling their oil.
Weren't they sending a lot of their energy to India and then the Indians were reselling it to Europe as well?
Pretty much.
They were finally selling it to Europe.
Now we're just buying Russian oil with an Indian markup.
It's been washed by the Indians.
So what ends up happening here is that they go and sell the oil to the Saudis.
Yes.
And then the Saudis sell it on.
Because the Saudis will always want to help the Russians evade sanctions for a very freaking obvious reason.
If you can sanction Russian oil, you can sanction Saudi oil.
And the Saudis will have zero tolerance for that because that means that the Americans could kill them whenever they want to.
And so every country in the Gulf that is a large exporter of oil has an interest in thwarting the American plan.
And that's exactly what they've been doing.
The Saudis stopped using their own refined oil to sell on their domestic market.
They started refined diesel, sorry, to sell on their domestic market.
They started buying Russian diesel and selling their diesel onto exports.
That makes sense.
Meaning that everybody was paying the Saudis a markup.
Yes, I mean, that makes sense because you can't tell the difference in oil because Saudi crude is quite light and Russian is quite dense.
So there is a difference between them, the quality of the crude.
So if the Saudis stop using their own, we're going to export 100% of that and then we're going to make up the gap with cheap Russian energy.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And the Russians will offer this deal to everybody who produces oil.
And everybody who produces oil will say yes, because if you can sanction Russia, you can destroy Iran, you can destroy Iraq, you can destroy Saudi, the UAE.
All of them are on their heads are on the chopping block next.
So they're all going to help the Russians.
So they're going crazy about India.
The Americans are.
It's important, but it's never going to actually solve the problem.
And if you think about Russia historically, who are the people who have the most ability to endure massive amounts of economic and physical pain and keep going?
Well, it's the Russians.
Well, they did it for 80 years, perfectly fine.
Exactly.
I mean, Kissinger keeps on repeating the point that nobody can bear suffering more than the Russians.
So to think that some economic difficulties are going to stop them is a bit absurd.
All that this is doing is destroying the European economy.
And if the German suffering there, is it?
If the German economy is collapsing and all of a sudden three of the biggest refineries in Europe get blown up, you can imagine that this has a cascading effect because like Hungary, a huge amount of Volkswagen's equipment and products are actually built in Hungary and in Slovenia and in Romania.
That was the benefit of the EU to them.
They could sort of disperse their factories to lower cost centers and Hungary is perhaps one of the biggest ones for them.
So, attacking Hungarian energy means that the impact is felt not just by the Hungarians, but also by German companies.
And if it's felt by German companies, it's felt by the rest of the EU economy.
The weird thing for me in all of this is it's blatantly obvious what's happening here.
Yes.
And so it must be blatantly obvious to the people running Germany and the other EU countries and so on.
It's just nothing they can do about it, is there?
There is a lot they can do about it.
But nothing they're willing to do.
But there's nothing they're willing to do about it.
Because somebody has blackmailed material in all of them.
I mean, we see.
Yes.
I mean, the Rent Boy's story.
It's not an accident, is it?
It's not a, you know.
Is it an accident that they were Ukrainians?
I don't know.
I mean, this is something I've noticed for a long time.
If you are of unpeachable character, such as Mazel and Bo, you get screened out before you even get to run for parliament.
Yes.
You're not allowed to get to the top unless you're the type of person that they've got something on.
Yes.
That is very much the case.
Yes.
And actually, there is plenty that they could get me on.
just didn't bother to look for some reason.
Anyhow, so now European refineries are being treated by the Ukrainians in the same exact way that they're treating Russian refineries.
They're attacking Russian refineries regularly.
The good news is for Europe that these refineries are very robust and tend to be easily repairable or repairable within a manageable timeframe.
But the fact that you're treating European refineries in the same way that you're treating Russian refineries whilst we're giving them money.
Whilst you're giving them money shows the nature of this war and the consequences of this war.
It's been much more destructive to Europe than it is to anybody else.
It makes a lot more sense that Trump did a U-turn about ending the war in Ukraine, doesn't it?
When you realize that carrying it on weakens Europe and increases American power over us.
Somebody sat him down now that he's president and showed him the Area 51 stuff and then said, by the way, it's not actually a proxy war against Russia.
