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Keystone Pipeline and Energy Independence
I work at a gas station. When gas went below a dollar a gallon in 2020, I told customers it was due to and oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, where Saudi Arabia essentially flooded the market with oil. I said that combined with the record low demand in gas, means the price collapsed. I haven’t been able to find a way to easily explain what’s going on now, because I thinks it’s disingenuous to simply say “the president doesn’t control gas prices” when I see how this is impacting people every day. Seems that a lot of people come to the conclusion that before Biden, we were “energy independent”, meaning we just used the oil we produced, but as far as I understand that’s not true. Energy Independence is when our exports outpace our imports. People say now that we don’t have the keystone pipeline, we are no longer energy independent, and have to rely on others places for oil. How much has Biden’s decision on the keystone pipeline impacted the price of gas? Did that decision end our energy independence? If trump won in 2020, what would the price at the pump be right now?
Blue Transplants in Red America
A frequent fear/complaint by folks on the right about transplants from Blue States moving to Red States is something like "If you're moving from *blue state* because of how it's being run, don't come here and vote for the types of people who will enact those policies". I've always found this notion interesting because it assumes that the transplants are solidly on the left and doesn't factor in independents or more right-leaning folks who reached their breaking point. What are your thoughts on the types of people who are relocating? And are there any recent examples you're aware of on the impact this has had on shifts in local governance?
More Transparency or Worse Elites?
As students of history, do you agree with Marc Andreessen's argument, taken from Martin Gurri's 'Revolt of the Public," that the nature of media and information sharing means we see everything our elites do and that's much of why institutional trust is so low? Or do you think we have unusually mediocre and corrupt elites? Or is it something else? And what do you think of the other half of Gurri's argument, that the nature of an information society means that it's much more difficult to organize large groups or the public around positive ideas and so much of politics will inherently be about negation, which will make centralization more difficult if not impossible?
dressing up
hey on one of your recent episode Marshall and Saagar you two mentioned dressing up for professionalism in reference to the G7 unserious look from some of the leaders attending, for someone like me who isn't really used to formal attire except for special events can Marshall in particular give some quick tip to look more professional for disaffected males. Look good Feel good right?
Book recommendations
Any suggestions for history/biography/even fiction books to understand some of the pre-WWI history? I am impressed w both of your knowledge on citing instances from those periods and would like to learn about those earlier eras that help inform the present. Any recent books you’ve read that you recommend?