In this episode of Moment of Zen, host Rudyard Lynch engages in a thought-provoking discussion with Samo Burja, exploring the breakdown of traditional power structures and drawing parallels between modern times and the religious wars of the 1600s. They delve into topics such as the aftermath of Trump's election victory, the rise of private military companies in Africa, and the evolving dynamics of global power. For full shownotes, visit highlight: https://highlightai.com/share/4f3ff1c4-1c9e-451c-b2d5-54bc06f8a87f -- Be notified early when Turpentine's drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess -- RECOMMENDED PODCAST: 🎙️ Unpack Pricing - Dive into the dark arts of SaaS pricing with Metronome CEO Scott Woody and tech leaders. Learn how strategic pricing drives explosive revenue growth in today's biggest companies like Snowflake, Cockroach Labs, Dropbox and more. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1765716600 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38DK3W1Fq1xxQalhDSueFg -- 🎙️ Dealcraft | Insights from Great Negotiators https://link.chtbl.com/3CG3TbHY?sid=Turpentine is the brand new weekly podcast that features interviews with world’s greatest dealmakers and diplomats, including Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, and music industry super-lawyer John Branca, on their most challenging negotiations. Each episode, host Jim Sebenius (Harvard Business School professor and renowned negotiation expert) relates fascinating deal stories and distills useful insights for listeners to apply in their toughest deals and disputes. SPONSORS: SHOPIFY Shopify: Shopify is the world's leading e-commerce platform, offering a market-leading checkout system Shoppay and exclusive AI apps. Nobody does selling better than Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial at https://shopify.com/cognitive GIVEWELL GiveWell spends 50,000 hours every year doing deep-dives into different charitable programs to try to find the ways to do the most good for your dollar. GiveWell has now spent over 17 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to a few of the HIGHEST-IMPACT opportunities they’ve found. Visit https://www.givewell.org to find out more or make a donation. (Select PODCAST and enter Econ 102 at checkout to support our show.) SQUAD Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist. -- Follow on X: @whatifalthist (Rudyard) @samoburja (Samo) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @turpentinemedia TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (00:06) Trump's Election Victory (02:31) The Left's Position & Strategic Analysis:  (04:53) Astroturfing, Emotionality, and Left-Wing Psychology (10:21) The Future of the Internet: Free or Controlled?  (15:21) Government Transparency and Historical Parallels (17:31) Political Structures and Information Processing (18:50) Sponsors: Dealcraft | Squad (20:51) The Changing Political Landscape and Cultural Shifts (21:53) "Blade Runner 1600s" and Societal Changes (23:55) Geopolitical Shifts and the Rise of Private Military Companies (27:21) France's Loss of Influence in West Africa (28:41) Reasons for France's Decline in Africa (30:41) A Class Analysis of Colonialism (36:57) Sponsors: Shopify | Givewell (39:30) Mexico's Co-evolution of Cartels and Politics (40:28) Decentralized States and Elite Enclaves (42:20) The Two Models of Mass Immigration (45:11) Immigration, Demographics, and Political Manipulation (46:28) Host Culture and Psychological Motivations (49:04) The Great Chain of Being, Psychological Assumptions, and Modernity's Problems (50:41) The War on Human Nature and Fragmentation (52:33) Demon Plague Theory and Contagious Madness (53:48) Charles Taylor's A Secular Age  (57:31) Hollywood as Mythology, Cultural Shifts, and the 20th Century's Transformation of the Public Mind (1:00:31) Conclusion & Outro