It's a proxy war against Europe.
Yep.
More or less.
And look, we cannot allow anything to happen to the dollar.
Before this was happening, the dollar as a share of international transactions was going like that, and the Euro was going like that.
And it's like, no, that cannot be allowed to happen.
The dollar has to remain sacrosanct.
So if we launch a proxy war against Europe and dress it up as a proxy war against Russia, we can take out the Europeans.
More or less.
More or less.
So yeah, you're paying for these weapons and your refineries are getting bombed in exchange.
And I don't see how this gets resolved in favor of Europe.
Because you have to remember that as the European economy breaks down, one of the key questions is going to be the welfare state.
Well, because you've imported a bazillion Bomalians, when you cut them off welfare, which is going to be the main political demand for anybody who's sane, that you cut the welfare for the foreigners before you do it for the natives, they're going to riot.
And all of your money is going to have been spent trying to fight a land war against Russia, a feat at which Hitler and Napoleon both failed.
And they were both imminently more qualified militarily than anybody running the show right now.
So there is this recklessness involved in this.
And what does Trump do on the back of this?
Well, he imposes more sanctions on the Russians in order to make it harder for everybody else to acquire energy while the Americans get all the cheap energy that they want.
And I would expect the Americans to start slapping Canada now at some point because it's too close to China and to make sure that the Canadians are sending their energy to the Americans as well, bringing down the price for the US further.
Well, there has to be very strong incentives for the Canadians put in place, otherwise they could trade with Europe because they can produce a fair amount of energy themselves.
Well, most of their assets are geared towards the other side of the world, which is why slapping them around and blowing up some of their stuff might convince them to redirect it.
The Canadis have become too close to the Chinese, essentially.
And this whole story of them cozying up to Europe, I mean, they don't have a military.
So they're going to be punched in the face in the same way that Europe is being punched in the face as part of this American consolidation.
This is the actual story here.
Whatever residual sovereignty Europe has is being ripped to shreds.
And it's not like even being good vassals helped them.
Because they're still being good vassals and still getting screwed.
Yes.
Yes.
And all of this is intended to stop a situation where the Germans and the Russians say, let's split Central Europe between us and stop fighting.
Which would arguably be the best thing possible for the peoples of Central Europe.
Like, you take the Orthodox, we'll take the Catholics and the Protestants and be done with it.
Which is how Europe used to work.
Could work like that again, though.
Say again.
It could work like that again, though.
It could work like that.
White people with the right political will.
Yes.
We can turn this around.
Yes.
It can be turned around.
So, yeah, that's Ukraine punching you in the face again.
A bit unfortunate, really, isn't it?
Yes.
Very interesting, but very depressing.
Yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
Sorry, Samson.
You have the mouse.
Oh, we have a bunch of video comments.
Let me quickly go through the comments here and then we do the video comments.
JM Denton, remember the German UN delegation haughtily laughing at Trump for saying they'd be in trouble for their energy management?
Yes.
What is even more surprising is the Germans saying nothing about Nord Stream getting blown up.
Yes.
I mean, seriously.
They knew who did it, didn't they?
Exactly.
Everybody knows who did it.
The Bain says the energy crisis is just the WEF plan.
The net zero policy is just a way to make us all poor and dependent on governments, own nothing and be happy.
Yes.
Yes.
It ties in nicely with it, but I think it's more a symptom of the Americans gaining an advantage over Europe, which, you know, you look at history and they've never been averse to doing that, you know, and not having a go at America.
It's just an observation.
It's how empire works, really.
It is, yeah.
Luke Stewart says: the thing about the magnets creating white people is from the story of Yacoub who wanted to destroy his people from the nation of Islam.
It's wild.
I know about this.
These guys are crazy.
It's a fantastic story.
Hilarious.
Is this a similar situation in Germany to what caused the rise of the Austrian man?
Look, all of the West is being pushed in this direction.
I think in many ways, things are worse now than in Weimar, Germany.
Wait till the inflation properly hits.
I know, yeah.
Wait till it's properly hits.
Culturally certainly things are worse.
When this country's currency collapses, when the Euro collapses, then you'll start seeing some nasty things.
