Chip Bourne

Food for thought: If you make $1M/year you are still essentially a billion dollars away from being a billionaire.

Want to fix it? Start by rejecting the idea that one politician is the problem. It’s the system. It’s the incentives. It’s the design. They’re not broken. They’re built this way.

The rules are built to protect influence, reward passivity, and amplify outrage — not to represent you. You’re just the content. The views. The click-through.

This isn’t conspiracy stuff. It’s the boring, legalized version of corruption. No smoke-filled rooms. Just spreadsheets, PAC filings, and “sponsored content.”

He talks about confiscating guns in Texas like MTG talks about civil war. It’s not governance. It’s branding. Keep the donations coming, stay relevant, avoid accountability.

Beto raised $40M in one cycle. That’s not a campaign. That’s a subscription model. He doesn’t even have to win — he just has to keep the base angry, say something wild, stay in orbit.

Citizen’s United made it worse. It opened the floodgates. Now PACs function like infinite-money washing machines. “Free speech” if you can afford the bullhorn.

The real corruption is that it takes zero effort for a politician to take defense PAC money while selling us a narrative that war = safety and food aid = fraud.

Raytheon gets $31 billion from the U.S. taxpayer without a peep. But therapeutic food packets to starving kids? That’s the “waste.” That’s the “scam.” That’s the grift we’re supposed to be mad about?

Take that Adam Schiff/USAID NGO story — total nonsense. Originated from a single parody account. Still spread like wildfire because it feels juicy. “NGO corruption!” Meanwhile…

Politicians enrich themselves and their PACs right in front of us. They manipulate narratives, manufacture outrage, and rake in millions while we argue about crumbs. And most of it is legal.

People are distracted by the idea that “government is corrupt” like it’s just a few bad apples. One shady politician, one fix. That’s comforting. But the truth? It’s systemic. Fully legal. Out in the open. They don’t hide it — they advertise it.

you know you're in an authoritarian regime when you are assuring yourself that "you're safe"

One of my coworkers said they weren't political... Brings up seed oil and "the jab"
Uuuuh, okay, apolitical.

You do realize that would take some forethought?

People seem to think there's like a trade envoy accompanying a guy with five sacks of soybeans and negotiating four sacks of coffee in return. All Silk Road style.

Can you imagine being a citizen of the wealthiest country in human history and complaining that other countries sell us their labor cheaply?

we have to destroy tesla. it's our clearest path to resistance.

Greenlanders (as a US territory) would be the first on the DOGE list for "Fuck these idiots" MAGA takes.

We don't exactly have a great track record of sympathy for rural Americans that have abundance of natural resource but needs federal support to "get the rest of us the resource".
I think of Louisiana and their oil & gas industry.

When did the US stop believing in people's right to self-determination? If Greenland were to become a territory of the US, they better talk to Puerto Ricans about how we treat citizens that have need.

Signal chat group is really bad.
As one that worked as a DoD telecom gear provider. The US makes very secure comm devices for this type of conversation. The public will completely miss this.

The fact that the Atlantic EIC has targeting information is WILD. Hegseth acts like a he's a fool - that guy should publish everything he has.

no nation-state would ever keep large reserves in a currency that can be manipulated by another actor. and, their legislative and executive has no control over the stability of the currency. it's a toy. it's a scheme. it's a way for despots to accept bribes (see $Trump)

really smart to bet on $Trump rn. That's the thinking of the young voters. They see little difference in unregulated currency that isn't backed by a nation-state. We have to stop supporting the idea that crypto is a smart place for people with no money to gamble.

The group was started by Hunter, and they were just using it as new members. Not their fault. /s

The fact that the Paul Weiss stuff has been done in broad daylight is utterly grotesque and remarkable.

"r > g" is not a mystery in macroeconomics in capitalistic models. it's the goal. I wish there was an AI bot to elaborate on bsky :(

People don't talk enough about the damaging effects that a person can have on a trademark.
Elon, tesla.
Trump, US brands selling in Canadian markets.

How humiliating is this going to get for Zelensky? He's liable to have to give us monies in mining rights. Make statements that it wasn't Russia's fault. Lose 20% of Ukraine. And, get poisoned in 5 years. Let's hope for a great outcome for him, despite the odds.