Commander Strider says, I want to feel bad for them, but the more I learn about how we were being screwed over in trade with Europe, the harder I find that you care.
Yeah, the trade system was completely unfair, but then the answer to that isn't blowing up all of European industry.
I mean, presumably, you're going to need the Europeans to fight against somebody at some point, and they need to be able to produce some of their own weapons.
One of the things that I think about quite a lot is: obviously, Europe and America are allies, and we're sort of not the closest allies in some ways, particularly the continental Europeans.
Britain tends to be a little bit closer to America.
Yes.
Obviously, you know, there are many reasons for that.
But you'd think that if you want to incentivize people to come over to your side in a sort of geopolitical sense, surely you want to make the benefits of being an ally as good as possible whilst, you know, being an adversary as disincentivized as well.
I think the vassal.
I think vassals had way more honor.
Possibly.
I think vassals, genuine vassals, had way more way more.
What did Dracula call Renfield?
I mean, that relationship is probably a bit more.
Ah, yes.
I know what you're looking at.
I don't know, something like that.
Yeah.
The Bane says, don't forget the thousands of missing children from Ukraine, probably trafficked and used in blackmail.
Quite possibly.
Shall we go to the video comments?
Yes, we've got a whole bunch of those, haven't we?
Thank you.
Yeah, those No King protests are very embarrassing.
I've got some very soft Republican leanings, particularly with our current king.
So, you know, I was already somewhat on side with the concept, but it was just lame, wasn't it?
It's just an anti-Trump thing.
I'd rather have a boring.
This is entirely boring, insignificant protest.
Monarchist through and through.
Rather have a very strong king than anything elected.
I'd like a strong king, just not the one we've got.
Yeah, I think the fact that he's got no British blood makes it easier for him to sell us down the river.
Let's say this one.
The Quinn's Ideas YouTube channel describes some of the more interesting ideas in science fiction and fantasy.
One video concerned the killing star, in which mankind has turned Earth into a paradise and expanded throughout the solar system, but is suddenly confronted by a massive attack by an unknown alien race.
The attack was precipitated by three rules we should all bear in mind: one, any species must prioritise its own survival above all others.
Two, passive species cannot become dominant.
Three, any species must assume the first two rules apply to other competing species.
Very, very true.
That sounds like it was reply to your segment.
It's basic game theory, isn't it?
Yep.
Helen, back.
You can send that email if you like, but bear in mind I'm very low effort when it comes to these sort of things.
She know what I'm talking about.
one.
Wonderful what we have become in this country.
Wonderful.
If that's not a video that epitomizes our time, I don't know what is.
Okay guys, I'm going to do a tornado siren once again.
Why?
Well, thank you for that, sir.
I know this guy.
He's got a YouTube channel.
I mean, if you are ever in a situation where you need a tornado siren and you don't have one, just call him and put him on a speakerphone.
Whoever submitted that is a genius.
Perfect.
Yes, genius.
This is a wholesome palate cleanser.
This is a wholesome palate cleanser.
Very nice, we all love that cat video on the internet.
That's what it's made for.
I'm so sick of this.
They truly think we're so stupid, we simply won't understand their reply.
Says maintaining the exemption preserves a safe space for operational planning and policy discussion, allowing officials and stakeholders.
Who is the most important stakeholder in government policy?
Some arsehole NGO or the entire British public?
It enables participants to speak openly and honestly and completely, including exploring difficult or sensitive options.
The difficult and sensitive options are the most important to publicize.
Because when I'm looking at the ballot paper, if my government considers something reprehensible an option, I think I should know.
I very much agree.
That response to that freedom of information request was insane.
Yes.
It's just completely mad.
Completely.
We don't like you, so you're not getting it.
Yeah, exactly.
Oh, I heard that one.
We've had this one too.
Right.
Do some of the commentary comments.
Samson, thank you very much for putting a poll up which asked if I should dye my hair.
And the top response was actually, I should shave it all off and donate it to Beau.
So I will get right on that.
Literally destroying the White House.
Sophie Liv says this is just the expansion of the ballroom that Trump has been talking about for months indeed.
Someone online says Trump renovates a portion of the White House as many presidents have done before him, the left incoherent screaming.
Yes, so if you're going to upset them, you know, upset them for something proper.
Yep, is what I think.
I'm not surprised, says Henry Ashman, that Hillary Clinton went full Sackville baggins over the White House.
Good Lord of the Rings reference there.
Indeed.
Chance from Canada says reuniting the Empire sounds great, but can we please leave India out?
We don't want them.
No, I'm not saying reunite the Empire.
I'm saying reunite the Anglosphere.
Specifically, it's just.
Was that five of us?
I've been arguing with Indians all day.
Well, I actually haven't.
I've been ignoring them, and they've been arguing at me.
And they're so annoying.
Just please stop.
It's just like a wave of beggars just saying, give us money.
You owe us money for the empire for building all of our infrastructure that we've neglected.
Throw your comments.
Any good ones?
Sure.
Alex Ptolemy says, I've been saying for years the British government should get native Brits recognized as indigenous, so it means we can stake a good claim to sovereignty over our homeland.
Either that or it forces international bodies to admit that indigenousness, indigenousness, doesn't mean much.
I very much agree.
Yeah, it's used as a term to basically mean people who are politically expedient to the left.
It's weaponized against white Europeans most of the time.
Roman Observer says the Anglosphere is the death of England.
You have been warned.
I don't know what you mean.
I think it means either a loss of sovereignty or because Australia and Canada have done even more wonderful things with their immigration systems than Britain.
That's true, yeah.
Well, so has New Zealand.
So has New Zealand.
Yes.
AZ Desert Rat says, just because the Chinese government recognizes all these different ethnic groups doesn't mean it treats them well.
China has been a mess for millennia.
I wouldn't necessarily say they've been a mess for millennia, but I don't think they recognize the ethnic groups so they can target them, not because they respect them.
The final one, Bay State, I speak.
I can't read that.
I speak fluent.
Our special person.
I can translate indigenous just means exotic.
White people don't exist because white is the default race, therefore a lack of race.
Well, Ukraine at war with Europe.
Brian Tomlinson says German car manufacturers are shutting factories that produce EVs because China is not sending them parts.
Yes, they're not sending them parts, including the chips that are most important parts, because of restrictions that they have imposed following the Americans imposing restrictions on them.
So the American policy when it comes to China is to try to force Europe to join the US fully in the trade war with Europe being absolutely unprepared.
There's an argument to be made that you could never prepare for it other than by doing it.
And so you must suffer the decline first and then have the recovery.
But yes, if you wanted to elaborate on that, yes, fair enough.
Sophie Liv, not to forget that we have based more and more of our infrastructure that requires constant power to function.
We have made ourselves wholly dependent on constant access to constant electricity.
So if the power is ever to go out, it's a disaster.
Correct.
Sorry to butt in, but I just wanted to comment on Amy Immy's one, where she says the Germans are self-sabotaging, yes, but the greatest threat to the American empire is Europe.
A united Germany and Russia would dominate manufacturing.
Correct.
I mean, the concern of Germany and Russia uniting has been the great game of European statesmanship for hundreds of years.
Yes.
And it feels like there's still a massive focus on that.
Yes.
And we're just going to completely ignore the new possibility of Germany uniting in, sorry, Russia uniting with China.
Which is a much bigger night.
And the monsoon region, because then you've got a Eurasian Empire that has literally everything.
Tech, money, energy, population markets, resources, everything.
And that would completely dwarf a Russian-German alliance.
You are better off under a Russian-German alliance and an Anglosphere alliance than you are a Eurasian Empire.
Yeah.
Like that, that must be straightforward.
And anybody who doesn't see that, I don't know how to help you.
But they're all playing the game of the last century, not the next one.
Exactly.
Michael Drabelbis fighting to the last Ukrainian EU is always all mouth and trousers when it comes to opposing Russia.
Whether through the Cold War or now with Ukraine, as long as someone else is willing to do the dying, Europe has always been the little bully.
That is an insane take, considering European history.
But yeah, I'm not going to argue with that because it's just wrong.
All right.
Well, thank you very much for showing up and listening to us talk.
Gentlemen, thank you for talking.
A pleasure.
Welcome.
Samson, very much.
Thank you for pressing buttons and doing important stuff.
Thank you for enjoying and watching us at home.
Yes.
And cheerio.
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